Ok, so reading another mom's question about a two year old prompted this question. My daughter is going to be two May 27, she was walking at 10 months, talking (some) at 9 and has seemed to do everything early, we even started potty training a couple of months ago then she completely lost interest so I didn't push it. I've seen a couple of comments about "why isn't your 2 year old in a big girl bed?" from other posts and I'm thinking I CAN'T be the only one with a two year old in a crib. She doesn't try to climb out and she huddles up against her bumper at night (like I do our wall) and sleeps all night like that. I'm assuming it makes her feel safe (as it does me). I'm worried about when to switch and why. She loves her crib and I don't want to throw off her amazing sleep because it's "just time to change" I have a couple of acquaintances and one switched over well before age 2, is this normal? I can't seem to get comfy with the fact that she knows how to open and unlock the front door.. she's even LOCKED me out taking out the trash! How have you handled this and when did you make the switch? Maybe I'm over worrying, she has a convertible crib so for all intents and purposes the only difference will be that she can get out on her own...
Thanks for all the support, it's pretty much in-line with what I was thinking! I keep the bumpers in there because she likes to cuddle against them, she stands on them when she wakes up but they just collapse completely and she only stands on them because they are in the way so we'll be keeping the bumpers for now :) thanks moms!
If it's not broke don't fix it :) !!
I kept my daughter in a crib until she was 2 1/2yrs old. She never tried to climb out and slept well. I think this is the one thing too many parents try to rush. I really see no advantage in a big girl bed that early unless they are trying to climb out of the crib, then it is a safety issue.
I know you've already done your So What Happened, but here is my two cents.
Keep her in there as long as you feel that she is comfortable. My son (18months) for instance, loathes his crib. I'm sure it's because of a bad experience with a former daycare provider/he sleeps part of the night with me. Not his paycheck, but next paycheck I plan on getting him a toddler bed. He sleeps well on a mat at school, so I think he'll be just fine in a big boy bed.
So I feel it's for my son's best interets to try out the big bed. If it doesn't work, then we'll go back to the crib. If your daughter loves her crib, why mover her?
My daughter will be 2 on June 7 and LOVES her crib still. At night, she asks to go night-night, grabs a doll and walks to her crib. She sleeps 10-12 hours and does not try to climb out. I'm not planning on switching to a bigger bed until she is too long for the bed. :)
My daughter was in the crib until just past 3.5 years - she just loved it in there and felt very secure. She could climb in and out but never hurt herself getting out and never got out after she had gotten in for sleeping until she is actually awake and it was time to come out. We went on vacation 2 months ago for 2 weeks and she had her own bed that was a "big girl bed" and she slept in it just fine. So after we got back, we just said that since she did such a great job sleeping in a big girl bed, it was time for her to do it at home too. The crib got converted to a toddler bed and she's been fine. I read somewhere that before the age of 3, kids can't picture the "imaginary boundaries" of a bed vs. the real ones of a crib so sometimes it's harder for them to stay put. If your daughter is happy in her crib and is sleeping soundly, I would not worry about it. Every kid is different, but no kid is still sleeping in a crib when they go to kindergarten.
There is no reason to hurry this stuff and you can save time, money and worry by keeping them in a crib longer. 2 is very young to give all the potential freedom to and there is no rule or law saying you HAVE to put them in a bigger bed on a certain date. Id wait till she really can be trusted out of the crib, or until she doesnt fit well anymore. My kids never tried to seriously climb out and didnt toss and turn banging into the crib bars so there was no hurry. I got tired of struggling to change the sheets in the crib and moved them to twin beds when they were each about 3 1/2. Our son did have a toddler bed for a few months but then I saw a really neat head board at a garage sale and that pushed us into the twin bed. I think we get anxious to see our little ones grow up and do the next new thing and push them sooner than they really need. Id let them stay way past 2 years old for their own safety and my peace of mind.
She never tried to climb out so we waited until she was 2 years and 3 mos old.....I would have let her stay there longer but I was having surgery and it would have been impossible for me to lift her in and out of it as a crib. Her crib is convertible....crib to daybed to full size bed. We just changed to a full bed from the daybed a few days ago because we are expecting and wanted to take her old mattress and use it for the baby. She had no problem adjusting to the daybed setup or the full setup. Both times we told her it was a "big girl" step and did something special, like new sheets, new pillow, etc. and she's been fine. I think we were the ones who were nervous and freaked out by the change more than she was! LOL! Make mention of the change when you feel it's time and see what the reaction is....Go from there. Good luck....:) Take care.
My DD is just 16 months and we are about to convert her to a toddler bed because she keeps attempting to "escape" and we are not okay with her having a fall because we waited to long. I wish we were able to keep her in her crib because it does offer that sense of security especially at night time when everyone 'should' be sleeping. I am not a fan of the crib tent idea because I fear she will somehow get caught in it and I dont want her to feel like a prisoner. We just went out today and bought her big girl sheets to try to convince her to stay put at night when we convert it over to a toddler bed so we will just have to wait and see how that goes.
But I say if your little one is happy in their crib, awesome for you both and dont put a time frame on it.
Good Luck
We have never been in a hurry to rush them to a bed. We did with our son at a little over 2 because I was pregnant, but looking back, I wouldn't have done that. Our daughter was well over 3 and cried when we sold her crib. Child 3 came home at age 2 (adopted) and we just put her in a bed, and honestly I don't think she was ready then. Child 4...we tried when he was about 3 1/2 and he was up several times (which is highly unusual for him). After a few sleepless nights, we changed it back to a bed. Tried again a few months later and he was fine with it and has done well. It was all about security for him. All that to say, they are only young once. There is no need to hurry them up in growing up. :)
This is my thinking on all of this. My daughter just switched to a toddler bed maybe two weeks ago. She is two and a half. The ONLY reason why we switched her was because she is so flippin tall and she was out growing her crib. I think that we worry too much about what other people think and say when it comes to our kids about this stuff. "Oh she's two? Is she blah blah blah?, well she should be." It really gets on my nerves, I heard a lot of people say the same things to me. My daughter LOVED her crib. She never tried to climb out, went to sleep like a champ and never threw fits. So why change that? Just because, some people think that because she "reaches the age she should be..." Bah, I say do what you are doing, don't worry about "age guidelines" and switch her when you think SHE is ready.
My boys were in a crib for a very long time, my oldest was over 3 and we moved him because his baby brother was coming, and we moved to a new house and he did just fine with the new house, new room, new bed. Our youngest son moved to a twin at 2.5, when we felt he was ready. Our daughter was in a crib in Ukraine (she's adopted from an orphanage) and she came home at 3.5. We put her in a twin at home, we didn't want to simulate the orphanage at all, and she's been just fine in a the twin with rails.
If she's happy, let her be! She's obviously happy and sleeping well there, don't mess with it unti lshe's ready. Too many people make the move at a year or 18mos or even 2 and most kids just aren't ready and then they have problems with wandering babies at bedtime. Or 5am. LOL.
Mine is still in a crib. She won't be two until July so she is a little younger.
And honestly until it is an absolute safety issue like she jumped out for the third time, she is staying in it
Keep her in the crib as long as you can!!! Don't worry about what other moms are doing. Once she's out of the crib she is free in her room. My twins both decided at 22 months they were done with the cribs. They started climbing out repeatedly and wouldn't stay in there. Bedtime and nap time were so much easier when they were contained in their cribs. As long as she's happy and you're happy, keep her in there. Once she no longer stays in, then it's time to change.
We kept our son in until he was 3.5 ish. Kept the bar lowered in the day (so he could climb in and out, raised it at night. He was more than capable of climbing over, it just let him know he wasn't allowed to.
SO many mums have a 2nd baby at age 2 (of their older child) and need the crib... we didn't have a 2nd one coming, and kiddo *loved* his crib. It was his safe place, his timeout place. There was no reason to switch until he outgrew it.
Added benefit: By not switching until he was older (and just taking off one wall in order to ease into the transition) it was NO problem having him stay in bed at night. We had 2 or 3 nights where he got up out of bed. Since he was older it was pretty easy to explain to him that he needed to stay in.
It's practical to move an older child with an infant coming. But that doesn't mean it's necessary or "time" for a family that doesn't have a baby needing the crib.
My son was over 2 when we moved him out and the only reason we did was that I was pregnant and we needed to get the crib ready for the new baby. Otherwise, I would have left him in the crib as long as he was comfortable and not trying to climb out. When we moved our son out of crib we put a baby gate across his door at night so he didn't have unsupervised free run of the house.
My daughter will be 2 on May 19 and still in the crib and will stay as long as possible. However, I am pregnant, due in November, so we will have to make the transition sooner than I might otherwise.
As far as I know there is no magic age where the kids should move out of the crib. Some need to move out earlier because of climbing out or another issue. Others stay much longer. I feel like my kids are safer in the crib so I keep them there.
its not an age thing its a height thing. my son is 21 mnths and still in his crib because he is only 30inches high so there is no need to put him in a bed. if your daughter is sleeping well and isnt very tall why rock the boat and change her sleeping enviorment. I would recomend you take the bumpers off though, they can be used as a lift to climb out. just because she hasnt tried yet doesnt mean she won't.
