Tips for transitioning to toddler bed?

[newg]

DD1 will be 3 on the 19th and we're going to turn her crib into her toddler bed as part of her birthday celebration.

Any tips/suggestions for making it a smooth transition for her? And am I doomed to lose her afternoon nap once we do this?

***for the record, I am not completely on board with this. DH is really pushing this and I'm trying to pick my battles ***

anyways..........thanks for any BTDT tips and advice!!

[dukie41181]

No advice, sorry! Just wanted to say that my daughter will be 2 on the 19th!

[Kitten007]

No tips, but we just upgraded DS2 into DS1's room and they both have toddler beds. DS2 was so excited and he slept great the first night. He still takes his normal nap in the afternoon and so far so good. I think just go with it and take their lead.

[kellij]

In my experience, you lose naps and you will get a little visitor in the middle of the night. I never let my kids get out of their baby beds until they figured out how to climb out. Good luck!

[sarahsthreads]

We moved DD2 (2.5) just before the new year (because DH was home and could help deal with any fall-out - it was his idea, I would have waited). She has always loved her sleep, but was starting to not nap on a daily basis before the transition anyway. I probably get a nap out of her 3-4 times a week, because she'll gladly go lay down if she's tired.

We let her watch and "help" take down the crib and assemble the toddler bed instead of just having it happen while she was in another part of the house. The second night she was a little sad that the crib was gone and we acknowledged that it was OK to be sad about it, that getting big and having things change can be sad sometimes, but it was really quite painless overall.

We made sure to keep her bedtime routine the same, kept the bedding the same, just basically made it only about the one single transition.

Make sure you take pictures of the last time in the crib and then the first time in the toddler bed!

Sarah :)

[Avispa]

We moved DD1 in a toddler bed when she was 21 month old (DD2 was coming 3 months later). The one thing we did that I think helped with the transition is to put the toddler bed at the exact same location in the room where her crib was so that from her perspective not much has changed. She did very well, even now, 5 months later, she still very rarely get out of her bed herself unless we tell her to do so (like in the morning when she is clearly awake, chatting away in her bed). It is actually really nice to see her just climb up herself into her bed for naps and at nighttime. Good luck with the transition!

[hillview]

I would think about moving to a crib unless DC is climbing out or if you need the crib for something else or there is another reason to move. To transition to a crib agree likely to lose a nap if you still have it and be prepared for a week or more of working on staying in bed and possibly getting up in the middle of the night.
/hillary

[Cam&Clay]

DS2 turned 3 in December and shows no signs of wanting out and I have no plans to move him until he does. I mentioned that he will get DS1's bed soon and he said no. I'm all for keeping them in the crib until you have to move them for a new baby or to protect them from hurting themselves climbing out.

[MSWR0319]

We had to move DS at 25 months because he was climbing out. I was not happy! He just started sleeping consistently through the night and taking over an hour and a half naps. It's been three months and the o ly way I can get him to nap is to rock him to sleep (I hate it!, he used to go down on his own and we have tried everything) and he gets up a couple times a night. We have a gate up so he goes to the gate and screams. Just be prepared for anything!!

[94bruin]

We moved DD1 to a twin bed at her 2nd birthday. Worst mistake ever. Prior to moving her, once she was down for the night, she would wake up until the morning. However, after we moved her, she'd come and visit us multiple times a night. Naps were okay, though. We endured 9 months of nightly torture. Of course your DC is a year older, so hopefully your transition will be smoother, though I do have to warn you that friends of mine moved their 3yo whom they kept saying was such a great sleeper, and a year and a half later, they are only just starting to not have night wakings anymore.

I'm keeping my dd2 in her crib as long as I can!

[jenfromnj]

OP, we're in a similar situation. These responses are scaring me! We are moving DS (who is 22 months) to a "big bed" in the next week because he's decided that whenever he's put in his crib, he'll just immediately climb out. I'm afraid of him climbing out half asleep one night and hurting himself. I guess we should be ready for a long stretch of night wakings and sporadic naps?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Don't do it!! It'll be a fun celebration when the time comes. I hate that my ds2 hasn't napped since we did it.

Beth

[newg]

OKay, I am seriously going to print this out and show it to DH!

We have one of those cribs where you just take off the front, pop on a toddler rail and it becomes the toddler bed......so she wouldn't actually be getting a "new" bed.

We honestly have no reason to make her crib a toddler bed. DD2 has her own crib and DD1 is not trying to climb out at all. No one else needs this crib except DD1. The only "reason" is that DH thinks its time for her to be more independent and become more of a big girl.
I was thinking of putting a baby gate up across her doorway, so if she did get out of bed she wouldn't be able to get out of her room.
But now I am seriously thinking of reconsidering the whole idea!!!!

So maybe we wait 'till she has dropped her naps and then make the transition??

[shawnandangel]

We made this transition with DD last month. It has gone very smoothly. The first thing we did is let her watch us change her crib into a daybed. The whole time we acted very excited about her "big girl bed" and told her how great it was. We even got the recorder out. We let her get on the bed as soon as it was ready. That afternoon, when it was time for her nap my husband did everything exactly the same as we had in the past. Nothing about our naptime ritual changed. he then went and sat on the couch and waited. She tried to sneak out only once. Dh said in a stern voice "DD it is time for your nap, go back to bed" and, well she did!

Some days during naptime she gets out of bed and plays with her toys but she knows she has to stay in her room and have quiet time. 95% of the time she falls asleep in bed but sometimes I go in and she is coloring or looking through her books.

Nightime has been good as well. I really think the key is consistancy in routine.