We are planning on moving our son to a toddler bed. Any recommendations to help it go smoothly?
Gate at the door and room pretty empty so as boring and safe as possible...almost like the whole room is one big crib. Can put things like books and such back in over time as the big boy bed becomes "normal" for him.
Mattress out of the crib at least, so going back to the crib is not an option (doesn't look comfy without a mattress).
And of course talking it up with him. :)
Make it a fun experience. Have him help set up the bed as much as he can,have him go with when you pick out the bedding and put it on,and make it really exciting for him. When he is getting ready for bed make sure the tone goes calmer and get him calm. I would put up safety gates on his bed. Also put a gate in front of his door so he doesn't keep getting out. Good luck
Can you take him shopping to pick out his new bed/sheets etc? I think it always helps when kids feel like they made the decision. Good luck!
My husband and I had a party for our son to say goodbye to the cribby. We took pictures and told him what was going on. We got extra fun sheets for the big guy bed but kept his old blankie for comfort. Good luck!
Hi!
We had the toddler bed set up for a little bit and let him get used to it and had him "show" it to everyone who came over. Our ped. reccommended doing naps first and then at night, but after 2 naps our son was ready to sleep at night. It was MUCH easier than I imagined and he had no adjusting problems and he was 17 months when he switched! We do keep a gate at his door and once in a while he'll test us by getting out. We just put him right back in and don't talk to him. It may have been easy too b/c he moved to a new room at the same time--the new baby will get his room:)
Good luck and stick with it once you switch!
L.
Make that the only bed option. We had a toddler bed set up as well as the crib and it was a disaster.
Also help him pick out the bed and new bedding(if that is an option). When we got my son his new bed (toddler bed did not work for us, it was a firetruck bed) we took him with us to pick out the mattress ( we turned the crib into a full size regular bed) and that was the key for us i think. He has slept in it everynight since with no problems (with a safety rail). Good Luck.
