How Do I Get My 2 Year Old to Sleep in His New 'Big Boy' Room?

Why move your son to a different room? Wouldn't it be easier to make the new room the babies room?

That's what I would do.

1 mom found this helpful

This is how I started my son is now 5 and sleeps in his bed every night. First we got him a really cool bed for free from a sitter, it was a race car. then we got him a one gallon fish tank, about 15.oo at wallmart, (hint get a fish bowl and get betta..alot cheaper.) then we layed in bed together and watched the fish swim until we fell asleep. now we have lent the fish tank to another, and we read until he sleeps. usually two short books. I rub his hair while he is in bed. It is always the same routine at the same time. Now I do not get into bed with my child I sit in chair next to his bed and read to him. First we have dinner.at 6 pm. Then we all relax together for a bit, then play to wear him out. swimming and running work great.830 OK ITs time to get ready for bed lets go! 1st its bath time... Then we bathe, brush our teeth, and put pjs on and to bed we go. Together we say our nighttime prayer, then I read...he doesnt make it through the third book. Please do not think because you can't get your child in a bed in his room your not good at parenting.
You will do this at your own pace and dont stress yourself about it. Be firm, but not strict. Be gentle, and happy and he will pick up on your mood and follow. This new routine gives me plenty of time at night to relax which is soooooo important to our well being. good luck to you . Ps we did splurge on a can of anti monster spray, just in case but a member of a play group made hers out of scented water in a spray bottle marked monster spray.(COST ALOT LESS)

We just did this with our 28 month old daughter also for the same reason. We made a big deal about decorating her big girl room. We let her pick the color - purple but we picked out the shade. We then let her pick the decorations - she wanted animals. We decorated the room with her help and let her choose for a few weeks which room she wanted to sleep in, the big girl room or her old room. She is so excited about sleeping in her big girl room that she helped to decorate that she has not wanted to sleep in her old room. She has not had any problems with sleeping in her new room or in the new big girl bed.
If you are worried about him falling out of the toddler bed, which we were at first, this is what we tried. My husband does woodworking so he cut small boards to fit in the gap of the toddler bed between the large railing and the end. She still was excited about her big girl bed but we didn't have to worry about her falling out of it.

I like you just transitioned my son a couple of months ago!! My son just turned 2 in August and I'm currently 39 weeks pregnant! Congrats!
We spent a few weeks just letting my son take naps in the bed (in his room) so he could get used to it before we moved him into the bed for night time. We left the crib in the old room and started decorating the nursery around it as soon as he spent the night in his new room. He was really excited about his new bedding and decorations. I spent a couple of weeks then just sitting on the floor beside him while he went to sleep, hoping to make him more comfortable. He might be an exception? but that's all we did and he's been great! He fell out of his bed the first couple of nights and woke me up crying but we have had smooth sailing since!

We moved our son into his big boy room around the same age for the same reason. We made a big deal about making his big boy room. The theme is airplanes and we picked out airplane sheets. He was excited to sleep on his new sheets. I would leave the crib in the nursery and explain that the crib is for the baby and now that he is a big boy he gets to sleep in a bed with big boy sheets. Let him pick out a small lamp of nightlight for his room to make him comfortable. Maybe he will surprise you and love his new room. My son made a smooth transition and showed all of our visitors his room. Good luck!

I think moving the crib is a great idea. And make him a part of the move. Make a big deal about how grown up he is and play with him a lot in his room during the day. Maybe make the move in the morning and have him take his nap in there that day. So when night comes - it isn't so unfamiliar. He may get up at night, and if this happens, just quietly walk him back to his room and into bed without making a big deal or talking too much. (I don't know if he is walking yet.) Our daughter will want us to rock her in the middle of the night sometimes and I just tell her that I will sit next to her bed with her for a little bit instead and she is alright with that. Good luck with the transition - he'll need lots of love and extra attention when his sister comes too! He'll need to know he is still important!!

He realizes you are carrying a new baby. Keep him in the big boy bed, but why not try having him put a baby doll to sleep in the crib each night to show that is where is new brother or sister is going to be like. This could teach him to be gentle with the baby and also that the bed is going to be occupied by another baby and he needs to sleep in the big boy bed. Try using a sticker chart on the back of the door. Each night he sleeps in the big boy bed he gets a sticker. Or if he likes cars instead of stickers, buy some hot wheels from the store, keep them in a bucket and let him pick a new one each morning that he has slept in his big boy bed. He should be old enough to be rewarded like this.

Wishing you all the best. Good luck with the little one on the way and congrats to you and your husband.

A few things:

1. I'd move him as soon as you can. We moved my daughter out of the nursery about two or three months before the baby came. That way, it was all about her getting a new room--not about the baby taking her old room. By the time the baby came, the new room was old news, and she didn't associate the two.

2. Are you planning on switching him to a big-boy bed in the new room? That might be too much at once (new room, new bed, new baby)--unless, of course, he shows excitement about it. I'd do like you suggested and move the crib into the new room and wait for his cues as to when he's excited about trying the big-boy bed out.

Good luck! My oldest was 20 months when our younger daughter was born, and she adjusted to the new room and the new sibling beautifully. I wish the same for you!

Hello,
We did it just about the same way you are. My son was about 18 months old, we decorated the new room and bought a Thomas bed. We set it all up and let him play in there while we were getting ready or whatever in the morning. Then over a weekend we moved his crib in there and I put him in the new room in the crib to sleep for day (nap and nighttime). The next day I put him in the bed for nap but still the crib for bed time. By the third day he was sleeping nap and bedtime in the bed. We left the crib for almost a week, then we took it down. I had heard that some children would consider that a "mine" and getting it out of sight/out of mind would help them accept the new baby using it. Since the new baby would be in a bassinet in our room for the first couple months the crib was down for about 3 months total before we put it back up and he didn't have any issues. Slept fine in his new bed and wasn't upset at the new baby using his crib. Some additional ideas: I did use a bedrail on his toddler bed, most of them say not to do this, maybe the mattress isn't heavy enough for safety reasons but we did, my oldest moved around alot in his sleep and I was afraid he would fall out. He still did fall out several times when I removed the bed rail when he was around your sons age. It's only a few inches but sometimes I put a pillow there on the floor, he never got hurt, sometimes he even slept through it but just wanted to tell that's what we did. I did buy my son a doll and we talked about baby's and being nice to the baby and when we brought the new baby home and I was nursing sometimes he would feed or put his doll to sleep, I think it helped. My hubby had an issue with buying a doll because he was a boy but I bought it a simple blue sleeper outfit (not a frilly pink dress) and we all did fine. Good Luck with the move and the new baby.

Definitely move whatever bed he's used to. Many kids aren't ready to be out of the crib at 2, so switch one thing at a time, move what he's used to in to the new room and then start changing things. Conversely, you can leave him in his current room for a while and put him in a different bed, then when he's used to it, switch to the new room.
good luck:)

Our daughter was 2 and 1/2 when we moved her to her big girl room because I was expecting #2 a few months later. We took her shopping for paint, bed clothes, decals to put on the walls, etc. Then we let her see the stages as I painted the room. The first time she slept in there, she slept on the floor, but after that it was kosher. We also read to her before bed and put all of her ""friends" in the bed with her. Good luck!!!

My son was 17 months when we moved him into his big boy room. I say do it all at once. I think he was so excited about the way the room was decorated and that it was a big boy bed that it made the transition really easy. I'd also do it soon so that when the baby comes he is settled in to his new room already and won't feel ousted. Good luck!