Montessori Bedroom: Setting Up Baby's Space Safely

A mattress on the floor, a low shelf with three wooden toys, a mirror at skirting-board height: the Montessori bedroom appeals to a lot of parents. The idea is lovely, to give a child a space where they can move, choose and lie down on their own. It also demands rigour, because a bed with no bars turns the whole room into a playground.

Here are the principles of this set-up, the safety rules for a floor bed, how to make the room safe, and a realistic budget that does not mean buying everything.

What is a Montessori bedroom?

It is a room designed at the child's height, so that they can move around and act on their own. The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) advises preparing the environment with clearly separate areas for sleeping, eating, being changed and moving.

In a bedroom, this generally means:

• a floor bed, which the child can get out of and return to alone;
• a movement area: a firm mat, toys within reach, sometimes a mirror;
• a low shelf with few toys, each one in its own place;
• simple decoration, at their eye level rather than yours.

An AMI trainer presents the floor bed as the most important help you can offer for sleep: the adult can sit beside the child at bedtime, then gradually step back. For the other rooms of the home, see our article on Montessori at home.

The floor bed: from what age?

Montessori texts make it a pillar of sleep without giving a precise age. The health authorities we consulted give no age either, but they set rules that apply to any sleep surface before age 1. And one of them changes the arrangement: the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that baby sleeps in the parents' room, on a separate sleep surface, for at least the first 6 months.

In practice, the floor bed in baby's own room can serve first for play and quiet moments, then for nights once baby leaves your room. Later on, a low bed keeps a clear advantage: the Australian safe sleep organisation Red Nose considers a low bed or a mattress on the floor preferable for a young child, because it reduces the height of a fall. Many children move from a cot to a bed between 2 and 3 years, earlier if they climb the bars, Red Nose notes.

Floor bed: the safety rules

A floor bed follows exactly the rules of safe sleep. The AAP applies them to every baby under 1: a firm, flat surface, a fitted sheet and nothing else.

The mattress deserves a proper purchase: our cot and mattress buying guide helps you choose. In summer, with the heat and the chergui (the hot, dry desert wind), our advice on keeping baby cool in hot weather helps you set the room temperature and night clothes.

Making the room safe: the whole bedroom becomes their territory

With a bed that has no bars, the child gets up whenever they like, including at night or after a nap, while you are in another room. The entire room has to be safe.

The AAP's figures on tipping furniture are striking: 77% of tip-over deaths in the United States between 2000 and 2019 involved children under 6, and about half of fatal accidents happen in a bedroom. Its advice:

1. Anchor to the wall dressers, shelves, wardrobes, televisions and mirrors, preferably with metal brackets.
2. Put heavy items low and light ones high.
3. Leave no toy up high, on a dresser or shelf, which would tempt the child to climb.
4. Fit drawer stops so they cannot pull drawers all the way out and use them as steps.

Red Nose adds: lock windows or fit window stops, put blind and curtain cords out of reach, and make heaters, lamps, fans, sockets and electrical cords inaccessible. The INSPQ in Quebec asks for socket covers pushed in firmly and reminds us that blind cords are dangerous for children. Then go round the rest of the house with our room-by-room safety checklist.

From the shop

Making a Montessori bedroom safe and ready

Socket covers, drawer locks, corner guards, a night light, a play mat: the essentials for a room where a child moves freely cost little. We include no bed reducer or baby positioner, which are discouraged for sleep.

• −10 %Safety 1stSocket covers, 12 pieces with 4 keys – Safety 1st27 DHinstead of 30 DHView product
• −35 %Safety 1stDrawer locks, set of 7 – Safety 1st26 DHinstead of 40 DHView product
• −10 %Safety 1stGel corner protectors, x4 – Safety 1st27 DHinstead of 30 DHView product
• −8 %Safety 1st2-in-1 door stopper – Safety 1st46 DHinstead of 50 DHView product
• −35 %Safety 1stArctic automatic night light – Safety 1st150 DHinstead of 230 DHView product
• −42 %LudiAnimal tiles play mat, from birth – Ludi143 DHinstead of 245 DHView product
• −9 %DoomooCocoon arch with removable toys – Doomoo628 DHinstead of 690 DHView product
• The whole aisle · Ergonomic mattresses and cot reducers15 products online, delivered anywhere in Morocco.Open the aisle

Products sold by La Maison du Bébé, publisher of this magazine. Prices as of 12 October 2026; please check the product page.

Low shelf, mirror, play corner: setting up at their level

The low shelf is the central piece of furniture. Put only a few toys on it, four or five, each in a basket or on a tray, and rotate them according to their interests. Storage boxes and baskets keep the rest out of sight. The shelf is anchored to the wall, even though it is low.

The movement area comes down to a firm mat on the floor. The AMI insists on freedom to move, with no container that immobilises the child, and on comfortable clothes that leave movements free: we describe this principle in our article on free movement. The mirror is optional: if there is one, it is shatterproof and screwed to the wall.

Finally, keep a place for yourself: an armchair or a floor cushion to read a story or stay close at bedtime. Our decorative cushions and floor mattresses range includes some for the reading corner.

What budget for a Montessori bedroom?

Generally less than a classic bedroom, since there is no cot to buy. The non-negotiable expenses are the mattress and safety.

A successful Montessori bedroom has nothing of a decoration catalogue about it: it is a simple, safe room where the child finds what they need on their own.