Toddler Crib to Toddler Bed

We just moved our 2 year old from his crib to a big boy bed. We have a full twin bed for him but it's from Ikea and very low to the ground. We had trouble at first because we left the crib in his room as we tried to make the transition. That was our down fall. As soon as the crib was gone and no longer an option he moved into his bed willingly. He cried at first for a while but with-in about 3 days really got the hang of it. Naps were a little harder at first but after 5 days--a work week--he was fine.

My advice is to move the crib out asap. If it's not an option they can't pine for it.

As for safety, we put up a pressure gate in the doorway of my son's bedroom door. That way he could get up (and sometimes does) but can't wander out and away. Sometimes he gets up, looks out his door, then shuts it and goes back to bed. I think he just checks to see if we're really gone and it's really nap time. :-)

Good Luck. Consistency is key. Whatever you decide to do, stick to it regularly and you should be fine.

C.

E.,

I think my son was about 2 when we moved him out of the crib, and that was because he had outgrown it. We started with the box springs and mattress on the floor, then we put his bed together and added a fold down side rail after x amount of time. When he was 3 1/2 we moved into a bigger house and he told us he didn't want the side rail anymore. His transition out of a crib was easy. He's now 5 1/2 and would rather play with his toys for half the night, then get up with the sun; but that's a different can of worms.

My daughter just turned 2 in March and we moved her out of the crib about a month ago when I noticed some of the screws/bolts were stripping out and it was no longer safe for her. We thought we could borrow a box springs and mattress set from my dad until we got her her own set. No mattress, just a box springs was there. She hated the crib mattress on the floor. She flat refused to let us put the crib mattress on the box springs on the floor. She got too cold sleeping on just the box springs. We finally bought her a bed frame and put the box springs in the frame and added the side rail. The sides of the frame bowed out, the slats fell through the bottom and the box springs followed. We took the side rail away. She figured out how to climb down. She fell out of bed multiple times. Super Nanny's back to bed routine helped. She wandered the house after I went to bed. Three days later she learned to climb over the gate placed in her doorway, even raised about 8 inches off the floor. We bought a mattress from a discount store and put the side rail up that her brother had used. She sleeps better and better every night.

My point? Every child is different and you won't know she's ready until you try. Many bits of advice I've heard is that the child is ready for a twin/toddler bed when they start climbing out of the crib. Neither of my kids did that. My daughter is the monkey in the family and will fearlessly climb the 8 foot bookshelf if we let her. Never once climbed out of the crib, even when I would accidentally leave the side down all night. She'd climb up and stand on the lowered side while calling for me, but never climbed fully out on her own. (Don't get me started on her big brother helping her climb in and out. Again, another can of worms)

Hope this rambling helps,
Melissa

Oh, and maybe let her choose which bed she would like to sleep in, if there is room to have both the crib and toddler bed in there at the same time. My house doesn't have the space, so it was ok, we're switching now.

Isn't it lovely to have a nice easygoing child??? ( I didn't say she'll never give you gray hair- but she sounds delightful.

She will tell you with certain behaviours when she's ready for the independence / temptation of a ''big girl bed'' ( independence is SO important - that she'll likely--- about 2 or so --- have the self discipline to stay in her big girl bed in order to avoid the dreaded fate of ''' if you can't stay in your nice bed, we'll have to ( choose one of these - and see which seems most awful to HER ) close the door, or turn out the light or pull out the pack n play
( alias--- play pen) for you to sleep in'''''-- however --- I think 2 is really about as young as I'd put her in a bed- I can certainly see why you want to make the transition earlier- but see what her behaviours are like- that's your biggest clue--

Blessings,
J.
aka- Old Mom

Have them both up in her room and ready to go at bedtime let her choose. Hype up the big girl bed. If you find her getting out of bed a lot tell her she will have to go back into the crib. It worked for us in about 6 months.

We transitioned both of our very early our first daughter at 13 months straight into a twin bed. She went over a half a year before she even realized she could bet out of the bed on her own. She sat at the edge just like she did in the crib waiting for us to come and get her. Our son was moved into a twin at 15 months. He also did pretty good. The biggest problem with his transition was they share a room and our daughter kept sneaking into his bed. Neither of our kids had bed rails as we just put the bed and box spring right on the floor.