Transferring to Twin Bed from Toddler

I kept my son in his until he got too big - around 5 I think. His room is small so I wanted to keep as much play area open as possible. Then we went together to look at the captains bed I wanted to get for him. He loved that it has a "secret" door for storage (where we were never able to store anything because it became his "fort" LOL). Just keep her involved. She probably won't care too much about the bed itself. My son was more interested in the Transformer bed spread he got to get!

I'd let her cue you as to when she wants a "big girl bed". When you hear those cues, go shopping by yourself until you find what you want. If there are two choices you can make, then show her the two choices and tell her she gets to pick. (Don't give her a choice if you only find one.)

Then look at bedding and pick several that you like. Let her choose those. If you can take her the store for that, it's even more exciting for her.

If she's involved in the decisions, it will all go more smoothly.

Dawn

We moved our daughter when she was 4, because she was getting too big for it. She's very tall, she's 5 and people frequently think she's much older due to her height.

We also moved her from the nursery to her big girl room, so it was all at the same time, she went to Grandma's house and came home to a new bedroom and bed. She loved it, but not all kids might like it that way.

We also swaddled her until she was 9 months. Her pediatrician said why change things when they're getting a good night's sleep? And that's the rule I've followed since then.

I got my son his twin bed a few months ago (he'll be five in december) and it was an easy transition. I talked a bit about how we would get a new bed soon and he seemed ok with that. I showed him some ideas online and was sure to point out when we saw big kid beds in other kids' homes or in magazines. He went with me to the store to see one and give it the ok. After that, he was really excited for it to come! He picked out sheets and when the big day arrived, he was thrilled. I think he was just ready to switch.

Ours were in a twin by 16 months, so I really have no idea.

I would probably begin looking, but that's because I like to have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for and how much things cost and what features are a priority for me.

We have 2 boys and a 2 bedroom house, so I knew we were going to need bunkbeds. I also knew that I really wanted a twin over full. About 6 months before I knew I would need the beds, I began looking at Craig's List. I found a beautiful set for a very good price about 2 months later (so about 4 months before we would need it). We decided to go ahead and get the bunkbeds because I simply did not seem good sets like this very often.

Anyway, that's just me.

At five you should be able to talk about these things with her. Is her bed still comfortable? Does she care to change or not?
Mine went from crib to twin mattress (on the floor, at first) at around 18 months and it was no biggie. And they always slept well in hotel beds and when we stayed with friends and family.
The most important thing seemed to be that they still had their special pillows and loveys :-)

We switched my daughter right when she turned two. Not because we really wanted to or even felt she was ready. But because we were given a twin bed, and because she was literally ripping chunks of wood with her teeth from the crib rail (even with guards and wrapped with everything you can think of). Since it was completely destroyed and getting dangerous, we couldn't even convert it to a toddler bed. :( She is a little thing and is swamped by her twin. But we have a couple of bed rails put up and stuff animals all around her. It's been a pretty successful transition for my little beaver.
A new bedroom set sounds like a wonderful Christmas present for her! ;)

My son is 4.5. He's still in a toddler bed. He's about to outgrow it though! We told him a while back when he was night-time potty training that as soon as he stopped wetting his bed, his reward would be a Big Boy Bed with Big Boy Sheets. He's been dry now at night for a while, but we still haven't gotten him the bed. We have a friend building it. But we have shopped for sheets and have bought the comforter. We are waiting for the bed to be made so we can go buy the mattress.

So to answer your question in short: Age necessary - when our son started getting taller/longer did we start considering it. Then there was the talk of not wanting pee all over a new mattress. So now that he's long and dry at night, NOW is when we are getting the twin.

@What Dawn and others said about picking sheets/bedding. My husband did not want some giant cartoon picture as the bedspread (Spiderman, etc). He wanted the room to look nice and match with decor/paint. So we told our son he could pick out any sheets he wanted, but Dad got to pick the comforter. All is good. I mean, sure the sheets and comforter might not match, but as long as the bed is made, nobody will notice. Pottery Barn had very cute plaid comforters. Target does too - with lots of colors in them so it could match almost any room.

My kids went from crib to twin bed at around three. I would think now would be a good time to transition. She will be having frineds from school over, and maybe sleep overs soon, so she'll probably want a big girl bed.

Our son was in his crib till 3 1/2 (he could climb in and out at will) and we switched him straight to a twin bed (since we had a bedroom set already).
We put side rails on it an he LOVED that I could snuggle with him in it during story time.
If you get her a canopy bed, you can put a king size bed spread over the top of it sometimes to make a cool fort from the bed.
There are plenty of ways to play!

Toddler beds are really for toddlers, ages 12 months up to 24. By that time the mattress is usually not giving them the support they need or it's too confining by size.

I think you should have her big girl bed in her room now and let her start sleeping on it when she feels like it. After a couple of months you can take the toddler bed out and she'll have forgotten all about it.