Although in fact it seems that the question of a bed for a child can arise much later and indicate the concern of parents about when to move from a small crib to a large one. However, this is not quite true.
Many parents who seriously think about how to rationally spend the budget after the birth of a child, refuse a crib for crumbs, justifying that in a parent's bed, the baby will be much more comfortable and more comfortable. We believe that the bed is necessary for the child from the first days of life, and it is his own bed. If you can not buy a new bed - ask your friends: maybe someone has an old baby cot, someone can give it or sell it inexpensively. Still, the old bed is better than its complete absence.
Answering the question: "At what age does a child need a bed", we want to emphasize that by depriving a child from the early age of his place for sleep, you deprive him of the opportunity to learn to self-reliance and discipline. But after all, from what age is it necessary to teach the child to this very independence? It is proved that in the first year of life the rate of learning of the child is maximal, therefore it is necessary to try to lay in its consciousness the bases not only of character, but also perception of the world. Let at first sight the bed for the child on this list does not play any role, but if we dig deeper, we will understand that it is she who outlines the crumbs of his personal freedom. It teaches that each of us has his own place, where it is so pleasant to relax from cares.
All this will come to the child, of course, not at once - but believe me, a time-built foundation will help to avoid many problems in the future.
We often put children to sleep next to themselves simply because it is so convenient for us. Convenient because the child sleeps much more closely next to his mother, because rises less often at night. It is more convenient when we breastfeed - do not have to get up in the middle of the night and do a lot of extra gestures, but just moved closer to the child - and you feed by popping it. But it would be better if we pushed the laziness aside a bit and made these four steps to the crib for the child crying from hunger!
Now let's discuss the need for a child's bed, which will replace a small cot. And not even about the need, since it's obvious, but about how old you need to buy a bigger bed.
I think it's all very individual, and depends, first of all, on the child himself: in particular, on his physiological characteristics. After all, some kids and in two years remain small, just puppets - so their first bed can serve for a long time, they will be quite easy to place in it. And if a child in a year and a half already threateningly fit in a bed - then this is an occasion to think about buying something more.
In addition, a significant role is played by the way your baby sleeps. For example, if he is very restless and turns in a dream, turns over from side to side - then you need to try not to get out of the crib with protection until the child's sleep is adjusted. Imagine what a threat is for a babe in bed, where nothing protects him from falling to the floor. After all, it's unlikely that you will be able to cover it with pillows, or cover the floor with blankets - all the same, if the baby falls off the bed, he may not get hurt, but be very frightened! But there are also absolutely other children - it seems that in what position the child fell asleep - this morning and woke up. Here for these children, the transition to an "adult" crib can occur much faster.
In general, perhaps, I would not recommend buying a baby bed earlier than after two years. Only if he has just grown out of a nursery - and he needs more space, otherwise it, and you too, are awaited by sleepless nights. Why from this age? Because after two years the kids are more conscious, they can control themselves and their movements even partly in a dream. And, in addition, it is at this age that the first stage of alienation, the removal of the child from mother comes. That is, the kid ceases to feel himself a single whole with his mother, he understands that he is a separate person, he still has his own life. In this period, by the way, there is a large part of children's conflicts that need to be learned to be eradicated. Its large cot will help the child to feel his own importance, his status and position in the family. Do you think that this is nonsense and trivia? But the life of a child in such a tender age consists precisely of such trifles.
Therefore, my advice to you is: look at your child, feel his needs, listen to his desires ... If he himself expresses the idea that he needs a large, his own cot - why not listen to him? Of course, if it's not just a whim. Sometimes kids really know what they need.
And if you put the question this way, they say, from what age this bed is needed, then there is no definite answer and can not be. You can only set the minimum and maximum age limits: for example, for a baby under two years, this bed is likely to be great, but for years to 3.5-4 it should already be used with might and main.