Advice on transition from crib to bed

[BabyBearsMom]

DD1 is 2yo and has been asking to move to a "big girl" bed. She doesn't climb out of her crib, but she tells DH and I that she wants this. We were thinking of moving her anyway because we are planning to potty train her and want her to be able to get up at night if she needs to go. She is a great sleeper now. We do our bedtime routine, put her in the crib, and she sings herself to sleep. Any advice on what we should do to make this transition smooth?

[Blue Hydrangea]

We just decided it was time (needed the crib for #2) and DS was 2.5. We talked about it forr a few days and told him that he was going to get a big boy bed, and then we got him bedding with his favorite things (typical boy- trucks, tractors and cars). He also took his blanket and crib stuffed animals with him to his new bed. The first few nights I was prepared to go all Super Nanny if I had to, and planned on putting him back in bed multiple times until he fell alseep, but didn't need to. Once he was in the bed, he stayed there.

We do have guard rail up so I'm not sure if that made a difference as a visual barrier or not, but the only time he's gotton out of bed since it when he woke up sick with an ear infection, and he came right to us.

I don't know if our lack of issues was typical or not, generally DS is a rule-follower, so that helped too. But it was easy! Hope it goes well for you too. :)

[♥ms.pacman♥]

no advice, other than i will be watching this thread. ds is similar..awesome sleeper, puts himself to sleep and has recently been talking about not wanting to be in his crib anymore (though he still sleeps in it pretty well). though he is 2.5 (not potty trained) and can climb out of his crib if i ask him to and i'm standing right there. ds is SUPER tall (i would say at least 37") and i think i read somewhere that this is too tall to be considered safe & confined in a crib? anywho, he has mentioned before he wants a Thomas toddler bed (the little tykes one that looks like a train) so we will probably be getting that, given than it has a front/back so it's similar to a crib in that it is confined & cozy. i personally plan to keep him in diaper and or pull up at night, even after he PTs...there is no way i want a toddler waking me up in the middle of the night so he can go potty :)

[wendibird22]

We moved DD1 out of her crib at 26mo. We put a twin mattress on the floor and tried it out first at nap time so as not to ruin bedtime if it was going to be a struggle. She loved it and we never had an issue. She wouldn't even get out of bed, she'd just call out to us when she was awake. After a few weeks we put the mattress up on the box spring with a toddler rail and then eventually onto a bed frame (old head board and frame so bed was quite high).

[fedoragirl]

no advice, other than i will be watching this thread. ds is similar..awesome sleeper, puts himself to sleep and has recently been talking about not wanting to be in his crib anymore (though he still sleeps in it pretty well). though he is 2.5 (not potty trained) and can climb out of his crib if i ask him to and i'm standing right there. ds is SUPER tall (i would say at least 37") and i think i read somewhere that this is too tall to be considered safe & confined in a crib? anywho, he has mentioned before he wants a Thomas toddler bed (the little tykes one that looks like a train) so we will probably be getting that, given than it has a front/back so it's similar to a crib in that it is confined & cozy. i personally plan to keep him in diaper and or pull up at night, even after he PTs...there is no way i want a toddler waking me up in the middle of the night so he can go potty :)

Hmmm...my DD is 39 1/2 inches and she still fits perfectly in her crib. She loves her crib though so we have no thought of moving her yet. She is not night potty trained and we don't plan on doing that till she's ready on her own.

OP, I don't know. I am torn about cribs and beds because if you have a good sleeper, why mess with it, KWIM? And I am not sure if a 2 year old is capable of going to the bathroom at night, wiping, etc. But I don't have much experience with 2 year olds other than mine so I can't say much.

[BabbyO]

For DS1, when we transitioned he did really well emotionally, but he was a mover and fell out of bed a few times (low to the floor with a thick blanket right next to him). After about 1 week my cousin recommended putting a pool noodle under the fitted sheet/mattress pad. It worked like a charm. It stopped him from rolling out of bed, but he could get in and out on his own with no problem at all! Bonus, it cost about $1 because the pool noodles were on clearance at the end of the summer.

If you can't find a pool noodle in your area, you might try pipe insulation found at a hardware store. GL!

[kaharris83]

Apparently the AAP says you should move them out of the crib by 35". I'm another who has a crib lover. He sleeps great and still calls us to come get him out. I think we will be making the switch soon though because if he even tries to climb out once he could get seriously injured. His floors are hardwood. I hate to change things though because we all sleep great right now as is.

[twowhat?]

Our girls were most definitely NOT ready to do their own bathroom trips in the middle of the night. Even now at 4yo - I'd say they aren't ready. DD1 can hold it all night and DD2 wears a pull-up. There's the whole "it's dark" "I'm scared" thing at night that they'd pull out if I tried to make them use the potty by themselves at night and I really don't want to be woken up until they're ready to do all that by themselves without calling for me.

Anyway - we took the side off of the girls' cribs to convert to toddler beds at around 3.5 years old. Other than the novelty of the side being off, it didn't affect their nighttime sleep. They played for longer than usual before falling asleep, but stayed put all night. I definitely tihnk having the familiarity of still being in the "crib" helped and I'm confident that the transition to a "real" bed will be pretty easy.

I think it's going to depend on your child's personality...but I kind of agree with PPs to just keep her in there if she's sleeping well. But I am not one to risk messing up good sleep:)

[BabyBearsMom]

Oh, let me clarify, I don't expect her to go to the bathroom by herself. I think she would probably come get me and tell me she has to go to the bathroom. I can't hear her from our room (monitor is in DD2's room and DH insists on sleeping with a fan running) unless she is really screaming, so I want to make sure she can get to me if she needs me at night. I can kind of hear her through DD2's monitor (the walls between their rooms are thin) but I don't want to rely on that since it isn't 100%.

[twotimesblue]

We recently transitioned DS, at the age of 2.2. He is CRAZY tall - 38" on his second birthday! - but I was in no hurry to move him as he still fitted in the crib. It was only when he gave me the fright of my life (came hurtling into the living room at nap time, having climbed out of his extremely high-sided crib) that we moved him.

I was very worried, as he is not an 'adaptable' sleeper at all, but he LOVES his 'big bed'. Some advice: buy/borrow some books on moving into a big bed and read them for a few nights beforehand; let your LO help pick out some bedding (we found a Hungry Caterpillar set from PBK on eBay that my DS went crazy for) and make sure you have a guard rail of some kind - I know some people swear by pool noodles but my DS moves a lot in his sleep and needed something with more protection.

The first few days were rough with naps - the novelty of being able to escape and explore his room took a while to wear off - but he never once left his bed at night. I also HIGHLY recommend the Kidsleep toddler clock: my DS still waits, patiently, on the end of his bed until 'bun-bun' wakes up, and my former 5.45am waker now lets us sleep in until 7am every morning - that device has seriously changed our lives!

Good luck with the transition!

[drako]

We moved DC to the "big" bed at 3.5 because we felt it was time. She slept fine in her crib and didn't try to climb out. I actually dreaded the move since I thought naps would be over. The first night was rough with her new found freedom. She was in and out of the bed to get toys, turn the light on and off etc until 11 pm. She skipped a few days of naps but after that she has adapted fine. I do give her a special treat for staying in her bed and napping during the day and that has worked. It usually is just a small piece of chocolate - but it works!