Big Boy Bed - Willow Springs,IL

I know how you feel! I just went through this with my 2 year old twin boys. Wow, what a shock to my system! I didn't know what happened to my "good sleepers" when we converted their cribs to toddler beds. What worked for me? Honestly, I just kept putting both of them back in their beds over, and over, and over again. It was a little stressful...no--very stressful, but it really did work. I also removed their bookshelf and a few other "distractions." This helped us a lot. We put safety locks on the dresser drawers because they were emptying the drawers. My husband and I worked "smarter" rather than harder and luckily they both slept in their new beds after a week or so. The "rule" is they stay in bed until my husband or I get them. Oh yeah, we also put a child safety handle on the bedroom door. We won't keep it on there forever, but it does help keep them in their room. Hope this helps. The last thing that really helped me was a nice glass of wine right before bedtime--just kidding :-)

I have not experienced this yet, but know others who have. I would suggest taking his hand and walking him back to his bed as many times as it takes. I've heard not to talk to them, just walk them back and lay them down and walk out. Keep doing it over and over and it should start getting less and less until finally he'll just stay in bed.
Good Luck! I'm sure I'll be in your shoes in a few months.

Hi N.,

We left the crib in the room and put a big boy bed in there as well. We played on the big boy bed and eventually he wanted nothing to do with the crib and only wanted to sleep in his big boy bed. We gave him the choice each night of sleeping in his crib or big boy bed until he refused to sleep in his crib and than finally took the crib down and now he only has the big boy bed which he really likes. I don't know if that helps... good luck :)

You could put the crib back up and buy a crib tent. It worked with all 3 of my boys and they actually learn to love the coziness of it!

We did the switch with my daughter about a month ago, when she was 20 months. I went and bought her a giant stuffed bear and sheets I knew she would love. She actually wanted to sleep in the big bed. How about buying something for the bed that will act as a lovely?

We close the door, so she can't wander.

i don't know if my experience is just related to my kid, but here's what we did.... couldn't convert our crib because baby #2 needed it. instead of going through the hassle of crib, toddler, single, double bed, we went straight from crib to full bed. transition was smooth and easy. was a nice big bed with plenty of room to roll around & adjust. tempted to do the same for my other daughter when the time comes but may try converting to the toddler bed since we have the option with the crib...

Talk it up all day long, that now he is in a big boy bed he needs to be a big boy and stay in bed and fall asleep.

When the night time comes, do your normal routine, put him in bed, close the door, and leave. If he gets out of bed, calmly and patiently lead him back to bed without talking, making eye contact, nothing. You want to give as little attention and emotion as possible to his getting out of bed - he wants to get out of bed and seek you out for fun; you need to be as boring as humanly possible. The first night may be difficult; you might have many return trips. However, remain consistent and steadfast and within a few days he will learn that this game is no fun and he'll stay in the bed.

If he makes progress or gets out of bed fewer times than the night before, make SURE you praise the heck out of him in the morning. We made a poster where he could earn star-shaped stickers. For each night that he stayed in bed, a sticker was applied to the chart. Once he accumulated a certain number of stickers, he got brand new Thomas sheets for his bed. I was a little worried that we'd be starting a trend where he needed material incentive to complete a required and necessary task, but once he got the sheets we backed the 'prize' down to a sticker in the morning. Once we used up all the stickers in a pack (this went on for about 3 weeks) and ran out, we simply told him "Oh no - all the stickers are gone!". This did not lead to a reversal of behaviors because, by now, staying in bed became an expectation and he incorporated it as part of his usual routine.

Good luck, be boring and unemotional, and remain consistent!

If you feel he is too young, get the crib tent. He cannot get out of it and it will buy you a lot of time until you think he is ready for the big bed and not going to fight it every night.