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Character Themed Kids Bedding: Avoid it or Love it?

Character Themed Kids Bedding: Avoid it or Love it?

I avoid using character themed bedding for my kids, but my sister-in-law always buys themed bedding.  This post is all about the nitty-gritty of our different decisions.

Avoiding Character Themed Bedding

I avoid character themed bedding to save money.

Children will outgrow their preferences before they wear out the sheets.  Kids can flip-flop between their latest obsessions constantly.  By using a generic bedding set I don’t have to worry about switching out my daughter’s bedding when her interests change.

When we moved Grace out of the nursery and into her new bedroom, we went with a purple theme.  We bought a comforter from Ikea, but we didn’t find it in the kid’s section.  I wanted to find something girly for her, but not little girly.  Essentially, Grace could use the same bedding set through high school!  Of course my goal isn’t to deprive my daughter from ever being able to update her room, but I appreciate knowing that she won’t “need” a room makeover soon because she no longer enjoys My Little Pony or Elmo.

Generic bedding sets can easily be used for multiple children.  Kids enjoy different things.  Duh.  Not all boys enjoy Thomas the Train.  Not all girls like Hello Kitty.  Keeping things more generic makes it easier to pass bedding sets down from one kid to the next – even if they are the same gender!

Want to personalize your child’s bedroom to fit their current obsession without investing a lot of money in a bedding set? 

  • Put up a poster of your child’s favorite character.
  • Use coordinating colors in the decorating. (Example: yellow sheets for a Sponge Bob fan)
  • Make a character themed pillow case.  For a fraction of the cost of a full bedding set you can buy a little fabric and make a pillow case or even throw pillow for the bed.

My sister-in-law, Christy, changes her children’s bedding sets more often than I plan to, but I think there are many reasons why character themed bedding works for her family.

Love Character Themed Bedding

My sister-in-law uses character themed bedding to bless her kids.

Christy is renting a property that doesn’t allow her to change the wall color.  Her kid’s bedding is the main way that she can customize her kids’ rooms!

Her family has three boys.  Each boy has different interests, but it is much easier for Christy to pass down sheets from one boy to the next.  Plus if the boys ever decide they want to have something new, she can simply switch the bedding without buying something new.

Christy saves new bedding for special occasions.   This past Christmas my sister-in-law and her husband gave new bedding sets to all three boys.  What a great gift idea!  Plus her boys know that they can’t get new themed bedding at the drop of the hat.  It is something special.

Perhaps most importantly, my sister-in-law uses character themed bedding to validate her boys’ interest – even when it isn’t the norm.  Christy’s middle son was in love with Dora the Explorer for a long time.  Stores don’t sell “boy-ish” Dora bedding sets.  That means his bedding set was pink and purple for a couple years and she was perfectly fine with that.  Isn’t that great?

What kind of bedding do you buy for your kids?  Do you buy something that you hope will last for several years or do you cater your purchase to your kid’s current interests?

9 Comments

  1. I am all over whatever bedding I can get on the cheap. I don’t discriminate against character bedding or otherwise. We had a lot of Thomas and Pixar Cars bedding from the oldest boy… that got passed down to our girl and is currently being used by our youngest boy. Essentially, we went with “boy” themed bedding all the way through. The great thing about it is that bedding has been in service for about a decade and will probably go another 6-7 years.

    The “girl” has unicorn sheets and a princess pillow case that cycles through but the comforters are all Thomas and Pixar Cars. She loves them, too. Who doesn’t : )

    1. It is great that your daughter is open to using “boy” bedding. I love that it helps saves you money AND it makes her a more well rounded little girl! 🙂

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  3. I’m with you – I do not like character bedding for the most part. My son has a dark blue duvet, works with a lot of different sheets. Sheets are my weakness, I love sheets. Currently his room is done in superheros – batman, superman, and such. We have lots of fun sheets. I also have some superhero pictures and painted a mural on the wall.

    When he outgrows the superheros – easy enough to change but still keep the duvet that was a bit pricey.

  4. I’m with you on neutral bedding. And you may be happy to know that I actually used my childhood twin comforter in college. My mom had gotten a good quality (light pink and white striped) comforter from either lands end or llbean when I was in elementary school. It went through me and both of my younger sisters before I snagged it back for college. I used it for a while with the stripes before buying a $20 white duvet cover to update it. Now it’s back to my mom’s house for grandbaby sleepovers. When my daughter is old enough to have character preferences, I may compromise on sheets, but not the comforter.

    1. I love that your comforter has been used for so many years! I try to get things for really cheap, but this is a good example of why it is worth it to spend a little more on something that is nicer quality. Thanks for that good reminder!

  5. I don’t have a problem with the character bedding when they’re little. You’re only three once, right? My son had a Toy Story toddler bed set, and my daughter actually used that blanket for awhile. Now he has a (very themed because it’s a weakness of mine) room with cars, trucks, trains, etc. He has a fireman quilt on his bed that is very nice quality, but I only buy him solid color sheets. Hopefully it will last for awhile. My daughter wanted a Frozen bed, but they didn’t make a set for her size bed at the time, so I did break down and buy her the Disney Princess sheets, and a Frozen fleece blanket to put on top of a quilt that I had back in my single days. They may cost a little more, but I think it’s fun to change up a room every few years, and I just remember how happy I was with my Miss Piggy pillowcases that I had waaay back in the day. And we will keep the super nice quilts, so hopefully they can be used for years to come.

  6. I don’t love it but we use character bedding. It’s about what the kids will remember when they grow up and what they want. I never tell my friends “When I was young I had the coolest plain colored bed spread” but I do tell them “I was in love with the little mermaid, and my parents even bought me the coolest little mermaid blanket” My husband got a car bed off of craigslist and I hate it (but I won’t ever say it to my son) and I know that it’s something he will remember or see pictures of and think how lucky he was when he was little, even if we will only be able to use it for a couple of years. I like to be cheap and save money but the little things I can do to give them good memories is worth it.

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