Learning to Sleep in Toddler Bed

Hi J.! My daughter is 22 months old and we have been in a "big girl bed" for about 2 months now. What we did was my husband and I bought a railing (one of those that folds under the matress) to replace the one side of the crib. When we felt like she could go without the railing we took it down and now we put a gate up at the doorway for her. Yes she did throw fits at first when it was time to go to bed (and still does sometimes) but you have to stick with it! If you stick with a schedule the kids will adapt to it and learn. Remember your the parent, not them. Hope this helps.

usually when it becomes dangerous for him to sleep in the crib example crawling/climbing out. when that happens you could try taking just the side railing off to start with so he is more comfortable sleeping in his crib but also like a big boy in a bed.

I think you will just know when he is ready. Some people think that potty training and big beds should coinside but it totally depends on your child. We have a friend whose son was crawling out of the crib at 11 months, and he went into a big bed and did great. We put our daughter into a big bed right before her 2nd birthday, so about 22-23 months. We talked it up alot before, let her help pick out her new bed, new sheets, etc. And she was put in a new room at the same time so it was alot of change but she did just great with it. Now she is 2 1/2 and has no problem. Yes she gets out and plays sometimes at nap time but can also get up and go potty in the morning (we put a potty chair in her room) and has toys in there for her. So if your son is screaming, he isn't quite ready yet, at least that's what I would think. He needs to be excited and ready for it.

Leave him in the crib until be can climb out. We moved our daughter into a toddler bed too early and had to put her back in the crib. Then when she did start to climb out we had to move her for safety reasons and she has been a horrible sleeper ever since. She leaves her room and tries to sleep with us among many other things that makes all of us sleep deprived. She is 3 1/2 now and we still have major sleep issues.

I would keep him in the crib as long as possible but if he starts to climb or making the crib a hazzard then put him in a bed.

I never bought a toddler bed for either of my kids. Both my daughter and my son were in twin beds by the time they were about 15 or 16 months old. Best decision I ever made. They loved it and slept so much better at night. I found from many parents that their kids hated toddler beds so I skipped even buying one and went right to a twin bed. Of course I put a side guard on it but it was so worth it especially doing it that young. They adjusted so much faster and better than others I've seen ( I was a nanny for 2 families for 6 and a half years).

I didn't know with mine. I was expecting a baby and 3 months or so before the baby was due I put her mattress on the floor to sleep. She was having issues staying in her room so I put her back in her crib and she climbed out. When they climb out that is a good indicator or if maybe the crib has a weight limit or something. My daughter was about 21 months when she converted out of the crib. If you need more information on what we did, how the transition went, how we finally got her in her toddler bed etc. ask me. Good luck:)

we tried to move Sophia to a toddler bed at 2 yrs, but she couldn't STAND it! I was so disappointed because I bought this beautiful crib, and splurged a little more than I would have because it converted. Well, we went through 3 months of hell with NONE of us sleeping until we finally put her in a full sized bed. We've all slept great since.
I would have kept her in the crib longer but she was scaling it and hopping out and that became dangerous.
C.

Hi,
When my son was about that age, my husband, being a carpenter, made him a toddler bed. He made it to fit the crib mattress. It worked out great. (When he grew out of it, we sold it and got him a twin bed.) He was excited because we used his crib mattress, we just explained that he was growing up and needed more room for his body to grow.
I also gave him some posters to put on the wall by his bed, I let him feel like he was growing up. When we got him the twin, it was about a year later, maybe not even that, he grew tall very fast. We decided to just put the mattresses on the floor for awhile and let him grow into it. He was able to climb up and down so much better, he was not afraid of being on it all alone. In alot of ways, he was proud of it. Good luck.

My son iss also 22 months and we just moved him into a toddler bed. I just thought that it was time so we took down the crib and set up the bed and have not had one problem so far and it's been 2 weeks.

When he is excited about it! :) Kids are ready for that move at such different ages but most people make the move when their child can crawl out of the crib even with the mattress at the lowest position. My son and his cousins are 8 months apart and they moved out of their cribs the same week. But even when my son moved to a real bed I left the crib in the room for a month in case he felt the need for it.

I would keep him in the crib until hes potty trained. No reason to rush him into a big bed. my oldeset moved to a big bed when he was 23months, he was fully potty trained so we moved him. my youngest is 17 months and still in his bed, he's day trained but still wears a diaper at night. We'll keep him in his crib utnil he is night trained.