Toddler Toddler Bed? - Richmond, KY

Hi J.!

i would have left my 2year old in her crib until kindergarten if I could have. She never complained, slept wonderfully, and never tried to climb out. But...we will need the crib for baby # 2 soon, so we made the jump. I personally think toddler beds are a waste of money (though you can get them rather cheaply). We opted for a real "big girl's bed" with side rails. I actually ordered the rails from Target in order to get the longer ones. The ones in the the stores are 40 someodd inches long and ours are 56" long. We gate her door and haven't had a problem. Good Luck!

A.

Hi J.,
I have two rambunctuous boys almost 7 and 4. With both, we waited until they were just too big for their crib. You'll know because they won't be able to get comfortable any more. They were both very excited to get their 'big boy bed'- for our oldest, we got a bunk bed that had a double on the bottom and twin on top. The bed is detachable (wood frame), so we thought when we have another one (which we did obviously) we could take the top bunk off and use it for the next one. This worked out perfectly because the top bunk already had a guard rail on it. I got some wooden steps (two step storage unit) from Target and it works great. We now have them in the same room with the beds detached and maybe in a year or so we'll put the beds back together. Either way, we will probably use them into teenage years when we separate them into two rooms. I think Toddler beds are kind of a waste of money, they grow out of them so quickly....As far as getting out of bed, it's definitely going to happen, but just like anything else you must be persistent. It took mine about a week of getting used to their new routine (brush teeth, jammies on, read a book, put them to bed). I tried to make it fun by reminding them each night that they are in their big boy bed now and big boys stay in their bed until they fall asleep. If they get up, you put them back in, if they don't play the praise up, my boys respond so well to me telling them how proud I am of them....my (long) two cents....good luck!

My daughter just turned 2, and we're going to wait until she either climbs out or asks to have a bigger bed...unless she just grown out of the crib by then LOL!

My husband and I moved our son to a regular "big boy" bed when he turned 2. We bought a twin/full bunk bed. It took a little while for him to get used to, but after a while he decided he liked it. We do keep a bed rail up at all times, we learned the hard way one night. He's 3 now and has never gotten out of bed at night to play, nap time is a different story, but all in all he stays in bed. When we first moved him he'd come into our room, we would just take him back to bed, no words or lights. After a little while he learned to stay in bed.

With our oldest, we moved him to a toddler bed around age 18 months, when he started climbing out of his crib. Our youngest is now 21 months and has not yet tried that, so he's still in the crib. We plan on keeping him there as long as he stays in it. I feel it's safest that way. (We have stairs right outside his bedroom door that are very steep, they scare me.) So that's how we're approaching the situation. I guess when it comes time to move him to the toddler bed, we'll cross it as gently as we can.

I have two yr. old twins plus two older ones. They are all different. With the twins I waited until they could crawl out of their cribs and just took off a side. Not good enough, they were constantly getting out of the bed wondering around not wanting to go to sleep. I think you have to make it exciting for them to transition from crib to toddler bed. Think about it, they have probably been in that same crib most of their life, they need a little change. I found on Ebay (not sold in stores anymore) these toddler beds made by Step 2, they are yellow VW Beetle Bug Cars, top w/sunroof and everything. Anyway, they got these for Christmas with Barney sheets and they absolutely love them. They even go down easily for naps too. They are low enough to the ground they can get in and out of but are made to make it hard for them to fall out of when asleep. Good luck!

I would wait on the toddler bed. I have a 12 yr old & 7 yr old. We waited until 3 yrs.old. Mine really never climbed out of the crib. We transitioned to a toddler bed for about a year. Then regular bed with rails. By the time they were in the toddler bed they fully understood that bedtime is bedtime..not playtime. A year will make a huge difference.

J., I waited until my daughter was climbing out of her crib to move her into a toddler bed and regret that choice. My daughter learned to climb out when she was about 2 1/2 years old - then it became a game - she would climb out of her bed, sneak out of her room, jump out and yell "Tah Dah!" In hind sight, I wish I would have tried the switch earlier, before it became a game. I think she would have acclamated to the bed much better. I moved my daughter to a toddler bed initially and that lasted about a month. She was still sneaking out, especially with the new found freedom and ease of leaving the toddler bed. After a few months and many, many returns to bed each night, she's now sleeping in a big girl bed with bed rails - but it was a trial getting her there and out of the habit of sneaking out of her room after bedtime. I plan to switch my son to a toddler bed much earlier than I did my daughter and hope for a much smoother transition. Good luck to you!

My son is now 2 years old and he's been sleeping in a toddler bed since he was 16 months old because he learned how to climb out of the crib! He loves his bed - although it did take several months of putting him back in bed EVERY SINGLE TIME that he climbed out for him to get the point that he was going to stay in bed. Sometimes it would take over an hour of putting him back in the bed, but now we read 2 stories, sing a couple songs, put him in bed and he puts himself to sleep! Well worth the months of work, especially since I was rocking him to sleep before the toddler bed!

My dad built him the bed, and it has 4 removable rails - we have 3 on at the moment, but it's also pushed up against a wall on one side. He loves the fact that he can climb in and out on his own.

I would wait until your daughter starts showing signs that she's ready to move - sometimes they get "freaked out" about the big bed or feel more comfortable in the crib because it's small and cozy. If she's getting too big for the crib, climbing out, or over the weight limit, I'd say switch her. The nice thing about a toddler bed is that you can use the mattress that you already have in the crib! The downside is that you have to buy a toddler bed, then a full-size bed.

If you're not ready to deal with moving to a different bed, I'd recommend a crib tent - I know several people who have them and love them. They're sold at Toys 'R' Us - website is:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2404625

Also at babycenter.com's store - website is:
http://store.babycenter.com/
search for "crib tent" - they have more selections than toys r us.

Good Luck!

My son was climbing out of his crib. He has a convertable crib. So i changed it to the toddler bed. He has been in that for about 6 months and it works for him. Since the crib was free, I am gonna use that till he gets to long (which seeing how he is over 3 feet at 2 years old shouldn't be long). I am switching to a twin bed. I am spending a bit to get the bed that I know he will enjoy. (disney cars) I feel its up to you. If she climbs out she may hurt herself. Or she may not try at all. They do have toddler beds for about a hundred dollars. It comes in a set with the bed, table and chairs. Also they are available in characters.It may take her a little to get use to any bed. A twin might work with rails. Good Luck.

Hi J.!

I moved my son into a twin bed at around 15 months. He had a HORRIBLE time sleeping in his crib. He moves around a lot. So he was waking up every time his banged his head on a slat or got an ankle stuck. He never slept through the night. As soon as we put him in the twin bed, he slept through the night! And continues to do so. I have a rail up on one side and the bed in a corner. So the head of the bed and the other side are against walls. He also sleeps with a Snuggli (my pregnancy pillow!) and a reading pillow (pillow with arms). And several stuffed animals. He never got out of bed to play. If he happened to wake up, he sat in bed and cried. Even at 22 months, he does not get out to play.

Had he not been such a mover, I would have kept him in his crib for as long as possible. I hope you find something that works for you and your child!

With our son we moved him first to a toddler bed. Which didn't work out. Our son moves around alot in his sleep, the toddler bed was to small to do this, so he would fall out of bed. So we decided to go ahead and put him in a big bed. We do use guard rail so he doesn't fall out. We also use a gate on his door so he's not able to roam the house freely at night if he happens to wake up.

We moved our daughter to her toddler bed right before her 2nd birthday. She wasn't trying to climb out of her crib or anything, we just felt it was time. She has a crib that converts into a toddler bed by taking the front rail off. She kept falling out of that bed so we bought her an actual toddler bed with the rails on the side. We made a big deal about it and how big she was getting and she was happy to move into it. She has still fallen out a few times but seems to enjoy sleeping in it. We put one of those security things over her door knob so she can't leave her room in the middle of the night. She does stay in bed for us though. She will sit in bed an yell for us in the morning until we come and get her out of bed. I think what really made it interesting for her to move into the toddler bed was the fact that we made a big deal of it and she got her own pillow, a new stuffed animal and things like that for her new bed.

I would suggest waiting until you feel your 2 year old needs to move out of the crib instead of just doing it because they are 2. Unless they are trying to climb out it is safe to leave them there for a while longer and save yourself some trouble for a little bit. I agree with the people who think that a toddler bed is a waste of money unless you can get one cheap somewhere. Kids are fine in a big bed with side rails as soon as they can climb in and out easily and most 2 year olds can a stepstool can help with this as well. Then you will need to gate the door if you want them to stay in their room. You may also have to remove toys if you don't want them up playing all night but this depends on the child. I found that it was more of an issue at naptime than at night.

My son is 2 1/2. We bought bunk beds that have a trundle bed. Right now he sleeps on the trundle - a twin size mattress but not far off the floor. Once I'm convinced he won't fall out, I am going to move him into the bottom bunk. It was an expensive start, but the bunk beds can be separated and with number 2 on the way, I plan on these being the kids beds for many many years to come, and he trundle will just be a spare for any friends that come over. I do put a gate in the doorway but I am blessed with a son that doesn't get up until we come for him.

our 3 kids were all in their cribs as long as possible - until they were approximately 3 years old. We put up a standard sized bed in their rooms - which they moved in to next - but the crib STAYED UP if they didn't stay in their "big kids bed" they would have to go back in their crib. It worked well for us.

If you keep your child in their crib, you could put the mattress on the floor and slide the railings all the way down - then they wouldn't be falling from so high - it seemed to work well for us!

What works good for you is what you need to do - remember whatever stage you are going through in your life - or your childrens, will come to pass.

We went straight from a crib to a big girl (twin sized bed) when my daugher started climbing out of her crib. I was terrified she was going to break her neck. She transitioned very well because we made such a big deal about her being a big girl. We pushed the bed up against a wall and put a gaurd rail on the other side. We also bought some cute little steps to put at the foot of the bed to make it easier for her to get down. I also was worried about her getting out of her room and wandering at night, our rooms are on the second story, so we put a baby gate in front of her door and another gate in front of the stairs.

hi! i moved my daughter to her "big girl" bed when she was about 17 months. we were expecting #2 and i wanted her to be adjusted to her new bed by the time he was born...
we got her bed from ikea. i absolutely LOVE it! it's very low to the ground and has decorative rails at the top and bottom. the best part is that when she's bigger, it will extend to a twin bed, so it will grow with her.
we just talked about her "big girl" room and "big girl" bed for a while and she loved it.

my daughter made the transition very, very easy, but i guess that all depends on the child...

here's the link for the bed:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S39827962

We moved our little girl to a toddler bed before she was 2 because we had baby #2 already and didn't want to buy a second crib. Because she is petite, we went with a toddler bed and not a big bed. She wasn't climbing out of her crib yet, but felt she was mature enough (as mature as a 18 month old can be-hehe) for a big girl bed. What I did was got her involved in the process and talked about it for quite some time before the move finally happened. When we got her room ready, I just made it as baby-proofed as I could so that if and when she got out of bed, she couldn't hurt herself. That means the dresser was in the closet, there was nothing tall for her to climb on or tip over on herself, and that all the toys out were ones that she could safely play with w/o my supervision. We closed her in her room at night with a knob cover on the inside of the door so she couldn't lock herself in and also so she couldn't get out and get into who knows what while we were sleeping. The only thing I really had to teach her to do was to not mess with the monitor so that I could still hear what was going on in there at night. I tried hiding it and that didn't work out so well. I ended up pointing it out to her and just telling her that it was a no-no. Of course it will be super loud if they try and unplug it so you will know if they disobey in this area. We at first just worked on her staying in her room by herself w/o her freaking out and once she was comfortable about that, we started enforcing her staying in her bed to sleep. That just takes consistency on your part. It took a couple of weeks and we still have nights or afternoons where she thinks it's time to play instead of sleep, but overall it went really well. I think I thought it was going to be a lot more difficult on her than it was. It definitely helps when your child is well-behaved in the first place. Let me know how it goes and if you have any other questions. Goodluck!

J.

funny we just went through the same thing! My daughter is 2 &1/2, and in love with her crib. We now have a almost 6 month old, who was waiting to "take over" the crib. We have had my daughters full bed set up in her new beautiful pink room, and she would not go near it. I went to Target, got her Princess sheets, and Princess pajamas, and it worked!! After the first night, she is now in love with the bed! We have rails on both sides, and she has all of her stuffed animals from the crib in bed with her. She does not try to get out of bed on her own, waits for me to come in when I hear her up on the monitor. Hope this helps, I was told you have to wait until they are ready, sometimes it takes until they are 3!

If the crib is working, I wouldn't mess with it. Unless you have another child coming in 6 months or less, she is climbing out of the crib, or she needs to get out to go potty at night, I would stick with the crib. We chose to go with a twin bed instead of a toddler bed. I just hated the idea of spending money on something so temporary when a more permanent solution could be had. Ours came with a guard rail which we use. At first it was hard to get him to stay in bed, but then again he was jumping up and down and screaming in his crib, so there was not much difference. For some reason at night he would stay. Took him 6 months to realize he could get out at night. The first night in his big bed he wasn't so sure, but then I took off the twin bedding and covered him with his crib quilt and he was all good.

Our daughter never tried to climb out of her crib, so our attitude was basically "if it's not broke, don't fix it". All that changed, of course, when we started potty training at 2-1/2 years as we didn't want to send mixed messages by encouraging her to use a diaper because she couldn't get up to go to the bathroom. She'll be 4 in March and we frequently have to put her back to bed several times before she finally goes to sleep for the night, but I think that's completely normal.

I'm sure you'll get many different responses to this request, so you'll just have to go with your gut to figure out what's best for your daughter.

Good luck!

Well here is my situation. I am divorced single mother of two boys. My youngest will be 3 in March and he is still in a crib. He doesn't try and climb out yet. And actually I kind of like the fact that he can't get out yet. But as soon as I find some decent not so kiddy toddler bedding, I am taking down the crib and putting the toddler bed up for him. I already have one from my oldest. I have a twin bed for him to go into once he moves upstairs. I just need to get side rails for it.
I am redecorating the upstairs lofty room and making it a bedroom for both boys. My oldest is 8 will be 9 in March.
So as of right now and for a little while the crib is in my room and my oldest sleeps in bed with me.
Man it will be SOOO nice to have a bed all to myself!

My daughter is 2-1/2 and we just moved her to a twin bed without any problems. We put a rail up on the side, so she couldn't roll out. She was not trying to climb out of her crib, we just wanted to take the crib down, because we had bought a twin bed for her room and needed the space. We told her to stay in bed when she woke up and holler for mommy and daddy when she wakes up and we'll come get her and that is what she has been doing. I was pleasantly surprised by the smooth transition. She's such a great sleeper I was afraid we would mess that up, but it has been great.

My son went to a toddler bed at 16 months b/c he was refusing to sleep in his crib any longer. Would cry for 2 plus hours, and then lay there awake. I started by letting him sleep elsewhere, like next to his bed on the floor. When he went right to sleep, I decided it was time to give up the bed. He did GREAT with this toddler bed. Never got up out of bed, and didn't cry.

I waited until my son after my son was climbing out of the crib to change beds... simply put the sides down most of the way so he wouldn't hurt himself climbing out.

When he was 3 I got him a "big kid bed" which was a twin bed shaped like a race car. The sides of the race car were high enough that he wouldn't fall out, and he was in that bed until he was 9 and decided to give it to a younger friend.

Hi J.,
So much of parenting seems to just be about how your kid is and your own circumstances. I waited for both of my girls to try climbing out before I moved them into a bigger bed. We did use a guard rail - one needed it until she was 6, one didn't really need it at all. We had to lay down in the big bed with both of them for a long time, gently cutting the time down over a period of weeks. They are 8 and 5 and my husband and I both still lay down with each of them for about 5 minutes every night for "mommy and daddy snuggle time." That is what works for us. One needs music, one doesn't want music.... see what I mean. Just experiment with what works for you and your child. All these decisions ARE overwhelming and I know I suffer over getting it "right" but is there a right?

It is just about love and taking everyone's needs into consideration and then making a plan you can all live with.

Good luck. i'm sure you'll make a great decision!

definately keep them in the toddler bed until they try to climb out .. we just put a gate up because our child played for a while before he went to sleep. it works fine.

I waited until my son was 2 1/2. We had discussed it with him in advance, then we took apart his crib in front of him and assembled his big boy bed, leaving his crib sheets etc on it. He took to it immediately! He was too big for his crib by then but I wanted to wait until he (and his Mummy!!) was ready and he never actually attempted to climb out of his crib or anything so I didn't see any urgency. He has had his moments since then, like when he figured out how to open the bedroom door etc, but all in all, he has done extremely well and it has been almost four months now! Good luck :)

Hi J....
I recently went through the bed change thing. Except my son just turned three :) I read one time if your little one isn't trying to climb out and you dont need the crib for a new baby to keep them in until they turn 3. This is because they understand why they have to stay in their bed more. Whereas, at the age of two it may be confusing why you aren't allowed out of your room.

My son turned three Christmas day so we asked Santa for a big boy bed. Thus far, he's doing great. I think it helps to wait (if you can of course.)

Good luck!

K.

Hi, J. --

We were lucky, I think. Our daughter only crawled out of her crib one time - when she was about 2 - and never did it again, so her crib was nice, safe confinement for her and we got to choose the time to transition her to a toddler bed.

My husband and I decided to tie the transition to her completing potty training... as a reward, basically. We told her that, once she was using the potty like a big girl, then she could have a big girl bed because she'd need to get in and out to take herself to the potty. She completed her potty training when she was about 2.5yrs, and she was VERY excited to get her big girl bed.

She phased out her naps around the same time, so there wasn't really any reason we needed to make sure she stayed in bed in the afternoons. We also had a pretty much set-in-stone bedtime routine, so we've had no trouble with her getting in and out. Maybe that's something to really solidify before the transition so they don't really think about deviating from it to get out and play, etc.

Personally, I think it's best to move to the toddler bed when there's a real reason to. If the child can understand that it's a privelege and it's got a responsibility attached (such as going to the potty on their own), I think it's more meaningful... really signifying that they're a big kid, and that's something special.

My daughter's bed is against the wall, and only one side is open to get in and out of. She's never even been close to falling out, but they do sell different kinds of guard rails that you could try. We bought some but returned them because we never needed them, even when we traveled.

Oh, also - I'd say, if your child is insisting on getting up and playing, one solution could be that they lose some other privelege that they'd otherwise enjoy. For our daughter, if she misbehaves, she loses getting to have a book read to her before bed. She LOVES books, so that's a major deal to her to lose that special thing for the night.

Good luck!
H.

I would suggest moving her to a toddler bed. There are railings on them that can prevent a fall.

We moved our boy to a toddler bed when he as 20 months old because he flipped out of his crib twice.
We opted for the toddler bed because of the rails, and his room is small...we were afraid he'd be up 100 times because he could escape.
At the time, it ended up being a much easier transition than we thought. He loved his big boy bed (we got some fun new bedding to go with it) and he did NOT get up out of bed.
He NOW is getting up out of bed at 2 1/2, but that's because we just had another baby.
Basically, I wouldn't move him out of the crib just because he's a certain age...but the transition MIGHT now be as bad as you think!

My daughter has been in a toddler bed since 13 months old. She never liked the crib. Hers converted to a toddler bed so I didn't have to worry about buying one. However she still sleeps only half the night in her bed so we are going to a big bed now. At 2ys if you decide on moving to a big bed I would go with a big bed. If she doesn't mind the crib and you don't either....keep using it. I don't see how it could do any harm. If you do decide on the big bed, definitely get rails. Falling out isn't fun. As far as getting out of bed a million times, I just chose to put her back a million times. After the first week she stopped getting up. But remember patience when doing this. You can loose them VERY quikly. Good luck.
T.

I just recently moved out of my parents house after my house getting flouded and forcing me out. Anyway, I had lost everything and my two daughters ended up sleeping in bed with me, for a very long time. Even after I had bought my oldest her ouwn toddler bed she didn't want to sleep anywhere other than right next to me. So, now that I have moved out we bought both of my girls bunk beds that can either be seperate or stacked. For now they are separate b/c my youngest is 21 months old. The top bed has tails all around it and works perfectly for her right now. And they are in their own beds and in a room together, for now. Now if I can only break them of throwing things at eachother in the middle of the night..... ugh! LOL Hope everything works out for you!