As far as I know, everyone I went to school with slept in a twin bed through college, or after leaving their parents’ home.
I don’t mean nobody ever slept in a double bed…but in their parents’ houses kids all seemed to have twin beds.
Decorating magazines and bedding catalogs seem to indicate that this is no longer the case…but why? When I was a kid you could get character sheets. I never had 'em but my cousin had Casper sheets and Star Wars sheets. Those things were only sold in twin size. Disney/Pixar character sheets come in twin or full. Even when my son was born (1997) someone tried to sell us a crib that converts to a twin bed and ultimately a double bed…you know for when he’s older.
I have no doubt my son would love a full bed in his room. You should see him in a hotel on a queen or king. He sleeps like a starfish.
I’m just wondering what led to this change. Is it just that new homes have larger rooms? Is there some reason it’s preferable fo a growing kid to have a larger mattress? Is that reason something made up by the mattress industry?
To answer my own question. I have one son and he has a twin bed in his room. He will 'til he moves out, unless he engineers and builds himself a larger Murphy bed.
Maybe it’s for the comfort of the parents. A twin bed, as opposed to a toddlers bed, allows the parent to sit comfortably on the bed with the kid while reading bedtime stories.
My kids both had twin beds when they were growing up.
When they moved out, we re-did one of the rooms as a guest room and put a queen-size bed in it, but it is now occupied by my daughter, who moved back in a couple of months ago (darn it!).
My guess is bigger rooms, a change in kid’s behaviors, and a desire to keep up with the neighbors.
In my childhood room, there was no space for a bigger bed. I had to have room for all my toys and books and craft projects and experiments. Now, most kids seem to want nothing more than a TV and an iPod, so there’s no need for more floor space. Plus, kids today seem to have more “right” to the main living area, instead of their stuff being mostly confined to their rooms.
Also, IMHO, the consumer driven culture has zeroed in on spending for kids in a big way. Parents brag about how much they spend on traveling softball, Pottery Barn Kids furniture, designer clothes, etc. The big bed with lots of shams and a full Captain headboard with shelves and boards and cabinets is all part of that.
I have two kids - one is in a toddler bed (4 yrs.) and one is in a twin (13 yrs.). My husband and I both slept in our childhood twin beds until we got our first queen matress when we moved in together.
What’s a twin bed? I slept on a single bed as a kid, and when I was a teenager I got a “king single”, which is apparently some weird-ass Australian sizing that’s impossible to buy sheets for even in Australia. A lot of my friends slept on double beds and I don’t think it’s a sign of extravagance since single beds just don’t comfortably fit tall people. I mean, it’s one thing to want the luxury of extra width, but quite another to have your feet hanging off the end of your bed.
My son is three and has a double bed for the following reasons:
We moved him to a regular bed (without a frame - it’s still a mattress and box springs on the floor) when he was 13 months because he moved so much he was slamming into the sides of his crib and waking himself up. The double bed gave him more room to move and was large enough he didn’t fall out. I think he’s fallen out a total of 3 times, all of those times after he turned 2.
It’ll be big enough for him as long as he’s in the house so we won’t have to buy a new bed when he gets larger.
It took our son a long time to sleep through the night, both because he just didn’t regardless of trying cry it out and also because he was always getting sick and his lungs filled with fluid frequently. A double bed made it easier for one of us to sleep with him when he was sick so we could give him a middle-of-the-night breathing treatment if necessary. The only times he required breathing treatments were at night when he had a cold.
We live in an older apartment with tiny bedrooms. The four year old is still in a toddler bed, and will be as long as she’s short enough to fit in it, and the 16 year old is in a twin (single).
But I know exactly what you’re talking about. My niece has a queen, and I see it in pictures and ads all the time. I think bigger rooms has a lot to do with it. I mostly see the full (double) or queen sized beds in the 'burbs, in newer construction, or in expensive and newly renovated apartments/condos.
It’s not just the beds, *all *the furniture there is larger. Kitchen tables at countertop height, with stools to match, big heavy dining room tables “to seat six” which when I was a kid would have seated eight - except that their chairs are so wide only six will fit. Massive couches and coffee tables, ottomans and side tables, armchairs that would have passed as loveseats 20 years ago - when you have a large room in a McMansion, you need large furniture to fill it up.
Then, of course, you need oversized plates and bowls to go on your oversized table. And oversized silverware and glasses and…
Growing up, my brother and I each had a twin bed. My two sisters each had doubles. We each had our own room. I don’t know why the sexism.
My two girls each have a double bed. When my 7-y.o. was still in a crib, we were given a used double mattress & box spring, so that eventually became her bed. When my 5-y.o. was in a crib, we got her sister a new double and gave her the used one. When we moved, the used one became the guest bed, and we bought a new double for the youngest. It didn’t seem right to demote them to singles after they had slept on doubles for a few years, and their rooms were big enough.
My son (nearly 4) is in a twin bed. My daughter (nearly 2) is still in a crib, but when she graduates to a bed, she’ll have a twin as well. Their rooms aren’t that large (about 10x10), so a bigger bed would just take up too much floor space. Even if they had larger rooms, thought, they’d still have twins - I don’t really see any reason for kids to have bigger beds. I slept in a twin until I left home to go to university.
I think the trend to bigger beds for kids is just part of the overall trend of “bigger is better”. I occasionally watch House Hunters on HGTV, and am constantly amazed by how much space people (mainly Americans) think they need. A professional couple with no children doesn’t really need a 3000 square foot house, but I’ve seen such couples reject houses that are 2000+ square feet because they are “too small”.
I got a double bed when I was about 12, but that’s because I had inherited my brother’s bed when he went off to university and it was so crappy my parents bought a new one. I had this one up until last year when a mattress coil broke and tried to stab me.
My sisters had twin bunk beds, and I had a single bed until I moved into the “spare room” when I was 13. Then I got a queen, but only because we already had it.
In that case, you must not have seen the beds in India. Because lots of parents co-sleep, the beds are often wider than king-sized beds (depending on the number of kids), regardless of the size of the room. My husband’s family had their beds custom made because they had two kids and needed lots of extra room. If I lay spread-eagle on that thing, I would have about two to three feet on either side, and I’m right around 5’7". Of course, in that situation, I’m assuming a whole family in a bed and not just one kid.
Anyway, I think you’re partly right that commercialization has something to do it, but for some families (mine anyway), it has more to do with utility than anything else. I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried to sleep a toddler and an adult in a twin-sized bed, but I can tell you that if sleeping with your kid is something you have to do (or even choose to do) on a regular basis, having a double makes everyone’s life easier and permits far better, more restful sleep.
My son has a twin bed although he is 6’2" and still growing. His room would be big enough for a full-size bed if it weren’t for the fact that we have to walk through it to get to the laundry room.
Because lots of parents co-sleep, the beds are often wider than king-sized beds (depending on the number of kids), regardless of the size of the room. My husband’s family had their beds custom made because they had two kids and needed lots of extra room. If I lay spread-eagle on that thing, I would have about two to three feet on either side, and I’m right around 5’7". Of course, in that situation, I’m assuming a whole family in a bed and not just one kid.