ready for toddler bed?

[startingover]

As I had posted previously, I am splitting from my fiancee and having to buy all new furniture for an apartment. DS just turned two and is still in his crib. I was going to leave his crib here at fiancee's house and am going to have to buy a new bed. I do not really want to buy another crib because I do not know how long he would stay in it. I was thinking of getting him a toddler bed, instead. He does still have sleep issues and wakes up during the night and wakes up very early. Do you think I am risking making his sleep issues worse by having him in a toddler bed where he can't be kept confined or would the adjustment not be too bad? I also did not want to buy a crib because I would have to order it and wait for shipping (do not know any B&M that sell cribs off the floor) and I need to have a bed for him by March 1.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks

[o_mom]

There are plenty of places you can buy cribs without a wait. Walmart, BRU, etc. At two you don't need anything fancy like quiet rails or 6 matress positions. You can get an inexpensive one for $100 or less, not much more than a toddler bed. DS1 moved out of the crib at 3 years, 3 months. If he had started climbing out at age 2 I would have bought a crib tent.

If you really don't want a crib, I would skip the toddler bed and just get a twin or full size mattress set and put it on the floor to start with. That way you don't have to buy a bed later. Go for the full if you have room since you may need to lay with him to get him to sleep.

[oneplustwo]

I agree with o mom. If you can find a B&M store in your area with cribs, get an inexpensive one. Your DS will be going through a lot of transitions -- a new apartment, a change in his family -- so he might be better off not having to handle yet another one. If you are worried he may try to climb out, a crib tent is a good solution. They are pricey though (around $70 new) but you could try to get a used one for about half price. My 3-yo twin DSs are still in their cribs with crib tents b/c we all sleep better this way! If a crib is out of the question, go for the mattress on the floor -- you can get a bad frame later on and skip the added expense of a toddler bed.

Good luck!

Anne
mom to DD. 8/01 and DS1 and DS2, 11/03

[kransden]

I would skip the crib entirely and buy a twin or full size bed and put it on the floor. You might have to put it in your room for a while in the new place too. OR bring the crib and get a new bed for the old place. That might work a lot better.

My dd was a co-sleeper (sigh) and was out of our bed for about a year until we moved. Then she popped back in. I just didn't have the heart to kick her out, she was too overwhelmed by the move. We finally brought her bed into our room. That gave her the security she wasn't going to be abandoned.

Hugs to you during this difficult time.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[C99]

He is going to have a hard enough time adjusting to the other changes in your/his life. If it were me, I'd want to protect his (your) sleep as much as possible and buy a second crib. As o_mom said, there are plenty of places that sell cribs off the floor and you don't need anything super fancy for a 2-y/o. I got a second one at IKEA for $89.

[startingover]

I did not want to bring the crib with me (did not want to disassemble and then reassemble) and get a bed for ex-fiancee's place because he would have an even harder time transitioning DS to a bed.

[cstack]

I got one by simplicity for $118 at Walmart. It seems pretty sturdy and it looks nice enough. THey had at least 1 crib that was $88. If he will be staying with your fiance less often than with you, I'd take his current crib (taking apart and putting together is really not that hard, I promise) and leave the less expensive crib at your fiance's house.

[infocrazy]

My DS will be about 21 months when his little brother comes. Although not initially, we will hand down his crib to little brother. I don't think DS is ready for no crib, he still moves around a LOT at night and sometimes wakes up.

I am going to get a convertible crib. They have them this week at K-Mart on sale for 99-150 ish.

That way, I can keep him in the crib but I already have his next bed ready. I have my eye on one at IKEA that is like $159 but I like it because it is lower to the ground than a traditional crib.

Good luck!