16 answers

Switching to Big Girl Bed

I planned on switching my daughter from her crib into a full size bed with rails on both sides b/c my aunt said it worked great for both of her children. The other reason I was avoiding the toddler bed was b/c I already had to move her into another bedroom and didn't wan't an added transition. I already had her full size bed put together in her new room, so I just moved her crib in so she could get use to the room first. We read her bed time stories on the full size bed every night then put her in the crib. She seems to love this. Now my husband tells me he thinks we should do a toddler bed instead b/c he's scared she will climb over the rails of the full size bed and hurt herself. I haven't purchased the rails yet so I don't know if she willl climb over them or not. I do already own a toddler bed. The other option would be just putting the full size mattress on the floor. Help....I don't know what to do.

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With all three of my children we went from crib to full sized bed with bed rails. None of them tried to climb over the rails. In fact they all would stay in their bed and call for us when they were ready to get out. I guess they thought with the rails there they could not get out themselves. It was actually quite funny. My youngest is 2 1/2 and we moved her into a "big" bed in June. She knows she can climb in and out of the bed on her own but still prefers for me to come in and get her. I say "Go for it!"

Hi! I started by taking the drop side off the crib and putting the railing there. I only did that w/my first because she would get up in the night to go to the bathroom. We didn't keep it that way foe long. We moved her into a big girl bed w/the rail on it. Never bothered w/a toddler bed. My second went right to the bed w/the rail. Neither one ever climbed ove the rail. There was enough space at the bottom of the bed to allow them to get in and out by themselves, so need to climb. Hope that helps!

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I think either way is fine Mom, as long as the full size bed is not too high off the floor. If it is a standard height you may put a few pillows or an extra comforter on either side of the bed on the floor at night; this way if your daughter falls off she will land on the pillows, friends did this for a while when switching over. When we moved our daughter out of the crib got an small inexpensive Jr bed that the crib matress went on. We talked up to our "big girl" that she was getting out of the crib. I'd let her pick out some new bedding if you can and a cute pillow to make it inviting for her. A funny thing happened in the transition, for the first 3-4 months our daughter was so used to having to be helped out of the crib she would not get out of the big girl bed with out calling for me or Daddy to help her out. We didnt break the news to her for a while that she just had to scoot to the end of the bed over the side rail to get out on her own, that way we knew she wasnt up running around the house at age 2 B4 Mom and Dad were awake. She is a bright teenager now and this still makes me laugh when I think about it. Hope this helps.

you don't mention how old your daugher is - but i agree with going straight to a twin bed. why switch twice. tell your hubby that A. if she wants to climb out of bed she'll have no trouble doing it, regardless of which bed she's in, and B. falling out of bed is something almost every kid does at least once. most of the time that teaches them not to do it again. she'll be fine! :) it sounds like you're doing everything right - go for it!

We went straight from a crib to a full size mattress on the floor for both my kids... we put my daughters bed together about a year after she was on the mattress (worked well because we moved). My son is on a mattress on the floor now... we use bed rails both with the mattress' and the beds so they were very accustomed to it. Both kids transitioned out of the crib a little after they tured 2.

Hi! I started by taking the drop side off the crib and putting the railing there. I only did that w/my first because she would get up in the night to go to the bathroom. We didn't keep it that way foe long. We moved her into a big girl bed w/the rail on it. Never bothered w/a toddler bed. My second went right to the bed w/the rail. Neither one ever climbed ove the rail. There was enough space at the bottom of the bed to allow them to get in and out by themselves, so need to climb. Hope that helps!

My daughter didn't climb over the rails. she figured out immediately that the bottom of the bed and the bottom sides didn't have rails and that was where she should enter and exit the bed. My son has refused all beds altogether in favor of the floor and I wish I could get him excited about any kind of bed. She should be fine with the rails.

I think she'll be fine, both of my girls went straight to regular beds. We just had rails up and no boxspring (just put wood and made it like a platform bed) so that it's not so high.

We never used a toddler bed for either of our kids. We started them on a twin mattress and box spring on the floor, no bed frame. If they fell out, it wasn't a long way down - and we didn't move them from the crib til they were turning 3. By four, their bed was on a bed frame, never used a rail.
Good luck!

My 2 daughters, now 7, & almost 5, went from a Pack-n-Play to a 2 drawer height Captain's bed with bookshelf headboard, once they started climbing out of the P-N-P. We used a rail on the outside of the bed (the other side was against the wall. We had a plastic storage container for the girls to climb up & down on, & had no problems. They didn't climb over or fall over the rail (at the head of the bed. Always climbed up & down from the foot of the bed where the container was. The container was full of off-season clothing & was wired shut until time to change out summer to winter, or winter to summer. So it was heavy enough for them not to be able to move it. The mattress is about 2 ft off the ground, & my kids have survived. Kids love to climb, make it safe & let her climb & enjoy her new bed.

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