move from crib to bed?

[jbeamer]

I have been reading the posts about moving your toddler from a crib to a bed and have some questions as well. My DD is 17m and is constantly getting her legs stuck between the bed rails. There is no way for her to get them out except for us to go in there and get her legs out for her. My DH wants to move her to a bed, my concern is that she won't stay there. DD is very active and I have visions of her playing in her room all night! Do people remove toys from the room? We thought of trying her with the crib mattress on the floor first, then moving her to the double bed that we have. Does it matter what type of mattress we use? We were given the double mattress, it is only about 3-4 years old and firm. Will this be okay. It is in great shape, so we would like to use it instead having to buy something else. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!

[juliajaj]

We moved DD #1 from crib to twin bed when she was 20 months old since DD #2 was due in July & we only have 1 crib. At first we put the mattress on the floor for 1 week, but I don't think she understood to stay on it & sleep (she always ended up sleeping on the floor). Then we put the bed together with the rails (we bought the extended length ones). At first we would pick her up & put her in bed. She did fall out a couple of times, so we would put her back in bed. The best thing we did was to buy a step stool that we keep at the foot of the bed, so she learned how to climb in & out of bed. She's even figured out how to get back in bed if she falls out in the middle of the night. The guard rails were really helpful, but not a 100% guarantee that DD wouldn't fall out of bed. As for removing toys, I did this for the 1st week, but then I moved things back to where they normally were. She very rarely gets out of bed during naptime or bedtime to play (we're very fortunate). We removed the rails 2 weeks ago to see how she would do without them. She's only fallen out of bed a couple of times & still gets back in bed on her own. Good luck with your transition.

[jbeamer]

I like the idea of a step stool. I think that would work out well if we decide to put the bed together. Thanks for the help.