When to Transition from Crib to a "Big Boy Bed"?

We didn't put our oldest boy(now 4) in a toddler bed until he was 2 and a half. It worked out perfectly for us because he was ready and never tried to get out of bed when it was bed/naptime. He was potty trained a couple months after that. You could start your son in a big boy bed in November to get him used to it before the new baby comes. Kids have a great way of adapting, so don't rush it and it'll be fine. Potty training was a nightmare for me, so I wish you better luck than I had! Congrats on the new baby, too!

i'm a mom of 2 boys who walked and spoke sentences long before their friends of the same age, so i don't really believe that boys are slower at anything in particular. we put our first son in a toddler bed at 19 months because #1 he knew how to climb out of the crib, #2 we moved in with family for a couple months and the toddler bed was what was available, #3 i was pregnant. i put pillows on the floor next to the toddler bed, but it didn't take him long to stop falling out. that surprised me because he moved around a lot in his sleep. what took a long time was getting him to stay in the bed when put there. that was a miserable battle that went on for longer than the 6 months that we had until his brother was born, but he's also the one who wouldn't sleep through the night until he was more than 2 yrs old. so it may have had a lot to do with his personality, or it could have just been because of lots of household/family changes in one year.
i can't remember exactly how old our second son was when we took the rail off the crib, but he was around 2. we did it because he'd gotten hurt a couple times climbing out of the crib. after he fell out of the toddler bed a couple times we explained to him that he didn't have a rail to keep him from falling out anymore so he would have to be more careful when rolling over. that night we found him holding onto the back rails in his sleep to keep from falling out. he has rarely fallen out since and usually gets out of bed only when encouraged by his brother.
now, my neighbor on the other hand, had her 3rd baby a few months ago. they've had the baby sleeping in a bassinet because their almost 3 yr old son still wasn't climbing out of the crib. just recently he started climbing out and after getting hurt a couple times, they moved him to a toddler bed. they say he's doing great with it.
so to sum all that up, every kid is different! (like you didn't already know that) a bassinet may be a good option for the baby if your son isn't climbing out of the crib yet. but there's no guarantee that it will or won't be an easy transition, no matter when you do it. so good luck with what you decide to do!

I think my first son made the transition around 2 years. I think we started trying around 20 months. My second son is 20 months and making the transition as well. I wouldn't use a toddler bed. It's the same size as a crib mattress without the sides. I wouldn't buy a 2nd crib. I would use a regular bed and get a railing for it. There is no set rule for when to transition a child to a big kid bed. These are some cues ... (1)The child can crawl out of the crib. (2)The child can get into and out of the regular bed. (3)The child is too big for the crib. (4)The child wants a big kid bed. (5)You need the crib for a baby. (6)The child can pull covers on/off of himself. There is no overnight solution. It is a process.

Hi L.,

Due to space and timing reasons we put my 22 month old son into a full size bed (with his old crib pushed up against the open long side and an ottoman at the end of the bed). His brand new sister used the crib and he used the bed. We used stuff animals and pillows around the edge of the bed to help him adjust to the bigger size. He had no problems with it. He felt all grown up and stayed in bed most of the time due to having plenty of room for the occasional car or truck and lots of books to look at while drifting off to sleep.

Ofcourse every child is different, but I wouldn't worry so much about it. Everything will be just fine!

R.

Keep him in his crib.

Baby won't need that huge crib until she's 3 months old. As soon as your boy switches to a toddler bed, he'll start getting out of bed all the time. Then you'll be posting "how do I get my toddler to sleep in his own bed instead of mine".

You could try letting him take naps in his bigboy bed.

Baby can sleep in a bassinet or a moses basket or a drawer on the floor with a blanket lining it...or a cradle or a swing...or a playpen...etc until she's older.

Walmart has sleigh cribs for $100 that are nice.

L.,
At my daughters 2 yr visit my pediatrician said it's time; that was last month. This weekend we will convert her crib to the toddler bed. She said it's easier closer to 2 than 3. Good luck!

Do the transition a good few months before the baby is born, that gives him a sense of being a big boy without resenting giving up his crib. More then likely he will always move around in a toddler bed, big kid bed, crib or whatever.

My daughter still at almost seven is a sleeper that moves around a lot. Just get a bed rail for the side of the bed and keep it against the wall. Same rules apply when you first transition, minimal covers, not a lot of plush animals. He will be fine.
Boys are not necessarily harder or slower. Both of my kids potty trained at almost exactely three years of age, I have a son and daughter. If you are going to get a free bed, by October he will be two and that is the perfect time.
My son and daughter both were in big kid beds by two.
Never had one issue.

We moved our son when he was 20-months old, about a month before our daughter was born knowing that she'd sleep in a bassinet for a while. (We took the crib apart and took it out of his room but didn't put it in the baby's room until she was ready to move out of the bassinet at 4-months.) Our son was so excited and he took his first nap without a problem. Then the first night he didn't want to go to bed and as soon as we put on a bedrail to keep him from falling out, he was happy and we never had another problem (he used the bed rail for about a year). Of course he was always a good sleeper and he didn't tend to move around to much. My advice is to give him a few months in his new bed before you give the baby his crib.

I know you have a ton of responses and I dont want to read through them all. I just moved my 19 mos old to a twin bed, box spring and mattress on the floor and she has done great. The first night was rough at the beginning she was a little scared so i put her in her crib and I layed on the bed and she wanted to come over so she did and has been there since. We babygate her door off and she will get out and holler but she gets back in her bed and puts herself to sleep. She hasn't fallen off but I know she would have if she was in a toddler bed because she used every inch and still does on her bed but somehow hasn't fallen off. I say just do it, he will be fine.

My advice is to move him out of his "new baby brother/sister's bed" before the baby comes. Give it a couple of months too so that you can kind of work out whatever the kinks might be. Also, I would move him to a twin bed instead of a toddler bed. Buy the side rails if you need them. One less transition to have to make!!! Good luck!

I have a 25 month old boy, who just transitioned to a toddler bed. I started when he turned two. I had to because of the boyish things he does, like climb out of his crib. I figured falling out of a toddler bed was less dangerous. When I transitioned my toddler, I bought a bed with good guard rails. If the bed your being given doesnt have guard rails, they sale attachable guard rails at Walmart in the baby section. Eventually, after two days at night convincing my toddler that his new bed was where he slept, he now sleeps well in his new bed. It took about a month before I convinced him to not come out of his room at night. My son was like yours where he slept everywhere in his crib, but after those first two days, his body adjusted to the guard rails and now sleeps well in his little bed. Emotionally, for me I was sad to see my little one grow up to a semi regular bed. But, Im sure your upcoming second child will take that emotion back. I hope this advise helps. M. sahm of 4 year old girl and 2 year old boy.

We put my boy in a big boy bed at about 18 months. We took a twin mattress on the floor so if he did fall out it wasn't far. When he seemed to go good we put the box spring underneath. When that was going well, we put the mattress on the bed frame. He did great and he loved having the big boy bed. I would do it soon though. You don't want your boy thinking his bed is being taken from him for the baby. That can add to the jealousy. Every kid is different and will adjust to things differently. Give your kid the time to adjust. Good luck!

L. J,

Thanks for the question. I am in almost the exact position you are. My son will be 2 in October and we are due in January. I had no idea how to make this transistion either. There is some great advice here. Thank you!!

M.

My son turned one the first part of june and a week later I had him taking all of his naps in his toddler bed. Then about a week or so later he was sleeping full time in it. He had a rough day the first day with the naps. For an hr I had to go in every 12 minutes and calm him down put him back in the bed. The next nap only took about 20 minutes. The next day there was no fuss at all. I hadn't planned on getting him in a toddler bed that fast but there was one on our local freecycle and we went ahead and got it and wanted to see if he would use it or if we should put it in storage. Well the crib is now going into storage. He does get out of it at night if he wakes up and we don't go to him when he cries (he is in the same room as us). But he still gets a bottle up to 3 times at night so if yours isn't still eating at night maybe you won't have that problem. Good luck with whatever you decide mama.

Hi L.,
We just moved our little two year old boy into his toddler bed yesterday. The crib sides broke when I went to put him in so we really didn't have a choice. I think I cried more than needed because my little boy is doing JUST FINE!! He actually thinks he's a big boy now, he just turned two the first of the month. He's the last of six kids and all of them were moved into a toddler bed by the time they were two and they all did just wonderfully. You know, I think it's us, the mommies, that have a harder time than the kids ever do. Good luck!

Hi,
Once transitioned the kids usually know that there are boundaries. I transitioned all my kids around 15 months, and even though they were crazy sleepers in their cribs I have not had one fall out of bed. If you are worried about it then there are side rails you can get. Just get them all excited about it and they will be very happy to be in a big boy bed. -Good Luck :)

Hi, all of my boys were put into twin size beds at 18 months. They learned to climb out of the crib at that age so we moved them. After a few falls from trying to climb out we figured it was just safer. They all did great. We put up a bedrail so they wouldn't fall out and one side of the bed was up against the wall. Only with one did we have to sit in there with him until he fell asleep and that is pretty good out of 6 boys. We put the child safe lock on the inside of the door so they couldn't open the door to get out if they got up. At 18 months we didn't need to do that because they just stayed in bed. At around 2 they figured they could get out of bed and with the doorknob cover on the inside they couldn't run out all night. We, of course, went in if they needed us or a drink or potty. Once we go to bed we crack their doors a little so if they need us in the middle of the night or need to go potty they can come out to us. We learned this technigue from a course called "Parenting with Love and Logic". You would only need the doorknob covers if your child won't stay in bed. Once they learn they have to at least stay in their room or bed then remove the doorknob cover. Anyways, I think your son is plenty old enough to put into a big bed. good luck with the transition. Don't let people stereotype your little boy. I hate that!! Having 6 boys I have come to realize that they are ALL different. I had 2 of them potty trained at 3 1/2 (more stubborn ones), 2 of them were done at 2 1/2 (I loved that!!) and now with the last two boys we are almost there our 4 1/2 year old (never thought I would have one so old and stubborn) and newly 3 year old are pretty much potty trained. I have just learned that people like to make you feel like your boys aren't as good as girls and they totally are. All children do things on their own schedule and even some girls aren't as far as some boys. Sorry to vent.

We have transitoned our children to beds around 2, but one child was 1.5! She was so young, but we had a new baby again that needed the crib. It worked out better than we thought. She was in a room with an older sister. It seems that with all of our kids our excitement was contageous when it came to transitioning. We took pictures, made it a big deal when talking to relatives when they were in earshot of hearing, and picked out their bedding with them. Good luck!

We transitioned our son at 21 months, due to a new baby sister. We took it slow and left his crib up in his room until he adjusted. Also, we would give him a matchbox car every morning if he slept in his big boy bed the whole night. It only took a couple of days for him to be ok with the big boy bed. We had to get creative with helping him to stay in his bed/room once we put him to bed. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I transitioned my first a boy at about 21 months because of how tall he was and he had started to try and get out. He was going to get it any day and I did not want the big fall. My second a girl loves her crib and is tall enough that she could climb out if she wanted. She has never one even tried so I am letting her stay in till she tries to climb out, she will be 3 next week. Good luck.

Hi L.,
I've read that the National Association of Pediatrics (that might not be the exact name) recommends that children should be about 35 inches tall before transitioning them to a bed. I can't remember what the reasoning was, I just made a mental note of the number for when we move over our now 19-month-old.

Hope that helps.

We skipped the toddler bed completely and just got a regular bed for my son. He was 23 months when he transitioned. He's now 25 months and has done just fine from day one. It may have helped that he co-slept with us until that point, I don't know, but we've had no problems.

I would take the bed from your family. I bet he will love the independence and it is only about 12 inches from the floor and even if he does fall off he probably wont even wake up . Use it for a trial basis and remember it is not set in stone right. But once you get him out of the crib i would not put him back in it . That is too confusing. Decorate his new big boy bedroom with all the things he loves and you might even let him pick out something new--ie; pj's-- stuffed animal-- night light--or even a pillow or blanket. I bet he will not go back to the crib. And once he is in his new bed put the crib away untill he understands better that there is a new baby coming. Good luck and god bless **R.**

My son is 2 1/2 and has been sleeping on a regular twin bed (no box springs or anything underneath) for more than 6 months. I bought these awesome gates at Babies R Us that keep him on the bed all night, but he has enough room to climb off the bed when he wakes up. I've never had an issue with him falling off the bed or getting hurt in anyway.

Hello L.,

Two words, security gate. With that on the bed, it acts very similar to a crib and gives him a bit more freedom as well. You also may want to transition him sooner than later so that he doesn't feel like the baby is taking his bed. Make it a big deal that he gets a big-boy bed... if you can, get him a blanket/pillow case with his favorite character on it and only let him use it in the big-boy bed. That should give him an incentive. Good luck!

Don't let people generalize...all kids are different with everything. My SON is 21/2 yo! He was sleeping in a big boy bed by 2 and is fully potty trained and has been for several months. My suggestion would be to transistion him at 2 so that when the baby does come then he doesn't veiw the crib as his bed. Your lucky mine were only 15 months apart so I had to get the extra crib. Good luck!

N. - full time working mother of 2 a boy and girl and married to the best husband, father and LT.

I think 21 months is plenty old enough to move him to a big boy bed. My sister moved her boys for their first birthdays and they did fine. if it is an issue with falling out of bed then just put bed rails on it. i think it would be easier than buying a new crib good luck whatever you decide