Hello all :)
I just wanted to find out from everyone what has worked best for you when transitioning your children from a crib to a toddler bed. I have a 2 year old daughter and I am trying to get her to sleep in a toddler bed, but she is enjoying the freedom a little too much and we are not having much success.
Any and all tips will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Thanks everyone. No, we don't have to make the switch yet. I will probably wait a little while longer until she understands a little bit more. I really appreciate everyone's input. My daughter is little to begin with for her age, so I am not doing the twin bed yet. I think a toddler bed is the perfect size for her to start out with.
I was just curious as to what other parents did that may have worked for them. Each parent and child is different and may do things just a little different and that is why I was looking for a variety of experiences. It is sometimes helpful and nice to see what is working well or not working so well for other parents.
Have a good night everyone :)
Have you thought about skipping the toddler bed all together since she's so old? She's almost ready to be out of a toddler bed so if you're just starting her in it I would simply go ahead to the big girl bed. Those mattresses are for babies and toddlers, not pre-school aged kiddos.
My recommendation is to switch from a crib to a twin sized bed, bypass the the toddler bed and go straight to twin or full, depending on what your plan is for the next few years. My son transitioned to a twin at 3 years, my daughter to a full at 2 years, 8 months. Both were low to the ground, and both did fall out a couple of times, but we put some pillows on the floor so they had a soft landing. They never did it more than a handful of times.
As far as the freedom, we just kept going in and placing them back into their beds. The baby monitors would alert us that they were up. Both were so excited to have big kid beds. We told them that if they couldn't sleep in their big kids beds, then we would have to put their cribs back in their rooms. Neither wanted that. Eventually they stopped fighting, it was just a point of being consistent. We did need to take the toys out of both of their bedrooms and put them into a playroom, as they would get out of bed and play with their toys. That eliminated that problem, and over time we were able to slowly move them back in.
Good Luck!
I'm going to buck the trend here...
Did you have to move her from the crib? I waited until mine were 3 and 3.5 years old - which was old enough for both of them to understand that when it's bedtime, you stay in your bed. Waiting until they were older completely eliminated the bedtime issues with moving to the toddler bed.
So if it were me, I'd tell her if she doesn't stay in her bed, she'll have to go back to the crib. And if she still gets up out of bed, I'd follow through and put her back in her crib. Not just for a night, but for a few months at least.
Twin mattress on the floor against the wall.
Baby gate on the door.
Black-out curtains on the windows.
Disable the light switch by putting a pull chain on the ceiling light and turning it off there.
No light emitting or noisy toys. Books are good.
Nighty night!
We went straight from crib to twin bed. We pushed the bed into a corner and put a bed rail on the side and end. At first, my daughter would get up and wander into the hall or our bedroom, but she eventually got used to it. She's 2 1/2 now and we haven't had any problems for months.
Would not bother with toddler bed. Twin bed with rail. Gate across door if need be.
I placed the Toddler Bed Rails along side my kids beds.
In my experience, and from what I've heard from friends, once you move a child out of a crib it's a whole new challenge regardless of the age. You will always have a struggle once your child has this new freedom, and he has to learn to control himself. My 4 yo daughter has been out of the crib for a year and she still has her nights when she pops out and needs to be put back—occasionally more than once. It's a painful process sometimes—growing pains!
Good luck!
If she's getting out of bed put a gate across her door so she cannot walk out of her room. If she falls asleep on the floor it's OK, usually that helps reinforce that the bed is more comfortable. If she cries to get out walk to her doorway, point to her bed and say, "it's time to go to sleep," and walk away. After you've done that a couple of times you can call that to her from your room. If she's getting up and playing with toys put them out of her room at bedtime.
Do whatever necessary to thwart her activity. It takes most kids up to the age of 3 to mentally visualize the imaginary bars or boundaries they're used to on their bed and stay there, not all but some. My two grandsons had no problems at 17 and 22 months, they got it the first night, but some think it's a game, "I can get out of bed!" :) With your consistent help she'll learn the boundaries quicker, stress throughout the day and at bedtime that her bed is for sleeping, lights out means goodnight and go to sleep.
Thanks for asking, I will be tracking the responses. Our DS is still in his crib, he's weighing in at 35lbs, and I am having a hard time getting him in and out. I think we'll have to make the transition soon enough.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
