Crib or Bed? - Maryville,IL

My daughter was only 21 months when my son was born and we decided to go ahead with a big girl bed for her. It really worked out great! We had it set up about 2 months before my little guy arrived. I think that this helped her get used to it and feel comfortable. About 2 weeks after we brought him home, she decided that she was no longer a baby and wanted to sleep in her big girl bed. We never forced the issue...it just seemed to happen. I hope that everything work out for you guys too! Best wishes.

My little brother and i are 16 years apart and when he was almost 2 my mom put him in a toddler bed and he would get up in the middle of the night and run through the house and her advise to me since my son is almost a year is to keep him in a baby bed as long as possible. A friend of mine kept her kids in a crib until they were close to 3 or 4 years old.

Also to add to this instead of using a toddler bed unless you dont have a big enough room for this. But instead of a toddler bed go strait to a twin size bed with a rail. so you dont have to buy a 3rd bed

We had the exact situation. Our daughter was right about 20 months when our most recent child was born. About 3 months prior to her birth we tried getting her into a toddler bed for bedtime. She is normally a good sleeper and she sleeps about 10 hours nonstop each night. She is also not a climber.

We tried the toddler bed for about a week, but each night she woke up repeatable and came to our bedside. We decided we would keep her in the crib at night but for her afternoon naps she does great in her toddler bed. So right now we have both in the room which looks a little funny but works. Once our newborn is a little older, we'll tackle the problem again. We also had the luxery of having another crib available to us so we didn't have to buy another one.

We were told by others that until they start climbing out, it may be best to keep them in their cribs. We just think it was a matter of her being familiar and comfortable with her crib. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

My son was 15 months when my ltl girl was born. I left him in the crib, and got a basanett for my daughter. It worked out just fine. And the best part about that, is if you ever decide to have another child, and your second child is still in a crib at that point, you will always have a bed just right for your new baby.

we put our 18 mth old in a twin bed...mattress only right on the floor. we didn't want to spend money on a toddler bed when it is only an in between thing...you'll need the twin set anyway when your little one is bigger...and this just got our daughter used to a big bed without fear of her falling too far to the floor :) congrats!

You need to think about both children with this situation. My cousin was in this situation and her toddler decided that she would share her toys with the new baby. My cousin woke up while her daughter was in the proccess of sharing every stuffed animal she owned with her new bother by throwing them all into his crib. She also didn't want to go to sleep at night and because she could get out, she kept the new baby up all night. Hope this helps!

My kids a 1 year and 2 weeks apart. When my 2nd one was born we bought a new toddler bed for our older one and I think it made him feel like a big brother and he really liked it.

Like everyone else, you'll need to figure out your daughter's personality and figure out what would work best for her. I've been through this exact same thing. My youngest 2 are 19 months apart. I moved my middle son into his "big boy" bed at 17 months. A friend said to go ahead and buy a big bed, not a toddler bed. It's much easier for them to get out of the toddler bed than the big bed. So, we bought a set of bunk beds and a big baby rail. Pushed against the wall, with a rail and a pillow to block the opening, he curled right up and slept without looking back to the crib. It was a very easy transition. He never did figure out he could get out of the bed until he was 3. Good luck! It was a challenge with them so close, but now (at 4 and 5 1/2), they are best buddies.

Hi L.,
My two youngest girls are about 20 months apart, and we put our middle child into a twin size bed after our baby girl was born. We did invest in a bed rail that fits a twin size bed. The only problem we had with the transistion was she did not like the bed by the window. Once we moved her bed to a wall that was not by window we did not have any problems. Does your little girl go to bed good now? My little girl has always been a good sleeper and I think that helped as well. With my oldest daughter she always got up out of her bed, but she didn't and still does not like to sleep. I think you should try it out and see what happens. If you try it and it does not work go back to using the crib for a while. She will let you know when she is ready. You may even want to try having her take naps in the big bed for a while that she gets used to it. I hope this helps.
C.

I was in this exact situation. My two are 14.5 months apart and at the time we had a small two bedroom house. There just wasn't room for a big bed and a crib in there. We got a very pretty sleigh toddler bed for our daughter. (It cost a little bit, but we were able to re-sell it at a garage sale for nearly what we paid for it.) The toddler bed was set up in the room about 6-8 wks before the baby was born, and she started taking some naps in there. When the baby was born, he slept in his pack-n-play in mom and dad's room for another 6-8 weeks. By the time we were ready to put the baby in the crib, our daughter had been transitioning to the toddler bed for almost 4 months. It worked very well! Good luck.

If you can borrow a crib, I would definitely do it. Remember how much sleep you got with your first child? Double or triple that with a toddler jumping up every night. The adage about keeping the child in the crib until it is no longer safe (i.e. they try to climb out)is definitely the way to go. Your first born will have lots of other opportunities to be the big girl - helping mama get the wipes, entertaining the baby, etc. so don't add the extra stress on her or on you. That's just my advice...

I had my children at 19 months apart and when he was 16 months we went ahead and placed him in his bed with a bed rail. toddler beds work great too because they are easy for them to get into.

L., If you do decide to put her in a big girl bed make sure it is at least 2-3 months before the baby gets here to give her time the adjust to & not feel like the baby stole her bed. Good luck.

Hello,
We moved my son to a twin sized bed around the same time a lil after 21/2 yrs. How well does your youngest stay in the crib does she climb out? Before he went into a bed we have a trasitional crib it goes from crib to toddler bed to use it as a head board he loved it you can try to do that at first if yours is functionl to do it that way.

I have 2 girls that are 18 months apart. I did move the older girl into a double bed pushed against the wall on one side prior to the birth of her sister. This worked well. I would lie down with her at night and read her a book, she would fall asleep and usually stayed there most of the night. We did close the bedroom door but it was only a few feet from our bedroom door - if she needed us we heard her.
When the baby was born, the older girl would sometimes take her pillow and blanket and lay on the floor under the crib during nap time to be close to her sister.

M. C

Just for the record all kids arent the same, my son never tried climbing out of his crib, but at almost 21 months he was moved to a bigger bed, how I knew he was ready he kept waking in the middle of the night every couple of hours so I started putting him in the sparebedroom which was a queen size bed as soon as I layed him in the bed he fell back to sleep. I say do what you feel is right and when you think she is showing any signs she is ready. You can start putting her crib mattress on the floor and gating off her room at night see how that goes. Alot cheaper to buy another mattress then a whole new crib. The the toddler bed comes later.

Just my thought, Hope it helps
Good Luck

I think the biggest question is do you feel that she is ready to be in a tot bed. I have two little boys, the oldest was in a tot bed the day he turned 1, the youngest was around 2 when he was put into a bed. You have to consider how well she gets around. In a toddler bed she will be able to roam free in her room, and you will have to make sure you have a baby gate across her door so that she does not get out and get hurt during the night. Little ones are sneaky and you may not always hear them. On the other hand, if she isn't getting around so well she may potentially fall and get hurt. Or fall attempting to get out of the bed. I would buy the toddler bed and for now just let her take her naps in it. Just to see how well she does with it, if she does good then you will have your answer. If she doesn't do so good then you will know that she isn't quite ready for that step and that you should wait a bit longer. I hope this helped!

My daughters were born 23 months apart and I wondered the same thing. I was afraid that changing her bed would be too much of a change with the new baby on the way. My now 3 year old continues to sleep in a crib. It is her safe place and has made no effort to attempt to climb out. I think it would have been hard to switch her safe haven and think she would wonder why the new baby could have a crib and she couldnt. Thankfully both are good sleepers. I was also afraid that she would get up during the night and all would lose those precious hours when the new baby arrived. I decided that we all would feel safer when better left alone. She has always led the way in what she needs so we decided that she would let us know when to convert her bed to a toddler bed.