New Bed

When they can climb out of the crib you definitely need to move them out.

Babies can die from even short falls like that.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but I'm concerned about life!

A.

My little boy will be 2 in a couple of weeks. He is tall & likes to climb and jump off of things. He has not climbed all the way out of the crib yet but he has climbed onto the changing table. Because I am worried about his safety, we are about to switch to a toddler bed. With my daughter, we waited until she actually climbed out of the crib, but she wasn't climbing on everything else!

You definitely have to gauge your child. My friends converted their twins' cribs at age 1 and fought for the next 18 months to keep them in bed. We waited to move our daughter until she was 2 1/2. We made a big deal and decorated a big girl room for her. She loved it. She helped with painting and color choices. But, she wasn't climbing out of her bed so their were no safety issues. My DS is 15 months and is a climber. I don't know what my plan is. As long as he is safe in the crib, he is staying there for a while. Blessings!

I think it all depends on your family, your set up and what is going on.

My daughter is 14 now but at 17 months, she managed to get out of the crib. We were shocked one evening after she had been in bed for a long time that she appeared downstairs, out of her crib......So, for safety purposes, we did not put her back in a crib after that happened and we also made sure our baby gate on the steps was more secure. We knew that we had to take stronger measure to keep her safe after that episode.

We had a queen box spring and mattress and we put it on the floor in her bedroom. She started out that way and eventually we did the bed frame and then the nice big bed she has now.

I don't think there is a "right" age. All I know, is that I did not want to risk my 17 month old getting hurt, tangled up and strangled or whatever else with her crib. If she got out once, she can do it again.

That is what worked best for us. Good luck.

Well, if he starts climbing out, then you definitely want to switch ASAP. Also, if you are expecting another one and want to use the crib, then you would want to switch enough in advance that your little guy does not feel like the baby got his bed. Other than that, it is really up to when you want to switch. If he is asking for a big boy bed, that would be a good inidicator. If not, you might want to enjoy the continued time of keeping him in bed once you've put him there. Otherwise you will be writing in and asking for advice on how to keep your little guy in bed at night, or from not coming into your bedroom at 5:00 in the morning. When I switched my oldest, he missed the security of having a confined space. We ended up putting up a child gate (which he could have easily climbed over if he had wanted to) across the doorway to his room. This seemed to create the security of a "room-size" crib for him and he was happy. -- But don't rush things. They grow up so quickly! Good luck!

Hi H.,
My daughter is 10 now but I remember we moved her to a' big girl' bed whn she started getting out of her crib on her own. She was flipping herself out of there we think. We freaked out whn we found her on the floor one morning!
Like TF, I believe there is no right age, you will know. You can start the process by talking abt it like we did and take him shopping for his bed. We actually bought the little bed with a rail attached from Toys R us. It bought us time till we figured wht we wanted to buy her permanently. You can still use the mattress n sheets fr the crib. Tht little bed was ideal because it was low with tht rail. She never rolled out of there I left her room door open so I could hear her. We put a kiddie gate at the doorway. Tht way if she got up before me n wanted to play she could. I slept easier knowing she was not going to fling herself out of bed then tumble down the stairs.

This may be more info thn u wanted but.....whn she was 4, we skipped the kiddie room and decorated her room so tht she could grow into it over the yrs without much more expenditure. We asked her color choice n painted her walls a nice big girl shade of pink. I did the drapes n bedding in a black n cream swirly fabric. I bought a child's pink lounging chair fr Pottery Barn. Now tht she's 10, I may just switch out tht piece of furniture for a chair with an ottoman.
Gd luck n hv fun. They grow up way too fast!

Hi H.,

First, I'd see what your pediatrician says. For us, we moved our daughter to a toddler bed around 15 months for reading/quiet time and naps and by 18 months she was completely out of her crib. We got her some new, pretty bed linens which made it a special "event" and she loved it. We decided to make the transition around that time partially because she started "potty" training and I wanted her to be able to get out of bed herself when she had to "go". She did fall out of it maybe two or three times during the night but the bed is very low to the ground and has a thick carpet under it. Good luck.

We moved my oldest son out around 2 years, 2 months. He wasn't climbing out of it, but we had another baby on the way and wanted him to have some transition time in his toddler bed before he saw a baby in "his" bed. It worked pretty well; it took him months before he realized he could move freely around the room! My youngest son turned 2 in December, and we're nowhere near ready to move him to a toddler bed. He's not trying to climb out yet, thank goodness, but he's much more mischievous - I know he would be out of that toddler bed constantly.

I have a friend whose kids are 15 months apart, and she moved her oldest into a twin bed (with rails) when he was a year old. I guess it all depends on your circumstances and what's right for you!

hi H.!
i asked this question a while back and took the advice that you are getting now! I have to say that i'm glad i did b/c my son was able to stay in his bed for a lot longer than i imagined! That said.....2 weeks ago he "dove" head first out of his crib, i thought it was just a fluke...well he did it AGAIN the 2nd night and so b/c of safety we had to move him to a toddler bed. We have not had a full nights sleep in two weeks, he's up for 3-4 hours a night and yes he is in our room at 5 in the morning!! EVERY MORNING!!!! my husband and i are EXHAUSTED....SO...if your precious little man hasn't attempted to get out of bed....for your sake...and his, let him be!!! :) Our little man was having sleep issues before he even began to try to get out of bed and even in our bed he lays sideways between my husband and me and before i know it, i'm almost falling out of bed....this stage is HARD for at least 1/2 of us!! When the time does come for you, i wish you the best of luck b/c i'm having the most difficult time with it!!!
take care
S.

I don't know if there is "right" time. Every child is very different. We moved our child to a full size bed when she was a little over 2 years old (maybe 2 yrs and 2 months). We did it b/c we had a 6 month-old that was growing out of the porto crib and we needed to move her into the bigger crib. It has worked out quite well. We just put the full size spring board and matress on the floor with rails to keep her from falling out of the bed. I started her in there during the weekend - naps only. I sat outside of her door with my back turned. After sat and sunday taking a nap in the bed; sunday evening she slept in her new bed overnight. I slept on the floor at the foot of the bed. After that she slept on her own in the big girl bed. For the first week she did have a few night wakings. We just went upstairs and tucked her in again. It worked out really well - maybe took her a week to adjust fully. Good luck!

I think the gist of everyone's posts is there is no "right" time - it depends on the child. To that point, I thought I would share that my sister moved her children (all three of them) into toddler beds at 8 months old. The reasoning was (clearly not because they were crawling out of the crib!) because her first two children were only 11 months apart. She started moving the first to the toddler bed slowly to see if it would work and so she wouldn't have to buy a second crib. It worked wonderfully. I think primarily because she was still young enough that she didn't know how to get out of it. And from there she just learned that that's where you sleep and you stay in bed. She moved the second child at the same age because it worked so well. A couple of years later the third child was born and when he was about 8 months and she was ready to move him to a toddler bed, she moved her first into a real big girl bed (off the floor and everything.) This worked out wonderfully for her and her children. And as someone else posted, when they were big enough to get up on their own, they just play in their room until everyone else is up in the morning.

For me and my 17 month old, it didn't work the same way. She is still in her crib. I will try to move her out of it in a few months as we have another child coming in Sept. a month before my little girl's 2nd birthday. I'm not going the toddler bed route either... I'm going to put a twin on the floor and that will become her big bed later when she's ready to be raised off the floor. We're not sure what the change will will mean at her age so we're going to give ourselves a few months to make the complete adjustment before the baby comes.

Every situation is different, and you will know when your child is ready for the change. Good luck!

I completely agree with the previous poster. We also did the mattress on the floor with our oldest right around 2 and it worked out great. Now my youngest already had a spare bed in her room (also an April 07 baby) and a few months ago she started begging to sleep in it (go figure - I think she wanted to be like big sister). We started her off at nap time and after a couple weeks tried it at nights. Once she was doing really good we removed the crib. She loves her "big girl" bed but does occassionaly get out of it so we may have started a little young. I know parents who have done it much earlier and parents who have done it much later - just whatever is right for your son and family. Good luck!

Our daughter will be 4 in July and we just moved her into a big girl bed a few weeks ago. She never climbed out of her crib and was content in there until the past several weeks. She wasn't even upset about being in her crib but realized that it was a "baby" thing to do and did not want to be a baby anymore. Anyway, the change has gone very smoothly and after all of that time in her crib she respects the fact that she has to stay in her bed and still calls us when she is ready to get out of bed. She still takes naps or at least has quiet time in her bed every afternoon. It has been perfect. I hope all goes well with you. Don't rush anything if you don't have to.

If he is sleeping well in his crib and not trying to get out of it, I would leave him in it as long as you can or until he requests a "big boy bed". My son was almost 3 before we got him a big boy bed and the only reason we did then was because he woke up one morning and told us he wanted a "big boy bed". We bought one that night and he was thrilled. The transition was super easy as well.

We converted my daughter's crib to a toddler bed when she climbed out of it at 15 months. I'm not sure when we'll convert it to a full bed, but for now the toddler bed (basically the crib without the front on it, with a toddler rail) with a baby gate on the door works. She wakes up in the morning and plays in her room until everyone else wakes up.

H.,
In my opinion around the age of 2 is a good time. Especially if he can climb out of the crib, and if you have not started potty training, I'm sure you soon will, so I would say very soon.

We moved our children out of their cribs when they started climbing out for safety sake. Our oldest was 10 months our youngest was a little over 2 years. It depends on the child.

My youngest daughter is just a few months older than your son (born January 2007) and she is still in her crib. She is not ready because she moves around too much. We went away a couple of weeks ago and brought a todder bed and we pushed a chair against the open space since the rails didn't run the entire length of the bed. Thank goodness we did because one morning she was wedged up against the chair which means she would have fallen out of bed if it hadn't been there!

Each child is different and you are most familiar with your son's sleeping patterns. My oldest daughter moved into a twin bed when she turned 2 and we used bed railings and that worked well for her. My middle daughter went to a toddler bed first, but that was only because she hated any dramatic changes so we needed to make the transition gradually. We had to show her how the crib mattress went into the toddler bed so she understood that technically it was the same bed. I believe she was about 3 before we put her into a twin bed and we still used bed railings.

Hello H.,

it definitely depends on the child. My son was in his crib until he was over 1 year old. My daughter did not make it until she was 1 because she was trying to climb out. She could get her foot over the railing. if you think he's ready, then give it a try. good luck! ~C.~

My rule of thumb always was when the kiddo in question could walk and communicate well enough to say they fell out of bed or they had a bad dream or...whatever. Then, I could get said child back in bed. I have 5 grown kids. V. PS use guard rails for about 6 months

we decided to move our son into a toddler bed when he decided he didn't want to stay in his crib. he was about 14 months.

It depends on the child. If he is happy in his crib, leave him alone. He will be a big boy soon enough.

My great grandson climbed the sides of his crib and fell out before he was 10 months old. He refused to go back in. He screamed and climbed his Dad until it was impossible to put him down. It is amazing how strong the little stinkers are! Anyhow, they had an extra double bed mattress that they put on the floor in the corner of his room. They baby proofed the room so when he got out of bed he would be safe. They thought this would be temporary until they got him a youth bed or something. Well guess what?!? He didn't get out. Every morning for at least a year he sat in his big bed and played until someone came to get him!!
Go figure.
Good luck and God bless!