Moving to "Big Boy" Bed

I have a 4 year old daughter and an 18mo. old son....before he was born....about 3-4 months.....(she was already 2) we ordered her bedroom set...she "helped" us put it together and picked out bedding/colors at the store and moved the baby furniture to the "baby's room" and helped us get all of his stuff ready too. Transitioning sooner than later helped too before the baby was born. We bought a twin bed...not a toddler bed.....and just put up the netted railing on each side. She loved sleeping in there. We didn't change our night time routine at all.We also made sure not to move her out of "her room." toddlers need that consistency and the less change, the better and she wasn't getting "kicked out" of her room. We still "rocked" to sleep or read a story. She slept partial to one side of the bed, but with the rails up-she didn't fall out. When we were doing things in the "baby room" she wanted to get in the crib a few times and we let her and we laughed and joked about being too big....she also was getting too big for the crib and seemed to sleep better in a larger bed. hope this helps.

Hi J.

I know you are egar to get little Evan into a youth bed. But think about waiting. He is still too young to remain in a bed on his own. The new baby should be in a bedside bed for at least a couple of months. You can use that time to transition Evan from baby bed to youth bed. Focus on how he is a big brother and how proud you are of him. To help him get use to it. You might try putting him in a reg. bed for naps to see if you can work with him to stay in bed. The last thing you need is a little one roaming the house while you are asleep. My 2 grand daughters are turning 2 One today the other Jan. 14th! They can both open any door and it is frightening to me. Structure is important, and you can establish that in the months to come. To expect him to stay in a open youth bed even at 2 is not reasonable. Without a lot of work. Step by step is best, that way you won't be stressed out getting it done. Be patient. Congrats on the new baby. We had our son's 2 yrs and 1 month apart. I loved it! They will enjoy each other so much! You will love watching them together!!

My kids are 22 months apart. We moved my son to a toddler bed a few months before my daughter was born. You want to do it a bit ahead of time and make it a privelage of being a "big boy", so it doesn't seem to him that you are taking something away from him to give to the baby. I didn't wait for him to climb out of the crib, but he couldn't open the door to his room, so being in a bed he could get out of wasn't a problem. By the way, we moved our daughter into a toddler bed before she turned 2 also. It worked out great. They like being able to get in bed by themselves.

M.

Everyone I know who has made the big boy bed transition before 3 has seriously regretted it. It seems logical because you don't want to have two cribs, but they aren't ready, and sometimes they resent the new baby getting "their" crib. My son just turned two, and I am due with our second child in a month. I am leaving my son in the crib at least until the new baby is sleeping through the night (spring or summer). I DO NOT want to deal with a new baby waking at night and a toddler who won't stay in bed. I'd reconsider if I were you.

Hi, J.. How exciting to have your second one on the way! I think it is different for each and every child. We made the transition when our son had just turned two and it has worked out beautifully. It wouldn't have been possible if we didn't know how he was going to behave, but we did. We started talking it up several months in advance and, for him, it was all about the cars. He went from crib sheets to a big-boy bed with CAR SHEETS!!! He was totally excited from the get-go. He had pillows with cars and blanket with cars - for each kid it may be something different. We knew we may have an issue with keeping him in the bed, and like everything else it's all about consistency. To be consistent we would have to know when he was out of the bed so we could immediately enter the room, put him back in the bed and tell him he must stay. We got a video monitor on e-bay for $60 and used it. He never got out of the bed at night. But, a couple times he got out during the day at naptime. We stuck to our plan and it only happened 3 or 4 times. So, in summary I think we could get away with it because we talked it up in advance, we had a plan we could stick to and our son is pretty predictable. I'd think thru those things if I were you and decide for yourself. But, some the responders are right in that you cannot expect to get the bed and have him magically stay in it. But, with your consistent help, it might just work.
Oh - and get the railing for sure. So the wall should be on one side and the railing on the other.

We moved our daughter to a big girl bed at 2 1/2 and it's been a very easy transition. We had a crib that converted to a toddler bed and we talked about it with her before we did it and she got very excited to be a "big girl". For the first 3 months or so she wouldn't even get out of it without calling for us like she had done when she had a crib. Then she figured out she could get out on her own but only does so if she needs to go to the bathroom or it's morning and time to get up. Thankfully we haven't had any issues with it being too much freedom for her like I was afraid might happen. My philosophy with her is to lay the ground rules out with her up front. I told her when it's bed time, you stay in bed. If you need something you call for mommy or daddy and we'll come to you and it's worked very well for her. I read a lot of parenting books and articles in magazines and I typically see that a good age to make the change is around 2 1/2 and that one of the signs is when they start climbing out of their cribs on their own...which my daughter did the opposite of...she'd climb into her crib on her own, but not out. Weird, I know. Good luck!

I moved my first at 15.5 months and my second at 16.5 months- my first fell out of the crib once so that helped, we started with the box spring & the mattress on the floor in his 'new' room so he could play on it and still nap/sleep in the crib for a couple weeks, then we moved to naps on the bed for a week then just put him in one night and he stayed! We have a gate at the top of the stairs but for the first couple weeks we put a gate up at the door of his room to keep him in, a few nights he would stand there and look for us or play (we keep 'quiet' toys in his room) then crawl back in bed when he was tired! We haven't had any issues with either of the boys and they have been sharing a room now for 2 months- they love it!

Explain to Evan that he is getting too big for the bed he is in and needs to move to a "big boy" bed, and a new room to make this be right for him. Then help him pick out a new theme for the room. I know he isn't very old, but he should have some opinions about what he likes by now, and if you pick something he likes for the new room, he will probably accept it well, along with the new bed arrangements. Is there a video he watches over and over? Pick something from that if you can, so he feels at home with the new room. Some children like Veggie Tales, some like Barney, some like Baby Einstien, and some like Cars. Just go with the flow on this one and pick something he watches regularly for the room theme! Then make sure you stay with him the first night for at least a while to make sure he is okay with the new room. Read to him from his favorite book in the new room, or let him watch his favorite video before bedtime, then give him a simple back rub while he is going to sleep in the new bed, and things should go well. Hope this helps, G.

Research from the Sleep Clinic at St. Luke's hospital here in St. Louis found that the most successful transitions occur after the age of 2 1/2. Of course, many children have been successful at an earlier age and each child is an individual. But at a workshop I attended, they said this was the biggest 'sleep issue' they dealt with in children - transitioning to big girl/boy bed too early.

I have a 3 1/2 year old boy and a 27 month old boy. My 27 month old just this week climbed out of his crib and though he was very proud of himself my heart sank remembering what we had gone through with our older one when he got to go in a big boy bed at 2 1/2. I learned too late that toddlers (at least mine) do not do well with this kind of freedom no matter how well behaved they are. He would be up contstantly up at night sometimes until 10 pm or so. Being an at home mom and having them typically go down around 7:30 gave me an evening to unwind however that is all a thing of the past. We are doing much better but still have rough patches...his personality is compliant and he is a very obedient boy, in my opinion they just can't handle the freedom. My husband now wants to move our 27 month old to a big boy bed and I told him over my dead body ha ha ha. every child is different but for me i'm going to try and do a crib tent...even though i've never seen one to try and help him stay in his crib a little longer. it's not even as much for me as it is for him....if he doesn't get sleep nobody in our household is happy as he is tired and acting out. good luck to you i'm sure you'll figure out what the right thing for you will be.

Both of my boys are climbers. When they turned one they were both climbing out of the crib. That was the only sign for me and I knew I had to do something. I bought a twin bed set and at first I just used the mattress. I pushed it up against the wall and had pillows around the other side, just to be safe. I did that for my first son and did it with my second and they both adjusted to it well. Good Luck...

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Jake will be 2 Dec 12th. He moved to a big boy bed (toddler) about a week ago. We put the toddler bed in his room next to the crib about a month ago. We got new big boy sheets (police cars & firetrucks). He took naps in the toddler bed & slept at night in the crib. Last Sunday night, we were getting him ready for bed & he climbed into the toddler bed & layed down. I asked him if he wanted to sleep in the other bed. He rolled over, pointed at it, and said... "baby". Since we tell him he's a big boy, couldn't really put him in the "baby" bed after that. You might try this... It may ease your son out of the crib & ease the baby into it. Don't forget to baby proof his room. We toss the toys into the closet at night, close the closet door & his bedroom door. We still use his monitor so we can see if he's still in bed or not. He likes to sleep, so he usually stays in bed. Good luck!

I'm not sure if there are any exact signs of when to move a child from a crib to toddler bed. My daughter is almost 2.5 y-o and we just did the crib to converter toddler bed thing. This was ONLY because she had been sick and I was sleeping in our guestroom with her to keep an eye on her. Well, after that, she would not go back into her crib. So we switched it up, and then she loved it because it was something new for her. I did read something once though about something similar to your situation. Move the older child to a new bed at least a few months before the newborn arrives so that it doesn't appear to them as though you're "kicking" them out of their crib in order to give it to someone else. So maybe early Spring would be a good time to make the transition. Good luck!

I had a similiar situation - my daughter was 21 months when my son was born. I started with a twin bed so as not to spend the money on a toddler bed that wouldn't last very long. I put the twin bed in the corner of her room and made a huge deal out of her big girl bed but I also left the crib in her room. The first nap and night I let her decide and she chose the crib. The second day I butted the crib against the bed(because it was a converter too I was able to lower the mattress and put one side down)and still let her decide. She chose the crib again. By the third nap she started in the crib and then climbed onto the bed and fell asleep. The transition took about a week before she wanted to start in the bed. I kept the crib in her room on the other side for about 2 weeks and that was it. Guard rails on a twin bed work great.I set the bed up like a crib for awhile too with her stuffed animals and blanket that wasn't tucked in. Also I didn't move her from her room. I just moved all the nursery stuff to the baby's room because I figured it would all be too overwhelming - new room, new bed and new baby. Good Luck!!I'm sure it will all be great.