Toddler Bed Vs. Staying in a Crib

I didn't notice any changes when we moved my daughter or my son from the crib to a bed. My daughter always took a long time to fall asleep in her crib and still dances around her room and plays for a very long time before she lays down. My son has always been a great sleeper. Nothing changed when we moved him to a bed. He laid down on it the first night and was asleep less than two minutes later. He slept through that whole night and still does (two years later). Good luck.

My son, was like your son.
Totally good napper and sleeper and so self-reliant and self-entertained himself in the crib.
My son, was in his crib even at 3 years old. He still fit it even if he is a tall boy and he LOVED his crib!

Then one day, he told us, he wanted to be in a bed.
So we did.
HE was ready.
It was a mattress on the floor.

IF a child, is passed out on the floor, next to his toys, for me... well so what? They are sleeping! LOL
But really, it is a phase. Both my kids, during the 2 year old age... went through a phase of them liking, to sleep on the floor, next to their bed.
It was fine. It was just temporary. They got sleep. Which to me, is the point. They got sleep.

We went from a crib to toddler bed at 3ish. The biggest difference was he started going to the bathroom by himself. All good. He is 5-1/2 now and in a twin bed. He still calls for help when he is cold in the middle of the night (because he has thrown off the covers). He has wandered into our room early in the morning 3 or 4 times. We keep our eyes closed and pretend to be asleep and he goes back to his room to play.

Can you take the front rail off your crib? If so, I would start with that and see how it goes. I am sure he will transition fine. If he sleeps on the floor for a few nights or days, don't sweat it. My daughter transitioned so easily. But she also didn't climb in/out of her crib. About 2 1/2, we took the rail off the crib and about 3 we bought her a regular twin size bed. It wasn't until she was 4 that she would actually get out of her bed by herself. Before that, she would call for me to come get her.
If he gets out of bed in the wee hours and comes in your room, just kindly take him back and put him back in bed. After a few times, he will get the point to stay in there. If you let him in your bed, well, he will keep coming.
Now, my daughter gets up around 7am and plays/reads in her room until about 730am.

M., I'd say if he's such a good sleeper and he's the one asking, you don't have much to worry about. When you bring in the bed you tell him the expectations and then enforce them regularly.

My daughters went straight to twin beds at 2 when I needed the crib for the next baby. I thought it was a waste of money to buy a toddler bed & mattress. They've never fallen off. I would just put them down for nap or bed the way I always did, and if they came waltzing out I'd put them right back in again and tell them they're not allowed to be up, it's bedtime now. Then when they woke up they could just come out, which I think is really nice if I'm busy getting breakfast or doing chores. I also appreciated them running to my room in the middle of the night because I barely had to open an eye - just grabbed them up and snuggled them until dad got kicked and put them back!!! ;)
Don't expect trouble, and be calm and consistent if it comes. Blessings!

You probably won't have any trouble! We just switched my son (23 mo old who was a great crib sleeper) because we have another baby arriving in a month and I thought it might take time to transition him out of the crib. He had previously shown no interest in a "big boy bed". I put a fairly thin twin memory foam mattress that we got from Ikea on the floor thinking that I'd let him play on it and get used to it for a while, but literally a day later he tossed his blankets, pillow, animals out of the crib onto the mattress and hasn't looked back. In the two weeks since we switched him, I've had to go in and remind him it's nap time twice (heard him playing with a toy on the monitor), but he hasn't gotten up at all during the night, and when he wakes up in the morning he just lays there babbling to himself. He also sings and babbles himself to sleep. I think if your kid is a good sleeper, crib vs. bed doesn't matter much as long as you keep everything else about nap/bedtime routine the same. Also, mine really seems to like the extra space on a bigger mattress - he still ends up in all positions, and has rolled off onto the pillows I placed around the mattress a couple of times, without waking up thankfully. But he really likes being able to flop around with his animals (which he uses as pillows) to get comfortable when it's time to sleep; he used to knock into the crib railing all the time during his pre-sleep settling in routine. Good luck!

My son is almost three and we moved him to a twin bed. He now gets me up at 600 or 630 every morning. Man am I tired!

First of all, put a baby gate up in his doorway (or two, you can stack them) or a screen door so he can't climb into bed with you in the wee hours of the morning or wander the house. Second, don't worry if you find him passed out on the floor next to his cars at naptime, let him take a car to bed with him along with his stuffed animals and it may not happen at all, but if it does it's not a big deal.

Tell him that now that he's a big boy he will need to stay in bed once you put him there, at nap and bedtime, just like when he was in the crib. Childproof his room if it isn't already, so if he is up and about he won't harm himself.

Moving from a crib to a toddler or twin bed is a right of passage, he's growing up, Mom!

Well, a toddler bed is really for toddlers (12 - 24 months) and your child is not a toddler anymore. Unless he is much smaller than the mid-sized pre-schooler he would actually be too big very soon and not be comfortable. I would recommend moving him to a twin or larger bed instead. It would save you some time and money too. He could start with the mattress on the floor and then at some time in the future you could put the frame under it.

All of my grandkids were in toddler beds by 18 months, most started as soon as they were walking. It is really much easier, no transition, they just go to sleep. I never had issues with them getting out of bed to play or wander, it was just bed.

Your worries are very likely correct. My 5 year old was a great sleeper until the twin bed at almost 3 now it can be a struggle if he isn't tried enough to go right to sleep. Now my little one is 2.5 and we are getting ready to move her to a bed...

My boys transitioned at 16 months. I put a baby gate in their door way so they could not leave the room. I did find them asleep in various locations around the room the first few nights, even under the bed, but I just put them in the bed so they would wake up there, and they got it figured out in a few nights.

The best advice I ever got (and didn't take) was crib til at least 3, unless climbing out.