Earliest a DD can go to big girl bed?

[akc]

Hi all -

Just found out that...surprise...I'm expecting another little bebe in the house. My DD will be 20 months when this one is due. My question is - how early can you tranfer a girl (important b/c I understand the develop can be different) to a big girl bed? Did anyone move theirs this early? We had planned on reusing the crib with our next - I'd hate to buy another, but if it must be done, it must.

What do you think?

akc

[flagger]

There was a little blurb in this month's issue of Parents that suggested not putting kids in a toddler bed until the age of three. As always you mileage may vary.

[Megieblue]

Though I totally understand wanting to plan in advance, you really will have to see how ready your DD is when the new baby comes. My DS had a very nice sleep pattern and happily took to the "big boy bed" at 21 months a couple months before his new brother's arrival. I know of other children (boys and girls) who at 3 still refuse to sleep anywhere but their crib. And I know of others still (boys and girls) who have moved babes closer to a year into a big bed with great success.

Though I certainly encouraged my son to move to a bed at 21 months, I didn't really need to. The truth is that my baby didn't regularly sleep in his crib until closer to 4 months old as he was in a bassinett in our room for most of his nights before that.

[sweetbasil]

Well first, congratulations! How wonderful. I hope you're doing well and feeling great overall!

There was a thread about this in the last few months in the Toddler Bargains section that might be of some help: http://www.windsorpeak.com/dcforum/DCForumID31/41.html

The nice thing is, you'll have a while to think through all of this, and you'll probably be surprised at how much Maeve changes over the next 7+ months. She'll be a big helper just in time for the new baby to arrive! If you need anything, please don't hesitate to e-mail me---- we're about to enter into the adventure of two little ones in just a few days, only our boys will be about 31 mo. apart....

All the best,

[akc]

Hi -

Thanks for the encouragement. We are really excited - our daughter was such a joy that I'm so happy with another one on the way. I appreciate you passing on the post - it was really helpful. Seems like I will have to see what her situation is then, but it was nice to know that a lot of people have moved their kids around that age or just a little older.

Thx -
Alexa

[jubilee]

Congratulations!!! How about putting the big girl mattress on the floor until you think she can handle the height of the new bed? That way she stays safe, but you have the crib for #2.

[toomanystrollers]

Mine 4 1/2 yr. daughter turned into Mary Lou Retton at 24 months so we had no choice. We basically baby-proofed her room (removed the changing table and put closet locks on) and put her in a Graco toddler bed - inexpensive, lots of them at yard sales. We also kept a baby gate on her bedroom door for the first couple of months to keep her in her room at night and out of trouble.

We're expecting #3 any day now and my son is almost two. He's content in his crib and I really don't what to buy another crib so I hoping to buy some time with a Arm's reach co-sleeper. Apparently I can use it as a co-sleeper/bassinet up to 30 lbs. or when the baby is sitting up, rolling around, etc.

Thanks to Gramma, he already has a fire truck toddler bed but I'm not looking forward to him being on the loose at night - he's a menace :)

Good luck,
Pam

[starrynight]

It really depends on your daughter. Both my kids were and still are pretty restless sleepers and wanted out of the crib at around a year old. Neither one of them took to a toddler bed either, just wasn't big enough. My son went to a full size bed at 18 months after fighting me on the toddler bed for 4 months amd my dd went to a full size bed at 14 months. She is now 16 months and for the most part doing good in it. The matress is on a boxspring on the floor so it's not to high up and she can climb up and down herself. If you think your dd can handle a big girl bed go for it, just make sure everything is childproofed incase she gets up at night. :)

[akc]

Hmmm...so, it seems like it really depends. We have a twin bed in her room already, so she's used to seeing it - and a couple times we went on vacation, she refused to sleep in the Pack n' Play, so she slept on a real bed (a twin!) with me contorted around her to make a barrier. BUT, the thing is she loves her crib and we have no problem in portable cribs when we go away.

I'm just confused about how they sleep in the bed - Maeve sleeps every which way in her crib - rolls all around and ends up at the other end, facing the other direction in the a.m. Plus, she often sleeps chunks of the light on her tummy now. Do they just sleep straight once you move them? We actually have an extra full as well, don't know if that would be better?

ARGH! My biggest worry is that I don't want her up and able to wander when the new baby comes in case we can't get to her at the instant she wakes up. She plays in her crib now and talks to herself for about 20 minutes - I'm worried we'll lose that barrier if she's in a real bed.

Well, I suppose I'll just have to wait and see!
Thanks for all your advice - it definitely gives me some ideas.

Alexa

[SeekerMage]

I think that we have been pretty lucky when it comes to sleeping in a big girl bed. Angie was about 15 months when her mom put her in a toddler bed. She seemed to sleep pretty well in it from what we heard. When we got custody of her at 2 years old we put her in a twin daybed with a side rail on it. We tucked a body pillow up against the sides so it was softer for her. We never worry about her suffocating because she flops around so much. One end of the bed to the next all night long! My mom doesnt like the idea and so we tried to take them away but she is set and wont let us says she needs her pillows.
We also taught her that she has to stay in bed until Mommy or Daddy comes to get her. She now calls when she needs us and waits until we come to get her or call to tell her its ok to come. She is very happy staying in bed, talking to her dolls, singing songs etc. It took a few nights of convincing to get her to stay but once she learned we havent had problems yet. Its also nice for nap time too because while she might not sleep she, and I have a bit of quiet time. To some it might seem cruel and unusual punishment but if she doent get a nap/quiet time she is a monster so Im all for it!
Hope this helps some...oh...and we have yet to have her fall out of bed! She gets in some interesting positions, legs over the rail etc but they must have a guage to know just how far to go over the edge!

[MinnieMouse]

My dd ALWAYS hated her crib. Our guess is that it wasn't as much the crib as the mattress. She never slept well on it at all. We used the arm's reach cosleeper for 6mo and then her crib for a few hours a night from 6-18mo. We ditched the crib and mattress at 18mo and moved her straight to a low rise twin bed and she's done GREAT. We nurse to sleep so difficulties with going down to sleep isn't an issue, and we put a gate up across the doorway to her room. When she wakes up and wants us she just goes to the gate and call us.

Dd is now almost 2yo and sleeps great in her bed. I am REALLY glad we moved her so young. And have NO qualms about doing the same for #2 when the time comes...if that is what gets them to sleep better!

Christine

[lmkramer]

Our son was 22 months when his brother was born. We had tried to make the move to a toddler bed for several months, but it took a while. We ended up using a bassinet for a few weeks for baby at night, and during the day, baby napped in the portacrib downstairs (bedrooms are up). Gradually, we got big brother to sleep in the toddler bed sometimes, first at night, later for naps. Each night we'd ask him if he wanted the baby bed or the big boy bed. Eventually he chose the big boy bed all the time. It seemed like it took forever, but it saved us from buying another crib . . .

Of course, now we need another crib anyway--child number 3 will only be 14 months behind our second. (Sigh . . .)