In Need of Advise

You will laugh when I tell you what mom did when my sister was 2. They put a small piece of black fuzz between them and she thought it was a bug and cried to get in her bed.

We also paid her to go potty by giving her the same dime over and over again.

Hi R.-5 months ago we did th same thing with our 18 mo old.
We presented it as a big boy bed and made him feel proud to have it.the first 3-4 night he got up but i brought him right back to his room and explained that he must sleep in his big boy bed. After that no problems.
Hope it works!!!good luck he has also slept in the dark with the door opened just a crack since birth. Try that too

Wow, 21 months is ambitious! Our son only moved to a big boy bed this summer and he turned 3 in February. I think it may be a bit early unless your daughter is climbing out of the crib. If you have space, though, keep it in her room and play it up like a really big deal: "When you are ready we can move you to the big girl bed, but only when you are redy to stay in it all night..." or something to that effect. We got our son's bed when he turned 3 & it was a good 4 months before he was ready to move into it. Once he did, though, we didn't have any problems.

Hope that helps, and best of luck!

A.

R.,

My first two kids moved to a big bed at 17 months out of necessity. It can be done. You may have to strip the room. Put toys up where your daughter can't reach them or in containers she can't open. We put the bookshelf in the closet for a while. Turning out the lights is a good idea. Most kids don't become afraid of the dark until age 2 1/2 - 3. If your daughter climbs the dresser drawers, take the knobs off.

Put her to bed, shut the door and leave. Of course she will get up and walk around. There is a new found freedom. She will probably sleep on the floor for a few nights in front of the door. She will probably fall out of bed a few times if you don't have a rail on the bed. Then she will catch on. Don't go back into the room and keep coaxing her back into bed. Just let her figure it out and she will.

Best wishes,
S.

I don't think it is time for her to get into a toddler bed, unless she has tried to climb out of her crib. If she has then, yes it would be time for a toddler bed. My kids didn't get a toddler bed until they were over 2 years old at least. But if she is ready then, the only way to train her to stay in it, is everytime she gets out of the bed then quietly put her right back into it. You will have to keep doing this until she has learned to stay in it. Good Luck!!

We made a really big deal out of it, it was her birthday present. She had been climbing out of the crib since she was around 13 months old. And I tried nightlites at first but she slept better with no lights.

MY SON WAS 13 MONTHS OLD WHEN WE PUT HIM IN A TODDLER BED. WHEN IT WAS BED TIME WE WOULD PUT HIM IN IT, LEAVE A LITE ON IN HIS ROOM, AND CLOSE DOOR. HE WOULD STAY UP ALL NIGHT PLAYING.IN MORNING HE WOULD NOT BE ON HIS BED, HE WOULD SLEEP ON FLOOR. THEN A FRIEND CAME OVER AND SAID HER DAUGHTER DID SAME THING, AND SHE STARTED TURNING ALL LIGHTS IN HIS ROOM OFF. WE TRIED THIS, AND TO OUR SURPRISE IT WORKED. WE PUT HIM IN HIS ROOM AT NIGHT,SAY OUR GOODNIGHTS AND TURN LIGHTS OFF, I FOUND THAT HE HAS STARTED SLEEPING ALOT BETTER TOO, WITH ALL LIGHTS OFF.

I used a plastic baby gate in my son's doorway. He was fine, we could hear him, he couldnt get out. as he got taller, we had to inch it off the ground a bit so he couldnt climb over it, but it worked.

Unless you need the crib, leave her in it. Most Pediatritions recommend leaving in a crib until they are 3 unless they are trying to climb out

My daughter was 27 months when we moved her to a "big girl bed" We skipped the toddler bed. She wasn't climbing out of her crib and was completely happy with it and probably would have stayed until she was 5! We moved her because we needed the crib for baby2 who is due in Feb. I didn't want to take the crib away and immediately give it to the new baby. I wanted her to forget it...

This is what worked for us: Put one side of the bed up against the wall. It will give her a sense of security since that is probably how the crib was set up. We tried only having her head up against the wall -- BIG mistake. she just kept getting out.... Once we moved the bed so one side was against the wall she was obviously happier. We also let her take ALL of her favorite stuffed animals to bed and would line them up on the outside of the bed. I think this helped her to feel more secure.

The other thing, when Lily would get up, we would walk her back to bed, tuck her in and leave with as little interaction as possible. Eventually, since she got no interaction from us, she got bored and just stay in bed. It took about a week for my daughter to get it. It does help though that we close her door when we leave. We will also let her take a book to bed so she can "read". She doesn't have a night light so she will pretend.

Don't get mad when she gets up and be prepared to possibly sleep in there with her, or until she falls asleep or to wake up and find her in your bed. It is a process and, like teaching her to sleep through the night, you do have to teach her to sleep in her bed. Have patience. Good Luck!

I have to agree with a previous responder. Your daughter may not be ready for a "big girl" bed just yet, particularly if she's not scaling the walls of her crib. We waited to get my little girl her bed until she was 2.5yrs. Then, it was more about how big she was getting than how old she was. Also, we figured she would get up and roam the house, so we waited until she was better able to amble around the house.
Try putting the crib and the bed in the same room and use the bed for naps and the crib for bedtime. Keep the same routine you had for her in her crib when you put her in bed. (ie, tucking her in, going to get her when she's up, etc). Also, put bedrails on the bed so it "seems" to have walls and reminds her of her crib.
Lastly, have a party one day for her becoming a "Big Girl" and move the crib out of the room. Then explain she'll be in the big girl bed from then on. Finally, when you put her to sleep at night using the same routine as with her crib, tell her that you'll be back in the morning just like always.
And make sure your house is childproof if you haven't already. Even the best of kids gets curious without Mom and Dad around!

Good luck!