Move to Bed

[tbdw425]

When did you move your kids from a crib to a bed?

I just found out I am pregnant with #2, who will be 18 mos. younger than his brother. We live in a very small apartment and I am not certain I can really fit a second crib in our place. Also, I hate the idea of buying yet another crib and having older brother move to a bed soon thereafter.

I would pursue some type of bassinette as an alternative for #2. However, #1 only lasted 5 weeks in a bassinette (which was borrowed and has been since returned). He was too active and never really fit well in the bassinette.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[atlbaby]

First of all congratulations!! I don't have any experience yet with moving #1 to a bed, but I just wanted to say I am in the same situation as you are. We live in a small apartment too, and I am expecting #2 to come when DD will be 23+ months. They will have to share a (very small) room, and I don't really want to invest in 2 cribs. My current plan is to switch Arielle to a twin bed over the summer, and keep #2 in a bassinet in our (also very small!) room till 4 months or so, as that's when Arielle outgrew her crib. Then I will move the baby to the crib, and hopefully Arielle will have had enough distance from her crib to not get upset.

Anyhow, that's my thinking for now. Again, congratulations! When are you due?

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
#2:) EDD 10/24/03

[caroliner]

I don't have advice from personal experience, but hope to be facing the same "dilemma" next year... My sister and I are 20 months apart, and my mother said she definitely never had 2 cribs, so I was in a twin bed before my second birthday, so that is definitely an option. We used a large cradle for Caroline from BRU. She fit in it until about 5 months, so that is an option for you if you want to buy a cradle. You could also get a toddler bed. They are very small and it would not be a waste of $$ as once baby #2 graduates from the crib, you can put him in the toddler bed. I am thinking we will likely get one even though there is already a crib and queen bed in the baby room. The other nice thing about a toddler bed is it is easy for newly potty trained toddlers to get out of in the middle of the night. If you don't want a toddler bed or a twin bed on a frame, you can always put a twin mattress on the floor and move it up as your child gets bigger.

[khakismom]

Congratulations on baby #2! :) We just moved our DD from the crib to a double bed almost 2 months ago--she was 22 months at the time. I wasn't going to buy another crib since it is used for such a short time. And I wanted Kathleen in the bed a few months before baby came so she wouldn't think that the baby kicked her out of her bed. The bed was in the other bedroom for a few weeks ready for her (almost ready--we still wanted to get a bed rail). And we moved her toys and books into the new room so she got used to the room; plus we started calling it her room. She actually played in the room for a week or so before she slept in it. When we were finally ready, we played it up about what a big girl she was. :) She was so excited until the moment came when we would leave her in there, and then I think she panicked and started crying. (This coming from the girl who lunged into her crb to go to sleep was obviously not normal.) Eventually, I closed the door and she cried for a few minutes. That was it. She fell asleep and has loved her bed since.

My brother and I are 22 months apart and my mom said she moved me at 18-19 months to a twin bed. I have a girlfriend who moved her daughter to a toddler bed at 15 months only because they moved and the movers lost the crib hardware--ouch--and she wasn't about to buy another crib.

I think if you get your DS excited about a big boy bed, he'll do great. And you might think about a toddler bed--of course you have to buy another crib mattress--because they don't take up much space.

HTH. Good luck and congrats again! :)

...Maureen

Mom to
Kathleen 3/22/01
Baby girl EDD 6/12/03

[August Mom]

Congratulations. I don't have any personal experience with this either, but my SIL has children very closely spaced (14 mos. apart) and bought a portable crib for the baby while the older child stayed in the regular crib.

[brubeck]

We moved my daughter to her 'big girl bed' when she was 18 months old. I was pregnant with my son at the time, but the main reason we did it was that she was so tall that her armpits were at the top of the crib when she stood in it and we figured it was just a matter of time before she climbed out on her own.

We put a mattress on the floor in her playroom for a few days when we left her in there for a nap. She walked all over it (she loved the bouncy feel) and went to sleep on it voluntarily for naps. Of course her other choice was the floor, but previously she was napping on the floor without complaint.

A few days later we moved the mattress into her bedroom but left the crib in there. She stayed in the crib for another week and then we started putting her onto the mattress. She had no transition problems whatsoever and LOVED her new bed with it's 'cobbers' and 'po' (covers and pillow for the non-toddlerish speakers). After a week like this we moved out the crib. After 2 or 3 weeks of sleeping on the mattress on the floor we moved it up onto a (low) bed frame with a step stool to help her get on it. She's still sleeping on this bed at 28 months and probably will for the next few years at least.

[sweetbasil]

Congratulations! We, too, have a second on the way, and the key for us in transitioning DS#1 into the bed was all the "big boy" terminology we threw around, like a goal for him...big boys sleep in big boy beds, etc. So after a week of that, he *asked* to be moved out of the crib and into the big boy bed. He was just over two, but that was because we *could* leave him in the crib a little longer--- he'll be 31m. when DS#2 arrives. Anyway, best wishes, and congrats again!

[schums]

I am in the same situation you are. My kids will be about 17 months apart. I would rather keep my son in the crib longer, (friends tried to move their DS at 15 months and it was a DISASTER) so I am on the lookout for cribs at garage sales and resale shops. I figure I can get a used crib for a lot less than full price, and let my DS decide when he is ready to move to a big boy bed. Then, when we only need one crib, I'll resell it to someone else, and hopefully not lose too much $$ in the process.

Sarah