How Soon Is Too Soon for a Toddler Bed?

Well my son is 2 and his cousin just showed him how to climb out of and into his crib. I was scared that he would get out while we were sleeping and get into things and that something would happen, so we bought a gate. Just put it at his door, so he can not leave his room. The worst he could do is play with toys if the room is baby proof.

Hello. My daughter was 14 months old when I got her a regular single bed. I dont really beleive in toddler beds. I think they are expensive, and children are not in them long. I had a new baby on the way, and my daughter was getting out of the crib. So I decided to try a regualar bed. I bought a gate for her bedroom door, so she couldnt get out of the room while I was sleeping and I could still have her bedroom door open, in case she needed me, as well as I was still using her monitor. It worked out perfectly. When she first went to the new bed, I was alittle nervous and I put big pillows on the floor by her bed ( I was afraid she might fall out of bed), but she was fine. She is 5 now and sleeps in a double bed. She told me that single bed was too small for her now. Good luck to you !

Believe it or not, when you hear the stories about toddlers getting up and playing all night--- that's only a phase. I think you are interpreting the signs correctly that it's time to move to toddler bed status.

As for getting out of bed and playing- if your child chooses to do so, he will do it whether he's in a crib or a toddler bed--- or YOUR bed.... so it's kind of a moot point. Just keep the area safe: plugs covered, child gates in place, no sharp objects...etc...
Worse comes to worse, your child will fall asleep on the floor of his SAFE room while entertaining himself with his friends.

M.
Mom of three.

I don't think there is a text book answer to this question. my oldest son was in a toddler bed at 14 months. i needed his crib for his little brother. but i vividly remember sitting outside his door and then taking him back in a laying him down repeatedly before he would take a nap. bed time wasn't so hard. i just waited till he was already asleep and then laid him in bed. not an ideal situation, but if your son is climbing out of his bed he can get up and roam around anyways, and he's likely to get hurt. so my best advice is if you really think it's a possibility just make the transition. use a baby monitor and keep his door closed so he can't roam the house and be prepared to have a lot of patients. if he's more of a self soother and a good sleeper you might not have any problems if he's that active and just hates to go to bed you'll probally have a fight but sooner or later he'll get out of that crib too and you'll have the same struggle on your hands anyway. just a percaution also shortly after my son went in a toddler bed he suffered a thrid degree burn because i didn't think to take out his nightlight. he took the cover off and the bulb left a blister on his finger that we had to see the doctor for. so unplug everything and move everything that he shouldn't get into well out of his reach just in case he does get up at night. and if he's a climber take that into consideration and secure dressers adn such to the walls, he could easily pull a drawer out and try to climb it only to have it fall on him. good luck and just be cautious and ready for him to exert his new independance and get up a few times. be consistent and firm and stick with it and it should work out fine. take care.

Hi K. -
We moved our son to a twin bed on the floor when he was about 19 months old. He had made no attempt to climb out of his crib but he insisted on sleeping sideways in his crib so his feet would always get stuck. After several nights of getting up MANY times to unstick him, we had enough. We were also worried that he would get up and play but he really didn't. After about 2 weeks of adjusting, he was good to go. By adjusting I mean he would wake up once or twice a night, walk into our room and we would just walk him back to his bed and he went back to sleep. This was much better than our situation before.
Hope this helps a little.

L.

We moved our youngest daughter to a twin bed when she was about 20 months, and we had no trouble. She never came into OUR room, but there were a few mornings that we found her in bed with her big sister - ha ha! My only caution is to make sure you have a baby gate across the stairs if your son's room is upstairs.

I'd say go for it, for safty reasons. We had a crib that converted into a toddler bed, and put our daughter in (the toddler bed version) at around 18 months. She also could get out of the pac'n'play, and when they get to that age you really don't know what they can do untill they do it.....it would be better to switch now before you find out at 2am that he CAN get out....on a brighter note our daughter didn't even try to get up from bed by herself for 3 months, she would call to us and we came and got her. A couple tips for the toddler bed thing. Make sure there is NOTHING in the room that they could get hurt with, cords, plugs, toys, shelves they can pull over. Put away all toys before bed time. And either close the door, or put a baby gate up so they can't wander the house if they do get up. An expensive alternative is a mesh tent like thing that goes over the crib....the one I saw at Babies-R-Us was like $80 but they are supposed to work keeping them in the crib (and also delay the inevitable).

Have you considered one of those "crib tents"? Its a netting that goes over the top of the crib so the kids cant get out. They sell them at Baby Depot (Burlington). We put our daughter in a toddler bed like a month after she turned 2, and for about a week she would get out of bed alot. But we just kept putting her back in and telling her it was time to sleep. It took some work but eventually she understood she had to stay in the bed and not play. Good Luck!

K.,

I too believe toddler beds are not necessary. If you're going to spend the money, invest in a twin bed. That on the floor or with a rail will work beautifully.

As for the timing, I don't know. I'm a supported of keep them in the crib as long as you can. I just always would think of all the things they could get in to when they were in a big bed.

When my son started climbing out of the crib at 15 months I purchased a "crib tent" from Babies R Us. It was about $75 - $80 but you know I thought it was a whole lot cheaper than a trip to the E.R. At any rate, I used it again with my 3rd, a boy who also happened to be a climber and it worked beautifully.

Good luck!

I think it is something you just decide for yourself. My son moved to a big boy bed at about 20month, my daughter at about 18 -- I have friends who moved theirs as early as 13 /14 months and others who had 3 year olds still in cribs.

I would close the door, and put a child lock on the inside (so they could not open it themselves) and they would cry for about 5min. at the foot of the door, then fall asleep, I would then put them back to bed and keep the door open at night. It took about a week to get them to stay in bed and go to sleep, it only took about 4 days with my son, my daughter is more stubborn, it took longer. Just make sure to remove the door lock once they start staying in bed on their own -- because it is not safe.

I think now is ok. Its better for him to be in a toddler bed thats lower to the ground and get out of that vs. a crib thats higher up and he has a chance of hurting himself falling from so high. So I would say that its safe. And if you want to feel a bit more safe than that, get him a car bed that sits right on the floor. I am sure he already feels like a big boy anyway.

My daughter is still too young, but I do know my sister's son had to be put into a toddler bed at 18 months. They heard a loud thud one night and ran upstairs to find him on the floor. He was able to climb out, so I'd try the new bed with your son.

Hi K.,

I know what your going through. My son is 18 months and has been climbing out of his playpen since he was 15 months. I don't know how he does it- he won't do it in front of me but the minute my back is turned- out he goes. We took down his crib at 15 months and switched to a toddler bed. We got one with a rail so he wouldn't fall out BUT he hated it! We ended up having to take the mattress out of the bed and put it directly on the floor and every night for 3 weeks one of us would have to lay with him until he fell asleep. He is 18 months old now and glad to report that the mattress is back in the toddler bed and he goes to sleep by himself. We do put a baby gate in his doorway though on those nights he feels like playing instead of sleeping. I hope this helps.

A. B

K., My daughter has been in a full size bed since she was 15 months old, she's now 31/2. I think the todler bed is a great idea. Sometimes my daughter gets out but usually we just bring her back and tuck her in and she's good for the rest of the night. I think your fears about your sone jumping out of the crib are real. My daughter did just that at 3:00AM when she was 15 mos old. Hence the change to a regular bed with side rails.

My son was in a toddler bed at 14 or 15 months. He absolutely REFUSED to sleep in the cribe any more. He took to the big boy bed immediately. Sleeping right away and making his own routin (until he got real sick and I let him in my bed and that destroyed all that work!)

We used a crib tent because our son loved to explore at all hours. With my youngest daughter we brought it out again because she would do the same thing. For the first time in her life she slept through the night. We kept checking on her because she never did that before! I was amazed. We even slept better after that. We would put her in at bedtime and she would point to the zipper like she was saying "don't forget to zip it up!" and then she would snuggle down in her blankets.

We bought ours at Toys R Us.

My oldest son was 1 1/2 when I transitioned him to a toddler bed. he stayed fine. If your worried about him getting out of the bed and playing remove all toys from his room. Make sure he still has his security things (stuffed animal, favorite blanky, etc.) My son transitioned really well. I'm in the process of transitioning my 17 month old now. He is actually climbing out of his crib and doesn't mind falling on his butt. But I'm not gonna take the chance of him busting his head, breaking an arm or anything. You might wanna put the toddler bed in the room for a little bit and show him that it's cool to have a big boy bed. I don't think it will be too difficult but every child is different. Some like change and some dont.

We put my son in a twin bed around 18 months old. We bought him one of those race car beds. They are higher on the sides so they still have a confined feeling. We started off by just putting a matress in there so the sides came up about a foot. Then when he was used to it (around 2 years old) we put the box spring under the matress to make it higher. He is 3 1/2 now and still loves his bed. He could never roll out of it bc of the height on the sides. And, like I said it still has a bit of a confining feeling. So, he never got out of it. Also, I don't keep toys in his room so there was nothing inticing him to get out. Hope that helps.

well, i think alot of it depends on the individual child, but my son was in a toddler bed at 18 months. yes, there were times he wanted to get up and play, but that was resolved with removal of night light. he quickly learned that although it didn't have a "cage" like feel to it, it was still a bed and he was to stay there and sleep. i was slightly paranoid about him rolling out and getting hurt, so i placed a small mattress (like crib) on the floor under the bed, and slid it out at night, so he had a soft surface should he roll out.

hope that helps.
nicole

My daughter was 18 months when we started putting her in a toddler bed. We went to a local second time around store and spent 25 - 30 on the frame and it uses her crib mattress, but this is a lot cheaper than a trip to the er. The first few nights she wanted to get up and play, but we would pull her door to, so she was confined to only her room. I also would put her in her bed for naps so she got the idea that this is where she sleeps. She slept so much better once we put her in her big girl bed. I hope this helps!