Do I Buy Another Crib?

My girls are 18 months apart. We switched Morgan to the pack -n- play when Ashley was ready for the crib. Morgan ended up having sleep issues later - getting scared at night a lot. I regret taking her out of her crib where she felt very safe. If you can afford it, I would suggest buying another crib.

My cousin switches all her children to toddler beds at age1... She's had really good luck with it.

My boys are 20 months apart and I bought a second crib. Actually my son was in his crib until he was 3, so I am glad that I did! I bought a used crib for each of them, so the two cribs and mattresses together were less than $100, so it was totally worth it to me. Bedtime was the one time that my son expressed stress of having a new sibling, so I think that having a different bed would have made that even worse for him.

If you do get a big girl bed, I'd do it before baby comes, because she may feel displaced from her crib if you move her for the baby.

J.
SAHM to Charlie (3), Joey (18 months) and #3 due Nov.

both of my kids were in regular beds by 13 and 16 mos. the biggest issues were the new freedom of getting in and out alone (we actually had no problems with that) and falling out- but i believe these are problems regardless of what age the switch is made at =)

I would say if your daughter does well in her crib, isn't and goes to bed well, she should do fine on a mattress on the floor at 17 months.

My son was in a toddler bed by the time he was 20 months old, just because I was so pregnant, I couldn't bend to get him in the crib. He did well wiith bedtime and didn't try climbing out of his crib, which is probably why he did so well in a toddler bed, we've never had problems with him getting out of bed.

I would think that's the only risk if she moves to a mattress or toddler bed, the fact that she may try to get out of bed at bedtime...but if you approach it the same way each time and just put her back in bed, it probably wouldn't last too long.

Every child is different. I would make the change before the new baby comes if you are going to change things other wise you'll be dealing with the change of the new baby and the change in her sleeping. So many people have cribs that you could get a borrowed crib and return it when the baby is done with it. Once Upon a Child is a great place to get a used one as well. Otherwise worst case you can use the pack'n play for the new baby for a while as well. Good Luck and congratulations.

Both of my children slept in an Arm's Reach co-sleeper that was disconnected from our bed but close to use for quite a few months. If I were you, I'd just invest in a nice pack 'n play type sleeper (the Arm's Reach look really nice and are soft...and we still use our when we travel as a safe and clean place for our daugther to sleep...at age 2) instead of a crib!

Your other option is to borrow one if you know of someone who has one in storage or to purchase one inexpensively at a rummage.

Congratulations on your new addition...watching my children together is the most breathtaking site to me! Best of luck!

Do you have a pack n play? I'd use that until your child is 20-24 months and if you don't have that then I'd buy one. My oldest started the transition around 22-23 months. My youngest I tried to transition at 18 months and she cries and comes out on some days. It takes some months to get them used to it. You can try to do it without another crib or pack n play but you might be right on the age and readiness. It depends on the child.

Krisitn,

There's no risk about that at all. Just put a few pillows on the bed to make it seem smaller.

the good thing is that she won't have to ask if she can get your help to climb out of the crib, because she'll be on the floor on a mattress. The other good news is that she won't fall out of bed if her mattress is on the floor.

I am seeing a "win" "win"!

I think we as moms tend to complicate things more than what we should. Just do what you feel is in your heart.

That is the best advice I can give you!

J.

My boys are 15 months apart and I didn't feel my oldest was ready for a big bed when my youngest was born so he stayed in the crib and the baby slept in the Pack n Play until he was 4 months old (oldest was 19 months). That's when we moved my oldest to a twin bed and the youngest into the crib.

My son was 16 months old when my daughter was born. We used the bassinet for her for about 2 months (she was in high percentiles for length so unfortunately it couldn't be longer!) We put the crib in the room my son would be moving to which also had a queen sized bed just so he would get adjusted to the room. Once the baby was ready for the crib, we had our son "help" Daddy take it down and set it up in the baby's room. He spent his first night in a queen sized bed which was against the wall on one side and had a safety railing on the other (just in case). We never had a problem with him falling out and he transitioned quite well. We also made sure to teach him how to slide off a bed by himself prior to this so that when he did get up in the morning (or those few times in the middle of the night when he came into our room), he wouldn't get hurt.