Ready for a Big Girl Bed?

My little girl, Alyssa (now 22 months) has been in her toddler bed for 4-6 months now. At first, she rathered to sleep on the floor no matter how many times we put her in her bed. But with a little patience, she stayed in her bed and slept through the night. Every morning she gets up, opens her door and comes to search for Mommy and Daddy. We got her toddler bed at Walmart for $30 and it uses a crib mattress so we just tranferred the mattress she was using previously.

We have been trying to have another child and decided that it was a good idea to get Alyssa used to her new "big-girl" bed so when the new baby comes, she won't be possessive about the crib.

J. W.

skip the toddler bed and go straight for a twin. If you're worried she will fall off get a railing or put the bed on the floor. I would talk this up with her how she's a big girl, etc. Also think about getting a used crib or used bassinett so your daughter can use her crib longer. She'll resent it if she feels that the new kid booted her out of the bed. I got a Delta Love crib from K-Mart for about $120. I could have taken down a rail and made it a toddler bed then taken down both sides and made it a day bed. Since I already owned a twin I didn't bother. But I also waited a long while before moving my son.

We just switch my 2 1/2 year daughter to a big girl bed. We did not mess with the toddler bed. We went to Sam's and bought a twin mattress. Right now that is all we are using and we have a little rail that we put on the side of the mattress. The first week was very hard and nap time was very hard. She kept wanting to get out. She knows how to open her bedroom door and climb out of the gate. So she kept getting out no matter what we did. I was told stay in there with her until she went to sleep but that didn't work. It just made her excited. Others said lay down with her til she went to sleep but again I knew she would get to excited and I did not want that to become a habit. She always went to sleep on her own and slept through the night. Finally we found a way to close her door so she would not get out and that seemed to work. After she goes to sleep we open it back up. So I think you just have to find what will work for her. If the first week is hard don't give up it does pay off. I also really recommend just a mattress at first. HOpe this helps.

We waited for my daughter's second birthday. On the day of her birthday after everyone left we set up her bed and really stressed that she was such a big girl to have such a special bed. We changed our nightly routine. We know bathe her, get her changed and lotioned up on her bed, read one nighttime story, and then I turn off the lights and turn on her hello kitty radio while my husband stays and prays with her. I am expected my 2nd child i June and my daughter's birthday was in January but I think we just eased her into it by talking about the big girl bed and making it exciting. The first night we couldn't set it up for some reason but she was so excited she slept on the mattress. I tried to lay down with her but do not reccommend because it distracted her and she wanted to play. I left her alone and in about ten minutes she fell asleep all night. It wasn't until about a week later she realized she could get out by herself. Suprisingly enough we just talked to her and explained that it was nighttime and put her back in her bed and walked out. She went right back to sleep. She loves it. I think the nightly routine is important and the best thing is she no longer cries for us to get her in the morning. She walks into our room and cuddles until I get up. I love it. At least I don't have that early morning crying until June!

We got a bed from someone so I can't help with that. We just bought a new mattress.

my advice is to skip the toddler bed and get a twin bed for her. we had a crib that turned into the toddler bed and we did that right before my daughter's 2nd b'day and she would get up and down several times a night...she didn't sleep as well with it being a toddler bed...we bought a used twin bed out of the advertiser and she loves it!! (wal-mart sells the rails that you can put up on the sides) she is now almost 3 and loves her "big-girl bed!" plus, it saves money in the long run because she won't be in that toddler bed forever and you would have to get a bigger bed eventually anyway. and now if she does get up in the night, i can go lay down with her until she falls asleep.
good luck!!

Consider this very carefully. Every mom I know has warned me the way I am warning you. Once you switch to a toddler bed, your child can and probably will come find you at any hour of the night. My recommendation is to keep your child in the crib as long as you can. You can get a co-sleeper for the baby for at least 6 months, or buy one of those crib convertables. Starts off as a crib but then can be turned into a toddler bed later.

I am not saying not to get a toddler bed now, I am just reminding you that your child may not stay in it, which can be hard while you are pregnant or with a newborn.

we had to trade up to something besides a crib when my son was able to nearly pitch himself over the side of the rail- he had one leg up to the thigh, and was on tippy toes with the other leg, watching me, waiting for me to get up. ( was hanging out in his room for reassurance so he would go to sleep on his own)

The next day the crib was down and we put a 3-4in travelling mat on the floor (my husband had it for guests and camping)- it was wider than a single- and I just put a mattress pad over it and a double sheet over that. He has been sleeping on it since. Once we move to TN we will get him a different setup with a real mattress.

We would do the night routine and send him to bed... of course there was a transition period where he would cry at the gate- off of the bed. He fell asleep a few nights on the floor but soon realized the bed was more comfortable. Now he just stays in bed because he knows if he comes out of the room we will just put the gate up.

I would search craigslist.
My 3 yr old moved over the week after we found out we were pregnant with our now 15 mo old. It was perfect. Make sure to pick out a really cute big girl bedding set. (Ikea has some very inexpensive sets, you can get it through ebay etc.!)
Now the 3 yr old is moving up to a twin, and the toddler bed gets passed along to a very excited 15 mo old, who loves to climb in sisters bed.

I would just check out yard sales if you dont mind getting something that is used. The one I bought for my son (at a church yard sale) was in mint condition and included the mattress for 10 bucks. My son wasn't in it THAT long to justify the cost of a new one, instead I saved the money for a twin bed later on. Good luck!

Toys R Us and Walmart have inexpensive toddler beds. I would keep the crib in her room for the first few nights. That way, if it doesn't work you can put her back in the crib. You might start by letting her nap in the bed. If that goes well, you can try sleeping in it at night. My son moved from a crib to a twin bed with no problem (he was 3 1/2 years old). My daughter tried moving the first time at about 20 or 21 months and it was a little harder. Her crib turns into a toddler bed. She would not stay in her bed at night. After about 10 days of trying we put her crib back. When we tried again about a month later, she was fine. She finally made the transition at about 22 months. Good luck.

yeah some mom's don't like to mess with the toddler bed because sometimes it can cost as much as just getting a bigger bed that you'll need in a few months but it doesn't have to cost alot and it can make you child more comfortable to sleep in a regular bed thats about the same size as the crib so the child's not like first you cage me in and now i have to sleep in the huge huge bed it can be scary for them. so here's what worked for me! They have these toddler beds at wal-mart, and if they aren't in your store you can go to wal-mart.com, that have charaters on them like princesses and spiderman that are only like $50 or so, so it's not that expensive and you can get her a bed that has something she likes i think they have dora the explorer also, you'll have to look. anyway my son loves and still is in the superhero phase so it was no trouble getting him to sleep in his new spiderman bed, he actually wanted too! good luck and i hope this helps!!

Hi P.,
We did a toddler bed with our oldest(girl) but with our youngest(boy) I didn't want to use the princess toddler bed that we bought. LOL and I didn't want to buy a new one. We already had a twin size bed for his room so I put the twin matress on the floor for a couple of months. (till I felt sure he wasn't going to fall off) After that I put the box spring under it and left it like that for a few weeks. Then we put the bed together. We had no problems with him converting. We did put a gate at his door because I was always scared that he would wake up in the middle of the night and I wouldn't hear him. Good luck. Make it fun for her and I think she will do fine.

Hi P.-

Buy Second Hand! Almost no one wears out anything they get for a toddler because they grow so fast. I don't know which ones are rated best or whatever, but find out the best ones and try to find one of those at a yard sale, in the classified ads, or even at a Goodwill store (the ones in Chattanooga are especially good). Maybe you know someone in your neighborhood, playgroup, church, etc., that might be about to grow out of one. Good luck!