at what age did you move from crib to bed, and why

[lmh2402]

DS is happily sleeping in his crib and i have zero interest in converting it into a bed yet. but he is the only one of our little group of friends that is still in a crib.

when i asked the other moms why they switched, they mostly said b/c the kids had asked. i guess that's a good reason.

and/but, they all now have issues with their kids not sleeping well, not staying in bed, etc.

i'm just wondering what age you switched your kid from a crib to a bed, and why

particularly if there was no hard and fast reason - like you needed the crib for another kid, or there was a space issue or something

i should also note that DS is still a flipper in his sleep - 90% of the time he ends up turned upside down and he does not use/stay under blankets, so we still use a sleep sack. i can't see how he would easily transition to a "regular" bed with a top, bottom and blankets

thanks

[crl]

We moved ds before he turned two because I caught him in the act of climbing out. If not for the safety concern, I would have left him there u til he didn't fit anymore.

Catherine

[TwoBees]

We're planning to do it this weekend, actually. DD is almost 23 months. She has no desire to sleep in her crib anymore, and bedtime has become a battle. I am hoping that more independence will help (she can read or play with toys quietly in her room and go to sleep when she is ready), and also we can lie in bed with her, instead of on the floor.

ETA: as for the blankets issue, we have been using a small, lightweight blanket for DD for a while now, and I plan to continue with that until it gets too cold (so a bottom sheet and the small blanket, no top shee or full size blanket or comforter.

[SnuggleBuggles]

2-3 for ds2 because he was consistently able to get out of the crib. Not safe.

Ds1 stayed in till over 3 till he exhibited the same skill mentioned above.

I love cribs and would have stuck with it as long as safely possible!!

Beth

[HIU8]

We moved DS at 26 months from a crib to a twin bed. We needed the crib for DD and wanted DS to get used to a new bed and a new room well before DD arrived (we did this 5 months in advance of DD's arrival). The transition was pretty smooth for DS. He was very excited and never got out of the bed (still doesn't at almost 7).

We moved DD at 30 months from her crib to her crib converted into a toddler bed. She was attempting to climb out and I did not want to use a crib tent. She was in the toddler bed for 6 months and then we bought her a twin bed. Her transition was not as smooth as DS. She would get up and roam around etc...

My DN was almost 5 when my sister and BIL converted her crib to a full size bed (they were waiting for parts to come).

[mmommy]

DD was almost 18 months and climbing/then falling out and begging to be in a "big bed". I would have left her in a crib as long as she was happy there though.

Her transition wasn't hard because she was so excited about it. We just got a gate for her door and she knows she has to stay quietly in her room. She fell asleep on the floor in front of the gate once, but after that she's always made it into the bed for the night.

[WolfpackMom]

We moved DS about a week ago, he is a little shy of 20 months. Its worked out great. We did so more because we were storing his bed at my parents and we had to get it out of there for them to have space for other things. My DN moved to his bed at about the same age.

[kdeunc]

We moved DS1 at 20 months because DS2 was on the way. DS2 at slightly over three because of DD on the way. DD turned 3 in July, has shown no interest in climbing out so she can stay in the crib until she's 10 if she wants! :)

[wolverine2]

DS1 moved around 3 because we needed the crib for the baby. DS2 stayed till well over 3 1/2 and only moved b/c we were traveling and he slept in a big bed on vacation and decided he wanted a big bed. But I saw no reason to move him till he wanted to... he loved his crib and he couldn't get out and wake me up!

ETA: He did fall out once but never tried to get out again...

[arivecchi]

DS1 - we moved him around 2.5. Worst idea ever. He had started climbing out of his crib and I should have just gotten a crib tent. Instead, we converted his crib and he would never sleep on it! He ended up in our bed for over a year and is now slowly starting to sleep in his bed. Most nights he ends up in our bed.......

DS2 - still in his crib at 2 years 7 months and there are ZERO plans to switch him. His crib is super deep so he has no way to jump out and I want to keep him in there as long as I can (my guess is when he is 3 maybe even 4 if we can swing it)!

[BabyMine]

M was 3 but we transitioned his crib when he was 2.5. TT is 3 and is still in a crib but he sleeps on the floor. We are going to buy TT a bed as a Christmas gift.

[Canna]

I voted "twinkle twinkle" because our kids never slept in a crib.

DD#1 transitioned from our bed to a crib mattress on the floor for most of the night around 1.5 to 2 years and was sleeping through the night in a full sized bed at 3.

DD#2 transitioned from our bed to a twin sized bed around 1.5 to 2 years and was sleeping the full sized bed with her big sister (not what we envisioned but it works) at 3.

[hbridge]

2 years (almost to the day)! The Pediatrician told me at our 2 year appointment that DC was too tall for the crib! Yep, DC was THAT tall.

[mommytoC]

We moved ds before he turned two because I caught him in the act of climbing out. If not for the safety concern, I would have left him there u til he didn't fit anymore.

Catherine

:yeahthat: (except DD#1 lasted until 28m).

DD#2 is 28m, and yet to try climbing out, so she's still in the crib. (Though we did go ahead and buy her twin bed, so we'll be ready when it's "time to move".)

Re: blankets, DD#1 wouldn't keep them on either, so she stayed in a toddler-sized sleepsack (Halo Toddler Sleepsack) until she turned 4.

[Moneypenny]

DD was about 3 - 3.5. She was happy in her crib, never climbed out, still fit well, etc, and would have been happy to stay in her crib forever, I think. We moved her into a twin bed because of nighttime potty training.

[vonfirmath]

2y 2m when DS started climbing out of the crib. After a couple of days of teaching him to stay in his big bed, we've had no problems that way

PS his bed does not have blankets -- just a top sheet that is always coming undone. if he needs a blanket we use a toddler sized one he got as a baby gift.

he is 4 now

[edurnemk]

About a week or two after his 3rd bday. I walked in is room and he was climbing out of it, I managed to catch him before he hit the ground. I always said he'd stay in a crib as long as I could keep him there. He's such a climber I can't believe he didn't try that before, but I'm so glad he lasted 3 years in a crib.

[essnce629]

24 months for both kids since their cribs broke (2 different cribs)! They both went into toddler beds after that.

[larig]

DS transitioned at 3 yrs 1 mo. We visited my parents for a month and he slept in a full bed there at their house. When we came home we just went with it and let him sleep in the twin bed already in his room. He had never climbed out of the crib, and if we hadn't visited my parents I don't know when I would have switched. He is pretty tall now, so I think he's probably more comfortable in the bed. He sleeps with a top sheet (never stays on) and some of his baby blankets. He doesn't really like covers.

ETA: until I got him a pillow pet, he never used a pillow--now he does use it.

[AnnieW625]

DD1 went into a twin bed at 27 months old. DD1 didn't want to sleep in a pack n play while we were on vacation anymore so we bought her an aero bed to use and when we got home she only wanted to sleep on the aero bed we had at home so she slept on that two weeks until we got her twin bed.

[mommylamb]

DS was 3. He was totally happy in his crib, but ready for the bed. We went immediately to a twin sized bed, rather than doing the toddler bed. It worked well for us.

[cono0507]

Each of my kids climbed out around 18 months. Both times, I was downstairs, they were supposedly napping when I hear a big "thud" and screaming. Figured they were safer closer to the ground so that's when we put them in toddler beds.

[BabyBearsMom]

I haven't switched DD yet and I have no intention of doing it anytime soon. She is happy and comfy in her crib and i like knowing that she is stuck in the crib at night and not wandering the house. I wouldn't move her until she was a) climbing out repeatedly or b) complaining about the crib and asking for the big-girl bed.

[JBaxter]

I'm not going to vote because I have 4 and they are different

Logan about 2 he was fully potty trained day and night and he had been climbing out of his crib for 6 months anyway

Connor about 18 months and I put a cover on his door knob he escaped regularly

Nathan 2 1/2 ish we redid his bedroom to a new room

Jack has his crib converted to a toddler bed and has no interest in the twin bed in his room. When ever he feels like it

[♥ms.pacman♥]

DS is 20 months and still in his crib. When DD came, we got a 2nd crib. Best decision ever. There is no way i wanted a toddler being able to roam around the house. pretty much everyone i know who switched to toddler bed or regular bed at an early age (before 2.5) regretted it and said it really disrupted the child's sleep (and of course the parents')>

He is going to be in his crib for as long as humanly possible.DS is a great sleeper, goes down without a fight at 9pm and wakes up at 9am. I am not messing with that!

[WatchingThemGrow]

just did it- 26/27 mos. mainly because we were switching the kids' rooms around and DS2 was still sleeping in the crib that was now in DD's new room. She has to be at school at 7:30am, and she needed to be able to get up and get dressed in her room before he was awake.

We just gave DD a blanket at 5. We're sleepsackers here :D

[Melaine]

The girls were about 2.5 and had climbed out of their cribs more than once. I think the only reason it took them so long was that we had them in sleep sacks, making it more difficult. Then, they learned to take the sleep sacks off and we turned them backwards to make it more tricky. Then they got to the point that they could unzip them halfway and still climb out we moved them out of the cribs into toddler beds. I had no intention of doing until we had to.

[mommyp]

At 2 y 4 m because she was able to climb out consistently (while wearing a sleepsack). She was and still is a "flipper" in bed, she ends up all over the place. Her bed is in the corner of the room, is not high, and has a low footboard and a guard rail and she's never fallen out. It did take a little adjustment to the freedom to wander around the room, but she sleeps as well in her bed as she did in the crib. We did have a gate at her door until a few months ago to prevent wandering out to "explore" the rest of the house.

[kerridean]

DD1-22 months because we needed the crib for DD2

DD2-I think she was 3+, seriously! I was in NO hurry to move her as she was so happy in that crib!

[wellyes]

At 2. We needed the crib. Worked out great.

[YouAreTheFocus]

I have been wondering how old other's kids have stayed in cribs as well, so thank you for asking this question!

Mine is almost 2 and still very content in his crib. He is a great sleeper and we don't want to mess with that. He has never tried to climb out, and still wears a sleepsack (which he has never tried to take off--he always asks us "bag off? bag off?").

We are just going to stick with it as long as possible, and would consider a tent if necessary.

ETA: Even at almost 2yo, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another crib if another baby was coming along. I've read way too many posts here about "bumping" disasters ;)

[maestramommy]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. ;)

We moved Dora to another crib/toddler bed when we needed her crib for Arwyn. She was a little over 2. The new crib had a fold down railing, and had been used as a toddler bed by the previous owner. But we essentially used it as a crib since Dora didn't climb out.

We moved Arwyn into that bed and Dora into a twin shortly after Laurel was born. So Arwyn was also a little over 2. I am keeping Laurel in the crib until she starts climbing out because it basically keeps her contained. Arwyn is able to climb out of her crib/bed, so we took away the railing, and are looking for a twin bed for her.

[lmwbasye]

We moved DS1 at 2 1/2 for DS2 to come and it was so-so.

We moved DS2 around 2 year old and it was nothing short of horrendous. After two months, we moved him back in until he was around 3 1/4 - 3 1/2. We only moved him out then because he started climbing in and out. Went much better the second time, but it's still dicey some nights.

[Simon]

Ds2 moved at 4-5 months, whenever he no longer fit in the PnP bassinet and we had to lower the crib to the bottom setting.

He no longer slept well at all, in either one, so we moved him to a queen bed (the guest bed) and he went back to sleeping much better.

Despite the very early transition, we've never had trouble with him getting up and leaving the bed (or perhaps I should say it happened just a few times in the last year+).

OTOH, its not like I would advocate for an early switch. I know I slept in my crib until 4-5 yo because I was happy enough there. I also have strong memories of falling out of my twin bed onto the hard, cold, wood floor. Yuck!

[kristac]

Is college not an option?

DS1 was 3 or close to it. I liked to sleep with my eyes closed.

DS2 was 22 months, his brother got a bunkbed and he wanted the bottom bunk. He actually slept ALOT better being in the same room as his brother.

DS3 is 22 months now and I have no plans to move him any time soon.

[momof2girls]

DD#1 was aroud 22 months b/c she was climbing out of her crib and could not stand a crib tent. DD#2 was around 27 months for the same reason.

[baileygirl]

DS1 we moved out of his crib when he turned 2 to make room for DS2. He stopped napping then (naptime became party central in his room). DS2 is 2.5. We have had a crib tent on the crib for over a year now (but that doesn't stop him from climbing into and then out of the crib). He takes long naps and sleeps well at night. He will be at least 3 before I move him out of the crib.

[HallsofVA]

We moved our son from crib to twin bed at 21 months, in preparation for our cruise when he was 23 months old. We knew he wouldn't sleep in a PnP for 7 nights, so it seemed like the best solution to make sure he could sleep in a non-crib environment before that trip.

We did the same with our daughter at 23 months for the same reason (1st cruise) though in her case we just took the side off the crib to use it as a toddler bed.

[zag95]

DD was moved to her big girl bed at 38 mos (3 yrs 2 mos)- we made a big celebration of it! She never tried to climb out of her crib- she'd stand and yell for one of us to come get her! Thought it was good timing to make the transition, once she turned 3....

[hellokitty]

I think it's different for each child. We PT'd DS1 at 2.5 yrs old, so we switched him to a bed, so he could use the bathroom on his own if needed. He transitioned just fine. DS2 was very eager to switch to a big boy bed, b/c he saw that DS1 had one. So, he transitioned at age 2 (it was his bday gift) and did well. DS3 has also been excited about a big boy bed (in fact, I have both a crib and bed in his room, b/c I figured he'd be out of his crib by at least age two), but I tried him in it a few wks ago and he freaked out. I guess he REALLY likes his crib. He is a very physical child, but has so far not tried to climb out of it. If he wants to stay in his crib, that's ok, I'll just let him do it. It's not like I need the crib for another baby (esp since it's a drop side crib and it can't be sold or given away). So, I'm just waiting to see what he wants to do.

[karstmama]

well, he'll be 5 in dec & still hasn't tried to climb out & isn't potty trained, so i voted twinkle. he'll likely be out of it by college.

but really, i've been trying to remember to get the paperwork & check the weight limit on it. since he's less than 10th %ile, though, i bet we still have some time.