How to Choose Race Car Beds

Race car beds are well loved by children and they look great in your child’s bedroom. But having your child like the bed and looking good aren’t the only factors to choose from in race car beds.

So what are some of the common things that you should look at in a race car bed?

Bed Material

Race car beds are made of two main types of material - wood and heavy duty plastic. Heavy duty plastics are very commonly used nowadays mainly because they are much cheaper and also lighter in weight. This makes moving them around and assembly much easier.

Heavy duty plastic race car beds are durable, have high tensile strength and are therefore able to withstand horseplay and other rough handling by your child. Plastic race car beds tend to also have rounded and smoothen edges and surfaces which make them much safer for used by children.

However, it is difficult to tell between high quality heavy duty plastics and low quality heavy duty plastics which may degrade quickly over just one to two years’ time. Low quality heavy duty plastic start to crack and discolor quickly and the cracks can result in sharp edges that could cut your child.

This is especially true your child’s race car bed is placed in a position which sunlight can hit, ultra violet rays from the sun accelerates the degradation of plastics, especially in low quality ones.

Like plastic bed frames, wooden bed frames are also separated into high quality and low quality ones. The difference is that it is much easier to tell between high quality dense wood and low quality ply wood type of bed.

Good wooden bed frames are much heavier than heavy duty plastics, but they also last much longer and can withstand a lot of rugged use. Wooden frame race car beds are also much sturdier and can accommodate heavier weight. This is especially useful if you’re going to have more than one child on the same bed. With a good wooden frame bed, you can even jump onto the bed yourself to relive the olden days once in a while.

Bed Size

Race car beds, like other children’s beds, come in a variety of sizes. These include toddler, twin and full size beds. Based on your child’s age, size, weight and preference, you should select a bed that is suitable for your child.

But of course, if you’re looking to use the bed for your child for an extended number of years, you may want to opt for a full size bed so that when you kid grows, he or she will be able to continue sleeping in the race car bed.

Of course, the larger the bed, the more it will cost. So if you’re not expecting your child’s interest to last longer than the race car bed, you might as well buy one that fits.

Safety

One of the most important factors in choosing products for your children is safety. Children’s race car beds should not just be a good looking comforter bed. It should also be well designed to protect children from themselves and also to give parents comfort knowing that their child will sleep soundly and safety on the race car bed.

Typical safety concerns on children’s furniture include sharp edges, small items and toxic paint. Read more at race car beds safety.

Original Merchandise

Original merchandise might sound irrelevant when talking about race car bed, but in view of the fact the this renewal in race car beds were brought about by the Disney-Pixar movie, Cars, it’s understandable that most race car beds are modelled after Lightning McQueen from the movie.

Not all the race car beds modelled after McQueen are authorized dealers of Cars merchandise. Many stores may sell a look alike race car bed, but when you try to put on the sticker decals at home, you might find a Lightning MacQueen instead.

Not only does these pirated beds have low quality colors and stickers, they are likely to be less sturdy and made of low grade plastic, last but not least, toxic paint additives included even.

Accessories

Race car beds are in themselves a piece highly decorated with many accessories, like decal stickers, and moving wheels. But there are always more that you can add onto your bed. Useful accessories like bed lights can also be added, but to retained the overall race car look, these bed lights are also specially designed to look like part of the set.

Other extra accessories like speedometers and other race car dials, steering wheels, even fake car license plates can be added onto the race car bed to complete the look and few of a real race car. Read more about race car beds accessories.

And because race car beds are very often the first beds for many toddlers transiting from a toddler bed or even a crib into a real bed; it may be a good investment to also buy bedrails for your race car beds. Bed rails will protect your child from falling off their bed and also make them feel well protected from the bed sides, just like the doors of a race car.

Find out more information about bed rails for toddlers.

Additional Compartments

All cars have a space for storing their engines and fuel tanks, race cars included. To mimic the race car look, race car beds also have these compartments. But of course, a race car bed does not need engines or fuel tanks, so these storage spaces were converted into storage compartments for your child to use as their personal store.

The front end of the race car hood can be opened to act like a chest and can even be locked. The back of the bed can be installed with a spoiler, and this spoiler is actually a shelf to place books or alarm clocks.

Race car beds are not only your kids sleeping area, but also their personal area. They will play and live their imagined world all in their race car beds. Since so much of their childhood life is likely to be spent in or around the race car bed, buying one is no small matter. Having a good race car bed will not only liven up your child’s room, you will also get a very happy child for a long time to come.