Transition from Crib to Big Boy Bed???

Go straight to the regular bed. My daughter was 18 months when my son was born and we got her in her big girl bed I think 4 months before #2 came. She was kind of confused at first, but we kept on telling her what a big girl she was and how great the new bed was and we went and picked out some fun sheets and stuff and she loved it. She has never had any problems with it. We did get a bed rail, though, and she still uses it. Good luck!

We went straight to a twin bed with both our boys. They had no problems changing to the big bed (to my surprise). Like the other ladies said, use a rail for safety.

FYI: What we did was buy a regular bunk bed. Since the top bunk has rails all the way around we used that for our first son and the botton bed in our extra room. Now, our older son has the botton bed in his room and our younger son has the top with the rails in his room. We like having the option of bunk beds if we need it. But if not, we have two beds (the rails come off). This ended up cheaper than buying two beds in the long run!!

Hi, I have 3 boys ages 4 and under and there are 2 ways you can go here. one is to transition him into a full size or toddler bed WAY before baby is born because you don't want him to make any changes after baby is born because he will associate you taking his crib away BECAUSE of the baby. He will also regress a little in different ways after baby is born so making a change right after will not be good because he needs stability and security then the most. He will feel replaced but not know that is exactly how he feels.

The other is to wait a while after the baby is born then transition him to a new bed. but it really does matter what size bed. Some people use just a matress so the won't fall off and some use a toddler or full size with guard rails.

I used a crib tent on my toddlers crib for a while and when I started transitioning them to a bed, they have the crib still in the bedroom and if they do not stay in the bed and they get out, then I tell them " you stay in your bed and if you get out, then you go back into your crib" Then, if they get out, I put them back in the crib and zip the tent... they sleep in the crib that night, then we repeat that until the child stays in the bed and goes to sleep. (my boys always wanted to run around the room and play and come out of the room so we used the crib to show them that if they did not stay in there beds they were not ready to sleep in the big boy bed. IT really worked quick)

Also, we made a huge deal about letting them help pick out the big boy bed and bed sheets... so they felt like it was a big deal and would transition easier.

Good luck... A. J

Hi Lyn,
I have a 5 year old girl and I remember the toddler bed ordeal. Her crib converted so we tried it. The problem we had is that she would fall out. Sometimes she would cry and wake up and other times we would just find her asleep on the floor. The other big pain was we couldn't find a rail that fit the crib convert to a bed so we just dolled up a queen size bed and made it hers!! Worked out much better. Hope this helps at all.
Jen

Hi,

I say if it ain't broke don't fix it! lol....my son is the same he just turned two, has never tried climbing out of his crib and sleep patterns are wonderful. We are in no hurry to move him into a toddler bed as we have no rush for his crib. When it is time however I'll go right to a twin bed probably. The bed rail sounds like a good idea as well!

We had the same issue earlier this summer. My son was 27 months when his sister was born and he had never climbed out of his crib. We had his new big boy room all ready several months before we had the baby and we always referred to it as his big boy room or the baby's room. Had a twin bed in there, all his stuff, and rails on both sides of the bed. So all he did was sleep in the crib. Everything else was in his big boy room. Once in a while we'd ask him where he wanted to sleep & he started napping in the big boy bed. After a couple of day of that, we put him down for nights also. He always had a choice and a couple of nights he'd wake up and want to go in his crib so we let him. We then redecorated the nursey so it really was the baby's. We never had any issues or problems with our oldest. It was just "big boy bed" or Crib-where do you want to sleep?
But if you are planning on your new baby sleeping with you, there is no real hurry-mine is 4 months old now and still sleeps in a bassinet in our room. So you won't need the crib right away.
Hope this helps!
Good luck & congrats on the new baby!

Skip the toddler bed! At 18 months our son started climbing out of his crib and we decided rather than transition twice to get to a big boy bed, we did it once! We had absolutely no problems putting him into a queen size sleigh bed. He loves his bed! It was a seamless transition! I will add that the longest bed rails out there are made by One Step Ahead - and we love them! You can order them online at OneStepAhead.com! It gives us an added sense of security!

I would say move to the full so you don't have to buy another crib mattress now and then a full later when he get's bigger. Just buy the big one now and get it over with. My son fell out of his twin bed one time and that was all it took, never did it again.

Hi! I have a 3 1/2 year old who had to transition to a toddler bed when I was expecting #2 as well, and we just moved her straight to a twin size bed. I would recommend a side rail, though. (we found ours at target). The side rail is for safety, as well as it probably will help your little one feel a little safer and more like a crib. Good luck!

Hi Lyn... My sons sleeping habits were great, just like your 2 year old. I moved him from a crib to a full size bed when he was 2 1/2 and had no problems what so ever. I felt like the toddler bed was not necessary. It seemed like he needed the extra room to move around. If your uncomfortable, get a bed rail and this may make you feel better. Congrats on baby #2!