Age to movoe child out of crib

[kcampbell]

At what age did you move your child out of the crib? How early can you or did you do this? We are expecting #2 when my DD is going to be 19 months old. My MIL swears she moved her first into a twin bed at 15 months when my husband came along. That seems so young. I appreciate everyone's advice.

[aasmey]

The standard answer is usually "when they try to climb out" and sometimes I've heard people quote a height limit around 35-36" or something like that. Many people do it for other reasons including a new baby on the way. Some recommend keeping #2 in a bassinet or pack n play until you're ready to move #1 out of the crib. I know of many folks who buy a second crib.

We ended up going to the "big girl bed" when DD was around 18 months or so with our #2 on the way. We just figured that she was going to try to be out of it soon anyway and didn't want to buy another crib if that was going to be the case. We did start the process a little early because we didn't want her to feel like she was having to give up her crib for the baby. She loved it but naps became a huge issue because she loved to play in her big girl bed and room instead of being confined to the crib. I've heard others have experienced the same things. But for us it has worked out overall -- naps a little better, and I'm glad we dealt with the transition before the new baby got here. Good luck!

[SarahK]

I've heard lots of stories of people having fantastic luck moving their young toddlers (younger than 18 months) into toddler beds. I've also heard "horror" stories of children taking hours to go to sleep, toddlers no longer napping, etc, etc.

Our daughter will be about 25/26 months when her sibling is born. We have already bought a second crib for the new baby. Our 20 month old is relatively happy in her crib and naps each day. She is so inquisitive that I know there is NO way she would stay in a toddler bed or twin size bed.

My theory is that if we did not have another baby on the way, we would not even be considering moving our daughter out of her crib...so we're not going to rush her into it. I don't need to be dealing with a non-napping two year old and a newborn at the same time!!

By the way, at her 18 month checkup, my daughter was 35 inches and 29 pounds. She's now 20 months and fits just fine in her crib. I'm sure she is capable of climbing out of it (she's great at scaling the dining room table and other pieces of furniture) but I don't think she has even tried to climb out of her crib.