Poll -- When Did You Move Your Kids to a Bigger Bed?

We moved our daughter when she was 2 years 7 months old. We had to move her because we were getting ready for our baby. To help her adjust, I'd let her lie down with me in my bed, read a book, then take her to her room. We also had to put safety rails on both sides of her full size bed. She is all over the bed when she sleeps and the rails keep her from falling off the bed, which is a fairly long drop for her. We purchased the rails from One Step Ahead because they are longer than most and designed very well. We also got her Hello Kitty sheets, a matching comforter, and a snuggle pillow that she helped pick out...so it made her new bed feel more special.

Good Luck! I think your daughter will like her new bed! She'll have lots of room to stretch out! Maybe it would help if she gets to pick out a new set of sheets for her new big girl bed. She'll lose some space in her room to the new bed, so maybe a bed tent would be fun, too! :)

Hi D.!
We just went thru the transistion into a bigger bed for my soon to be three year old (on Aug. 20). Like you, we purchased a convertible bed when he was born but with a new little boy scheduled to arrive on Aug. 17, we decided it was time to get him out of his crib and into a bigger bed before he was displaced by a new brother. I found a bed I really liked at Ikea of all places. It is a silver metal frame that has a 8 inch rung railing around three sides of it. For now, I've turned the bed to face the wall so all sides are protected. He can safely climb in and out of the bed but it offers protection at night from him rolling out. Eventually, I'll turn the bed around the correct way but for now it is working great. P.S. He is pretty resistant to change. He kept telling me he didn't want to be a big boy - he wants to be a baby. So I took a couple of screws out of his crib so the mattress sat crooked and showed him that his bed was broken. It worked. Now, he likes his bigger bed best. Good luck with your little girl! K.

We moved our son just before his 2nd birthday, he was a crazy sleeper and moved around a lot. He also had a convertible bed and he used the toddler part for only about 4 months, but it was just as confining as the crib abd because he moves so much we bought him a full size bed. Like one of the other posters we got our bed at IKEA. It was affordable, but very sturdy. It is a platform bed so it just uses a mattress and not a boxspring. It isn't very high off the ground, but we use bed rails because he moves around so much. We made a big deal about it and he even helped his dad take down his crib/bed to make room for the new, amazing wooooow bed. He was so excited helping his dad take it apart, that he didn't care.
Good Luck!!!

My first child was about 18 months and we moved her to a full sized bed---needed the crib for the baby. My baby is now 16 months and is trying to sleep sideways in the crib and is waking up so we are looking to move her at 18 months as well. We found a Barney book on moving to the big girl bed and we made a big deal about it. We just kept our night night routine the same and things went very smooth.

Hi D.,

I just moved my son to a toddler bed at 27 months. I had really hoped to make it to 3 years, but he started climbing out.

Good luck!
C.

When he was about 18 mo old my SIL needed the crib back for her soon-to-be adopted daughter, so we were forced to do it. We bought him a race car bed off Ebay since he's so into cars and stuff. With that, it has plastic sides and you can put the box spring/mattress on the floor so that there's a lip of bedframe about 4-6 inches above the top part of the mattress. So, he doesn't roll out. We can put them up on slats once he's bigger and won't roll out. If you can find some sort of bed like that, it'll work great. My SIL used a twin mattress on the floor WITH a gate thing (they have them at baby stores etc)on the side so she wouldn't roll off when she transitioned around 18 months; also worked fine.

Good luck! My son will also be 3 in Sept!

C.

My son was also large for his age so just before his second birthday we moved him to a twin bed. I was worried about him falling out, so we just bought the mattress and put it on top of a piece of plywood which sat on a metal frame without the boxsprings so he would be closer to the ground. He adjusted well.

mine just went in about 8 weeks ago- right at 22 months old - both boys did wonderfully :-)

I moved my two oldest boys when they were 18 months old. I put up bed rails and they were just fine! I never had any problems with them!

D.,
I have b/g twins that are 2 1/2 and we also have the convertible beds. My daughter started climbing out of her bed at 28 mths. so we changed their cribs to toddler beds, then a month later to their full size beds. Something that got them both excited about their new beds was their PBK bedding that we had bought them. They wanted it out of the bag before we even got it up the stairs, then when we made their beds all up with the pillows and sheets, etc... they were beside themselves. My daughter got out of her bed one night and came to visit, and my son will not leave his bed unless we come to his room. For my daughter we put one of the parent door locks on the inside of her door, and left it on their for about 2 weeks - 1 month until we knew she was used to her bed. She never banged on her door, she would just go back to bed, so we took it off, and she stays in bed. So, to make a long story short, it wasn't really a big adjustment for us at all, but all kids are different. I think it's more scarey for the parent than it is for the kids. We do have side rails on both of their beds, and that's only for me, I sleep better knowing that there is no way they will fall out. I also got one set of my side rails from One Step Ahead, and I like them because they cover pretty much the whole side of the bed. The other set I bought from Target, and to be honest they work just as well, they are just not as long, or as tall. Depending on your height could also determine which one's you like. My kids beds are tall, so if I was any shorter (I'm 5'7") than I may have a hard time putting my daughter to bed. (They have step stools to get into their beds.) Well, good luck!!!

Whenever they were old enough to climb out of the crib.

My daughter was 16 months old. She hated her crib and would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. I could put her in our bed, and she would sleep just fine. We bought a rail and pushed the other side up against the wall, and she has slept in a full size bed every since. She loves it too! Good luck!!

We just put our almost three (Aug 9) who is also 39 inches into a big boy bed with the guard that attaches to the side of the bed the only problem...sometimes he gets up to "check" on mom and dad. He has not fallen out and I don't hear his body banging around in the crib all night. Good Luck.

I moved my daughter in to her big girl bed when she was 18 months old. I had no problems getting her use to sleeping in a bigger bed. My son is almost 18 months and we plan on moving him in to a big boy bed by the end of Aug/first of Sept. Hopefully he will be an easy transition as well!

D.,

We purchased the same type of convertible for Haylee. At the age of 3 we switched to the big bed, we made a big 'excitement' out of it and the first time she ever slept in it was the night of her 3rd birthday. "Because now that she was a big girl it was time for a big girl bed." We have never had one single problem, she loves her big bed. We recently bought new comforter and sheets set that were not characters so they could go better with her room. When my mother comes into town, Haylee lets her sleep in her bed with her, but everyone or anyone else (even her friends) have to sleep on guest bed or pallet. I say it's time, go for it.

When my son was 22 months old he flung himself out of the crib. My pedi told me to get him out of the crib. My son always slept kinda crazy and would hit parts of the crib and wake up prior to his escaping the crib. We put him in a queen size bed because he always splet sideways a toddler bed woudl have never worked for him. We bought really great bed rails from One Step Ahead. They are by far the longest that you can find and we have NEVER had a problem. He is 3 1/2 now and we still keep the bed rails up because he sleeps CRAZY! When we were at my in-laws we had in a bed with no bed rails and he fell out of bed 4 times! My advice is that if she is cramped in her crib, the toddler bed won't help. My son sleeps longer now than he ever has. It wasn't a big deal for him to make the switch at all. He loves his bed!

We moved our son to a big bed at 15 months.

We moved our daughter into a full size bed at 22mos. We took her to Ikea and let her check out all the beds and comforters. It was like she had her hand in picking out her bed,sheets,pillows,and comforters. when we put her bed together, it was not so foreign to her. We just assured her that she was getting big for her crib and she needed a big girl bed.

To help her from rolling off, we bought the big swimming noodle and slide it under her fitted sheet. This way, in the middle of the night she will roll into the noodle and not fall off---and not have rails like the crib.

The best part, every morning we get to hear her little feet running into our room...The best alarm clock ever!!

Goodluck,

BB