Suggestions on How to Get a Toddler to Sleep in Twin Bed

hey have you tried taking the toddler bed out of the room completly might work or make a big deal out of the new bed hope that works hugs G.

T.,

If it really doesn't matter, he can stay in the toddler bed until he doesn't fit anymore. If you want to get rid of the toddler bed, then get it out of the room. Maybe keep the pillow or a blanket from the toddler bed, make a big deal out of the new "big boy bed." Having two beds in his room for him is confusing.

Good luck,
S.

Hi T..

Maybe try putting both mattresses on the floor and letting him choose which one to sleep in at first, gradually get him to sleep on the big mattress, maybe just for nap at first, then at night, and then reintroduce the bed frame itself. We've also had success putting the mattress on the bed frame without the box spring so it's lower to the ground and less scary. The mattresses on the floor approach worked for us.

S.

Hi T.
I agree with the other respones to take the toddler bed out of his room. Also I would try making the twin bed feel small with a side rail and some pillows. Good Luck :)T.

I also agree on getting the toddler bed out of the bedroom. We used the bed rail for a very long time....no harm in that. Is there is anything you can add to the big bed to make it feel cozier for him? If the sheet for his toddler bed is too small for his twin bed (I'm guessing it is), can you make the sheet into an over-sized pillow? One last thought....does he feel insecure about being too far from the ground? If so, put his twin mattress on the floor until he gets used to the size of it, then bring the twin bed frame back. Good luck!

Is there a specific reason why you want him to use the twin bed? If he is getting too big for the toddler bed, the best thing is to simply remove it from the room. I would make a big deal about it and have him help you take it apart or pack it up and then go to the store and let him pick out sheets or at least a pillow case with his favorite characters on it. Then have him help you make up his new "big boy" bed.

This worked for my boys when I passed the toddler bed to the younger brother.

Take the toddler bed out - drop the top mattress to the floor next to the box spring - let him get used to the feeling of the bigger mattress - at a height he is not fearful of. My son was the same way!! He started enjoying his big bed in this way, and we then purchased those side rails - even on the side near the wall - and he played 'pirate ship' up there. Worked like a charm. It did take a couple of months of transition, but eventually worked :)

T.

We had the same issue with our son. He was also two, we needed him out of the toddler bed due to having our second child and needed the mattress! We took the toddler bed a way. Both my husband and I would take turns lying next to him on the floor with our back to him. Each night we moved closer to the door until finally we lay outside his room. We also found music to work wonderfully! We turn on a CD at sleep time, it has quite piano music. At nearly five he still uses it. It really helped/helps him wind down from the day and relax him.

My 2.5 year old still sleeps in the toddler bed (converted from the crib.) If there isn't a need for someone else to use the toddler bed, why do you want him in a twin bed? Does it really matter?

However, if you really want him to sleep in the twin bed, I would take the toddler bed out of the room altogether. Use the same bedding on the twin bed so it looks like the toddler bed, but as long as the toddler bed is in the room and your son wants to sleep in it, he's not going to try sleeping in the twin bed.

Last week I got my 3.5 year old a twin bed and gave her toddler bed to her brother. She's really into the Disney princesses and Cinderella especially, so while she was playing with her cousins my husband and I set up the bed with the new Princess bedding and all that. Since she also shares a room with her lil bro so we got him all new bedding too so that he would also have a big surprise when he got home. When they walked into that room their eyes lit up. It was my daughters first "big girl" bed and our sons first toddler bed (even though he had been sleeping on a toddler mattress on the floor)and both of them wanted to go to bed right away. So, you might want to find something that he's into a lot, whether it be Thomas or Cars or whatever, they sell bedding for everything, and really deck out the bed so he feels like it's a big thing for him. Send him off somewhere and when you bring him home tell him he's got a big surprise waiting. Most of all, take the toddler bed out!!! The shock and excitement of having a "big boy" bed is usually enough to sway even the oldest of kids (myself included), and once he realizes that the toddler bed is no more it's either sleep in his great new bed or on the floor. I'm not promising there's not going to be a fight just because something as big as a twin bed is intimidating for a child, but if you want him out of the toddler bed then you've got to take it out or you will continue to give him the option of sleeping in it. It took my son some time to get used to being out of the crib, but I think if you make a big deal about it and tell him how he's got a big boy bed now and what a special thing it is he might go for it :) Hope this helps.

T.
Its tough, really it is especially when there is both parents working full time during the week. Its a problem for most parents its quite common too. I know the feeling when the both of you work hard to stay above water to provide for your family, we have no energy left in the evenings at time to want to do anything and weekends are our catchup day to work around the house and relax when we can, at times with a growing family that is hard to do. In the past what I have done and at times it is hard and I do understand is that when coming home after work it is a very good thing to set ROUTINE as soon as you walk in the door. Do the same things every evening with your 2 year old, Dont make the play time high stimulating and loud, this is a time to sit down and do some learning play, reading, talking watching a childrens animated movie, working on spelling skills, drawing, painting, Bath the same time and then when bed time comes around reinforce the fact that bed your 2 year old sleeps in his theirs> Make it THEIR bed and make it look special. Pull a chair up next to it and read a book, make going to bed in their bed a routine. Add a soft toy to cuddle with only. Let the child know its bed time and relax with low stimulation with a reading of book. Encourage the child that you are still here and that you can hear them if they are need of something and that you are not going anywhere. It is very important to let the child know that there is consistancy and that you are the parent. Putting a child to bed in their bed is an ongoing contance situation and it is a normal frustation to most parents. Hang in there be persistant and consitant with routine and the habit will break. Good Luck KM

You really have two options here.....1) let him be in the toddler bed, he is only two years old, there is no rush to move him? OR 2) get rid of the toddler bed. If you really want him in the twin bed, then don't give him an option of gettin out and getting into the toddler bed. He obviously will choose that over the big bed. If he wants to get out he will have to sleep on the floor.....I don't think that would last long.

I didn't give my daughter the issue when I switched her over to a toddler bed. However, I gave her the option of picking out the bed spread and I picked out the sheets and pillowcase to match. In case your wondering, she picked Lightning McQueen! She loves it!!!

Hi T.,
I agree with some of the other posts in wondering why you are pushing to get rid of the toddler bed if he is sleeping fine... Just as a comparison, my 2 year old is still in his crib which I don't plan to convert to the toddler bed until he is about 3. Why deal with him jumping out of bed every hour if I don't have to, lol?!?! He will stay in that bed until he is just too big (I'm guessing around 5 yrs). Then, I figure we can go shopping together for a cool "big boy" bedroom set. If there is not enough room for both beds, maybe you could store the twin bed for now...

Hi T.,
I agree with the gals who say, let him stay in his little bed as a little person should. He will probably be ready when he is 4-5 yrs old when he fills like a big boy or when he is potty trained, he will know he is a big boy now and that might be around three or so... Just give him those layered shorts and tell him his brain tells him he has to go potty and race 100 miles an hour to get there :). They love challenges you know.
S.

My question is why the need to push him into the twin bed? If he is doing fine in the toddler bed, I would just let him be for now. The important thing is that he is sleeping at night and sleeping in his own bed. He just might not be ready to transition yet. My four year old is still in his toddler bed, so I think you have some time yet.

When we were getting ready to move our daughter out of her crib to a twin (like your son, both beds were in her room), we started just reading her naptime/bedtime stories on her "big girl bed" to help her start to get used to it, but then continued to lay her down in her crib. Every now and then, I'd ask her if she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed and one day, she just said, "yes!".

Good luck!

Quick response - My just turned 5 year old is still in his toddler bed. He still fits and feels safe. He's not ready to switch yet. It's OK with me.

Hi T.
He'll switch when he's ready if you have the room and the patience- or just remove the toddler bed keeping the same bedding so he transitions.
We switched our twins to beds at 12 months- didn't like cribs.
We put up toddler rails to feel like toddler bed- cheap and helps keep in the bed.
Have fun- next thing you know he'll be at college.
B. Jarmoluk
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http://www.mydietshop.org

simple - remove the toddler bed. Have a count down or a goodbye party and give it a new home for another baby boy - not for your big boy anymore

For some kids a twin bed is just too big - like putting a plant in a too-large pot - it flounders. We let our kids stay in the toddler bed until they were too big for it and/or requested to make the move. So much of a toddler's life is dictated - this is one thing they can control for themselves. Feeling comfortable at bedtime is important to developing a sense of security.

SAHM of seven in a very small house.

you will have to remove the toddler bed from his room and then tell him he has the twin bed because he is a big boy now. Maybe for the first few nights in the twin bed you or someone in your family can sit with him and read or play a small game or just play and talk for a while with him to ease his transition to the bigger bed. It may help also to get him a comforter and sheet set with a character that he likes. Good luck. He sounds great.

You need to get the toddler bed out of there and he'll probably do just fine.

Hi T., do the boys sleep in the same room? Is that why the toddler bed is still in the bedroom? I think because there are two beds in the room, you are providing a choice for him. My son is 2 years old and we simply removed the toddler bed and replaced it with a twin. What we have done is make bedtime fun by reading a book of his choice and do some interaction with the book, which I'm sure you've done. :) It seems to work for us.
Good luck.

First get rid of the toddler bed, it might cause some fights but if its not there he can't sleep in it. second try getting some fun sheets, they sell Cars, or Spiderman sheets. Let him pick them out. Something that helped me get my son used to his, I made curtins and a matching pillowcase he was pretty happy about that. good luck

I had a similar problem going from crib to big boy bed. What worked in the end was a weeks worth of warnings that this weekend we're going to change to a big boy bed and then taking the other bed away. And I mean away. Take it apart and pack it up. No going back. Make sure you build up the fact that it's a big boy bed - it's special. You might want to also make sure there's nothing scaring him about the big bed - is it too high up, is it next to a wall that he can hear more noise from pipes or heaters, does it face a closet that could have monsters in it, does it have just as comfy sheets, is it missing his favorite pillow, etc...

Why is it an issue that he must sleep in the bigger bed? He's little. He probably feels more comfortable in a bed that's more his size. I don't like sleeping in a king sized bed. I'm 5'2" and weigh 130. I'm small. That's too much bed and I don't like it. It sounds like he feels the same way. Don't push him into something he is clearly telling you he's not ready for. Each of my 4 kids went from my bed to the toddler bed to their own bed in their own time. It was different for each one. However, we never had any trouble because we allowed each one to do it in their own time frame. We didn't push our kids to do something when WE felt it was the right time or convient for us. We allowed them to show us when that right time was and we encouraged them in that. Because of that, we had no issues at all with night time. My first two slept together for a few years because that's how they felt the most comfy. I often will still find my older three curled up together in a tent that sleeps 1-2 people. (my kids are ages 11, 8, 5, 18 mth) Give him space and freedom to develop on his own time frame and he'll let you know when he's ready for that twin bed. In the meantime, enjoy the little person that he is for it goes away far too fast.

It worked for us when our daughter got fun sheets with Dora. Then she knew it was her special big girl bed. I still have to sit by her bed, read books, and then stand at the door watching so that she doesn't climb out and follow me. I just shake my head and say "no, stay in your bed." When she gets tired, she doesn't fight it.

A little about me:
married for 6 years, 2 1/2 year old girl, nurse

yep, i agree...is he too big for the toddler bed?? is he sleeping through the night?? let him sleep there until he doesnt fit. If you totally dont want him to use the toddler bed, put it away so he doesnt have a choice.

Hi T.,

Bedtime battles are horrible. We've gone through quite a few different ones with our now 4-year-old girl. It was very difficult to get her to stay in her toddler bed when we first switched her over. She actually didn't transition to a toddler bed until almost 2. She was happy in her crib, didn't learn to climb out, and the dr. said keep her there until she does learn how to climb out. I guess I would maybe just leave your son in his toddler bed for a while longer unless somebody else needs to use it. It's probably closer to the ground and maybe he just feels safer. If you really want to go with the twin, maybe it would be best just to remove the toddler bed from the room. He's probably so used to it that if he has that option he'll want to choose it over the twin because he's more comfortable there. Not ground-breaking advice, I know, but thought I'd share my thoughts and see if it might help. Have a great weekend!

I would guess that, at least for a while, as long as he has a choice, he will opt for his toddler bed. It is more familiar to him, and it is smaller. Kids like cosy spaces. So if you're really intent on him using his twin bed, you'll probably have to bite the bullet and put away the toddler bed.

How can you make the twin bed more cosy? Make sure his crib size blanket travels over, put up a temporary side rail, use stuffed animals to make the area smaller, maybe outline an area on the new mattress that is similar to the toddler bed mattress size. Maybe even put his smaller mattress on top of the twin bed one for a time (you'd better have a side rail up for sure, as he'll likely roll off the smaller mattress, and possibly on to the floor.

If he's just barely two, you may just need to give him a little more time, one of mine was content to stay in his crib, w/ the side rail down, until he was three. Others were happy to transition sooner.

Happy trails.