When to Start the Toddler Bed

You are very lucky to have such a good sleeper. I agree that you should not fix something that is not broken. Remember, they are only this little for such a short time and I promise you won't be rocking a 15 year old, lol. If it is a time issue, maybe try to limit the other activities and lay him down after rocking for a few minutes and then stand at his crib rubbing his back for a few minutes until he falls asleep and then make the rocking time shorter and shorter. At some point, he may get use to going right to bed and you won't have to rub his back very long at all. I have a 5 year old boy who I was really concerned about rocking, but now he goes to sleep on his own. I have a 20 month old girl and I am going to rock her until she won't let me anymore:-) Every child is different and I know what works for some doesn't work for all. I hope this helps!

I know you had a lot of responses, and we are moving our 3 year old daughter to a toddler bed soon. To help her ease into it, I set it up in her bedroom this weekend, and a family member gave us the extra crib mattress. I fixed it up with her new sheets and comforter, and she LOVES laying on it. I am starting with naptimes being taken on the new bed, and see how it goes from there - but she can at least get used to it and we can slowly move her from one to the other :) That might be helpful for your son too, just set it up and let him get used to it. He might surprise you :)

I agree, if he's not climbing out of his crib don't worry about getting him into a toddler bed yet. My 2 1/2 yr old is still in a crib and loves it in there, so I don't worry about anyone getting out on the loose at night =-) As for the rocking to sleep issue, why not start CIO with naps to see how it goes? We've learned that the middle of the night is never a good time to try anything new. Get him used to it during the day when you can drown out the noise with a shower or laundry and then go from there. Good luck!

Hmmm, so the "drop and run" (as DH and I call it) doesn't work. Have you tried laying him down and then staying and talking to him soothingly while rubbing his tummy/back? Does he have a lovey? My son plays his Baby Tad by himself now (he's 4 but he's been playing it himself for a couple years) until he goes to sleep, but obviously you need a transition. I'm not sure if you "drop and run" (which we've resorted to during some phases) but if you do, I'd suggest laying him down and rubbing his tummy/back with some soft music playing and start creating a new association. Then, if that works, over time, just put your hand on him instead of rubbing, then remove the hand (really, at one point I had my hand hovering an inch above his tummy!) ... then do it when he's groggy, then back away when he's groggy ...
then you could get into the progression of backing out of the room farther each night. First you have to conquer getting him to be okay in the crib groggy but not asleep. :)

If all else fails, you may have to suffer with CIO. After a few nights it should (hopefully) get shorter and shorter.

As for the toddler bed, I wouldn't push it yet if you don't need to, personally. I'd get one issue solved before introducing another one. If he has several months of successfully falling asleep by himself, he might do better switching to something different. As it is currently, he may wake up in the night after being put down in the bed and freak out about where he is. Plus, he'd be older and the toddler bed would be an adventure that he might not "get" at this age.

Good luck, and good luck with Baby #2! :)

I transitioned my son to a toddler bed at about the same age b/c we were expecting. Like you, I also rocked my son at night. I removed the rocking chair from his room and set up the toddler bed for him. We started with just naps and he did great so that made it easier for transitioning to bed time. He was pretty excited about moving to big bed, fell out a few nights and has done great ever since! I think being on a cot at daycare helped my situation tremendously...but maybe you'll get lucky and things will just fall into place! If you can hype up the toddler bed maybe it will be easier for him to forget about needing to be rocked. I read my son a book while he's laying in his bed now.
GOOD LUCK!

Don't fix what isn't broken!!! Seriously - if he's sleeping that well then don't move him! Most kids get worse sleeping habits with the move to a new bed... most get better but the first couple months can be rough.

Also, you'll probably want to break the rocking to sleep habit NOW, while he's contained in his crib. If he's in his toddler bed, he'll just jump down and run out of the room or wander around his room playing. It could take >hours< to get him to sleep for the first few weeks (know many friends it happened to!).

My advice, keep him in the crib for now. My kids all made the switch to a bed between 2.5-3 years old (my youngest is still in her crib at 27 months old). They were/are all great sleepers and the transitions went very smoothly. Most experts recommend keeping kids in a crib until age 3 or at least until 2.5 for their safety. With a younger toddler, you'll need to put a gate across their door and remove most things from their room because the entire room basically becomes their 'crib'. Any toys and stuff will get played with in the middle of the night unless/until they have good sleep habits.

As for rocking to sleep.... I suggest a sound machine (onestepahead has a great one). The problem with 'crying it out' is that once you back down and give in (which you did) it just makes the next time even harder because he knows to keep pushing and he'll eventually get what he wants. Also, try an earlier bedtime. Most kids that age need 11-12 hours of sleep a night. Our kids, even the 7 year old, go to bed at 8pm although the 2 year old is usually in bed by 7:30. And they wake up at 7am. By 9pm your son is probably overtired and therefore taking longer to settle down (many overtired toddlers don't act/look tired). I know many parents who solved the bedtime battle simply with an earlier bedtime - before the kid got their 2nd wind.

Yes, I think he is too young.
Please do not think that his present routine is set in stone...children can change at a moment's notice, so his sleep habit may not last.
And ask yourself this......why wouldn't he miss the closeness with you that he has at bedtime?
And, if you do have baby#2, that is even more of a reason to want more of you.
So, I would wait with the toddler bed at least 6 months or more, perhaps making it a special event for him around the arrival of the new baby, and take him to the store and let him pick out sheets etc. for it, and/or a stuffed toy to sleep with.
You can either pick a special date for the transition or lead up to it by letting him nap in it and so on.
Good luck.

HI C...three boys here (18, 15, and 5):). I guess you never know how any child is gonna act, for every child is different regardless how we try and raise them, routine or no routine. So, When my oldest one was 2, i held him, carried him every where, rocked him to sleep, etc. When i became pregnant i started talking to him bout him having a baby bro or sis ( they are 2 1/2 yrs apart), explainin to him that when they baby is born i will have to hold the baby alot, cuz he can't walk, and you ( my big boy) are gonna have to start walking, but mommy can still hold yer hand. i talked to him always about it, and made sure he knew how special he was to me. I didn't stop doin anything with his yet tho, til my belly got to big to carry him :), and by time my 2nd lil boy came, he just fell into his routine. Becuz even with baby #2, when baby slept, he had all my attention again. Do you really want to stop rocking him to sleep? i wouldn't, work on cuttin the time down maybe, if its over a 1/2 hr, cuz even when baby comes, you'll work the routine around it. congrats1 GL, and God Bless

Hi C.,

On the rocking to sleep part, we just transitioned the rocking by laying them down with a movie (something totally unstimulating) or peaceful music and just sitting by the bed. Then, when he gets use to going to sleep without your physical touch, you can say, "here is your music" and leave the room. Sit outside the door for the first couple of days so he is secure with the knowledge that he can call if he needs you. Just do it in steps when you are ready.

we also have a 19 month-old, and I plan to keep her in the crib as long as she's happy and safe there. That was the advice of our pediatrician - if they're not trying to climb out and causing a safety hazard, I'd keep him where he is. We transitioned our son at 2.5 years. He was ready then. But, the crib is by far the safest place for them as long as they're not trying to climb out.

Good luck, and enjoy every moment!
D.

Why can't you rock two? (at diff times)
Enjoy it while you can!

When my son was 15 months old he started climbing out of his crib. We immediately put him in a toddler bed for fear of him falling and breaking an arm, etc... Needless to say, it was torturous on us for a long time. We too, had to rock him to sleep, sing songs, etc...until he was sleepy enough to lay him down. I was tired of this, and had to find other alternatives to a more successful and smooth bedtime. I tried the gate thing, he ended up pulling it out of the doorway, b/c he'd get so mad. I also used the child safety doorknob thingy on his side so he couldn't open the door, eventually he'd get soo tired of crying he'd fall asleep on the floor at the door. I would feel so bad and then have a hard time getting in the door to put him in his bed. Plus ontop of the difficulties at bedtime he started waking up through the night and would see that he was able to get up and out of his bed and then started to looking for me at night and then ended up sleeping with us. This became another added frustration and took along time to break him of that habit too. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel...it just seems like it comes more with age rather than finding that "perfect" solution. My suggestion to you is keep him in his crib as long as you can. I'd also keep sticking with your routine. I know it's hard to hear him cry, but honestly it will get easier...two weeks was about what it took for us to get him to go to his bed on his own and awake. I'd say during the hour of crying, go in a few times, pick him up and comfort him for a minute or two, but don't rock him to sleep...put him back to bed awake and then try to stretch out the length of time in between you comforting him. He will catch on and get tired eventually. Both my kids always went to sleep with the "musicbox" it is the Ocean Wonders Aquarium, we took it everwhere with us for overnighters, b/c that was the savior for bedtime. It has different settings and hangs on the crib so he might like watching the "light show" or playing w/ the buttons or just listening to the soothing music until he zonks out. My kids also had "blankies," "lovey's," etc...for sleeping. Try to find a stuffed animal or something that he will really enjoy snuggling with at bedtime and then just give it to him then. He'll look forward to it each night. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hi C.,
My personal opinion would be to keep him in his crib. My son was almost 3 1/2 before we transitioned him to a toddler bed! He was comfortable there, a great sleeper, and we had a new baby coming so I didn't want to deal with bedtime battles.
My ped. said if he was happy there keep him. I've had a lot of friends try to transition earlier and had many bedtime battles. If you have doubts, I would keep him there.
Good luck!

It's hard to tell if the time is right for him or not. With our oldest, whenever we tired to work it out to have her fall asleep on her on in her bed (without rocking her to sleep or something), she'd get so upset she'd throw up. She's now just turned 6, and still wants me to sit on her bed for just a few minutes until she gets "settled". I figure it's a small price to pay for getting her to go to sleep quietly/peacefully.

We never did try to use the Supernanny way - but have seen her use a technique several times that's worked, but not sure if they tried it on a 19 mo. old.

I think the way she does it is: you do your bedtime, then put them to bed, and say, "It's time for bed." When they get up the first time, "It's time for bed" and usher them back to the bed. Each time after that when he gets up, usher him back to bed without making eye contact or saying anything...keep doing it until he falls asleep. Now I've seen her do it 2 ways - 1 with the parent leaving the room, and the other way with the parent sitting near the bed looking down - either way, each time the child gets up, the parent goes and puts the child back in bed. The first night will be the worst, and each night after that got progressively better. It may be something worth trying, I don't know.

With our now 6 year old, we had her "big girl bed" but waited until our 3 year old came along to really try to get her in it, and we made a big deal of it - that it was a big girl bed, and it was special because she and her sister would share the room, etc. We also put a humidifier in the room with a nightlight built into it - bright enough to see in the room, but not so bright it'll keep you up. We also gave her a flashlight and put it on her nightstand. Those seemed to help too.

Just a few thoughts...for what it's worth...