Toddler Bed

[Anonymous]

Hello! Sarah is STILL as content as can be in her crib. She has never tried to climb out and enjoys bedtime. I am just anxious to move her into a big girl bed! We were at a friends house today and her little boy got tired and went and crawled into his little bed for a nap…on his own! I can TOTALLY see Sarah doing that if she had a bed to get in and out of on her own! I *think* she would adjust very well to a larger bed. Do I make the transition FOR her or do I wait until she shows she is ready?

She is 26 months right now.

[Anonymous]

For DYlan, we put him in at 24 months but Carter was ready at one year. We never did toddler bed we went straight to big boy beds. (I voted twice, once for each of them). Dylan climbed out frequently, but Carter will still wait in bed for me in the morning (he can’t climb out so it was an easy decision to put him in a bed).

HTH! BTW, Sarah’s picture is adorable!!!! Such a big girl now! and read that you have her day potty trained. Excellent job!

[Anonymous]

I would say the earlier the better.

I was worried about Griffin getting out and not going to sleep at night so we did it soon after age 2 and also I was expecting baby number 2 so he was going to be evicted soon. I thought I would try early and then he wouldn’t think we were giving away his bed to this new little alien thing that came into our lives. And it was a very smooth transition.

He had one nap the first day that he only slept like 45 min and I was thinking whoa, this is not going to work b/c I was used to getting my things done during his 3 hr naps. But the second nap, the excitement was over and he has never gotten out since. One thing I would tell you is that I let him sleep on a mattress on the floor and he fell out the first night and I thought oh no big deal, but in the morning he had a bloody lip. I felt bad. They can get hurt from that maybe 6-8 in off the floor. So then I got a rail and we put the bed up on a frame.

[Anonymous]

Amy I am not going to vote b/c we aren’t there yet, but I will tell you that my niece who is Just about Sarah’s age I believe is in a big girl bed now. I know they tried around Christmas time and it didn’t go well. But I believe she is now. My neighbor on the other hand just put her youngest in a big boy bed about a month ago (He turned 3 in January) she waited until he climbed out of his crib.. He is very active and she knew he wouldn’t stay in bed so she waited as long as she could. I think personally I will try with Cooper sometime between 18-24 months… We are still working on the whole sleep training thing… so far so good, but I want that well under control before I try it… he also starts preschool in Sept so I may wait until closer to 2 just so we don’t have too many changes at one time.

[Anonymous]

I did not vote because I think we are out of the norm. Seth never liked or slept much in his crib due to the reflux. He was moved to a toddler bed very early (around 12 months maybe? can’t remember!) because we bought the toddler reflux bed and that is what we needed for it. Most of all though, he had slept in our queen guest bed (with rails) and considered that his bed so a few months ago, we decided to convert the guest room into a big boy room with a cool sports theme and just made his nursery a playroom.

Anyway, said all that to say I think Sarah would definitely be ready for a toddler bed if you are comfortable with one.

Good luck!

Mom2Seth2008-06-12 11:14:01

[Anonymous]

I’ve ben meaning to say too how much I love Sarah’s new picture. She is sooo cute!

[hellbennt]

This is me: I feel like they should stay in the crib for as long as possible. I have a friend who kept her kiddo in the crib until almost 4. I didn’t even think twice about this, bat an eye, or judge her in any way shape or form.

I would have kept jonah in the crib for longer, but Ari was coming & I didn’t want to boot him out last-minute and have him be resentful, so he was out before he was 3. We went right to a twin bed (bunk beds so that the 2 can share a room if that’s what we decide later on). I don’t like the look of bedrails, so I got this http://www.snugtuckpillow.com/ & it’s still on Jonah’s bed (he’s almost 5).

[Anonymous]

I’m also one who thinks that a lot of kids would do better if they stayed in the crib longer, but that’s just an opinion. We moved Baron at 2 1/2 because Nathan had outgrown the cradle and really needed a crib, and Baron seemed ready to make the transition. He did great and has not had a single problem, thank God!! But he was fully content in the crib at 2 1/2, and I would have left him in it longer if I wasn’t so reluctant to buy another crib 🙂

[Anonymous]

Hey Laura, I tried to pm you but your box is full. I love that snug tuck pillow, what color did you get? Does Jonah ever roll over it? Griffin is still such a mover at night and I tried to take the rail off his bed, but he started getting up in the middle of the night and really early in the morning and then I realized one night that he was sleeping standing up next to his bed. So the rail is back on, but I sure would like something more attractive!

Sorry to hijack the post…..

[hellbennt]

[I PM’d Erica, but want to say that if anyone orders one, try and get a discount! mention this board, mention ‘hellbennt’ and mention the baby bargains board…]

[Anonymous]

Amy, I’m with Laura and Paula on this one. I was fully prepared to keep Claire in her crib until age 3 at least. She loved her crib, just like you say Sarah does.. never tried to get out, etc. She just felt comfortable and secure there, and I didn’t want to change that. Also, she slept ALL OVER the place, so I was a bit worried about her being safe in a bed.

We finally moved her when she was about 32 months old.. only because Ben was coming. I would have waited even longer, but I didn’t want her to feel like the new baby was kicking her out of her bed, so we did it a month or so before he was born to give her enough time to adjust.

She did great, but we put her bed against a wall and used a rail for a long time… until about a few months ago, in fact. She never got out of her bed, and we actually had to tell her it was ok to get out to go potty if she needed to or if she had a bad dream and needed us!

And I also have to say how adorable miss Sarah is!

[Anonymous]

I don’t know what my rush is. It’s NOT like there is an impending sibling pushing her out. I guess I feel the need to make the transition while I’m home for the summer.

We also spend several weekends a year at my parents house (mostly during the summer) and she is about to bust out of her pack n play. It’s soooo small. I was planning to bring her crib mattress to my parents house to keep on the floor for her and we would jump to a twin bed at my house. Sarah has NEVER slept anywhere but her crib/pack n play so I guess that’s why I’m anxious to make the transition. I’d love for her to “venture out” on her sleeping accomodations.

I’m also curious…several of you (and my friends, too) have mentioned that their kids never tried to get out of bed, at least not at first. Sarah gets up and down off of our bed all the time so she is definitely capable of getting in and out of beds. Did your kids climb in and out of other beds but STAY in their bed? I’m afraid we’ll have a little night wanderer.

Also, her bedroom is big enough to go ahead and put the twin bed in there (while leaving her crib in there too) I thought maybe when I’m ready to make the transition, put the twin in there to let her feel it out, but still have the crib as a safety too if she doesn’t like it right away…or try naps in the big girl bed but nighttime in the crib…What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I think the naps first to try it out woudl be good. Dylan was a great climber, and he could and does readily get out whenever he wants. We have gone through our ups and downs with his sleeping.

Carter we moved earlier but can not get out of the bed and is a much better sleeper than Dylan ever was.

I guess it would be good for the vaca at your parent’s house, but could you just pack a bed rail and see how it goes there? Bring the pack and play as back up, but try it out there. If she is really happy in her crib at home and is sleeping well for you there, then it would be a real shame if she transitioned and ventured out a lot!

[Anonymous]

We transitioned Kaelyn at 22 months because Alex was coming. We just transitioned Alex right at 2 years because she was climbing out of her crib. Her crib turns into a toddler bed and we have a crib mattress beside the bed in case she falls out She loves it and has only gotten up on her own twice – the first time we put her in and the other day when we had company over and she wanted in on the fun!

[Anonymous]

Do you close her door at night even partially? I would put a hanger on the door like a bell or something behind the door so if she opened it you would know. I’m a very light sleeper now that I have kids and Griffin has gotten out of bed only one time now that he’s in a bed and it was because he was sick. The lights were on and I was freaked out that someone was in our house (as if they would turn on the lights) but I didn’t hear him and it kinda freaked me out.

[Author]

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