When to Transition from Crib to Bed?

I've been advised that children should be kept in the crib as long as possible -- and that they will show you when they are ready. My daughter is 32 months old. Even though she can climb in and out, she seems to love her crib and NEVER climbs out when she wakes up from naps or in the morning. At this point, I guess I'm going to keep her in the crib (if she is happy and doesn't climb out on her own) until she is potty trained and wakes up to do potty in the middle of the night.

The longer the better in my book! Keep them safe in their crib until they want out! My oldest was a few months past 3 and my middle will be 3 in December and I do not plan on taking her out anytime soon!

We transitioned my son at 20 months and it went great. Just childproof her room and put a gate up at the door so she doesn't wander until she's used to the new bed.

hi R.. we have a daughter who is about the same age and i am going to keep her in the crib as long as possible. as long as she is comfortable, and not trying to get out of the crib i think she is safest in there. she will get the most sleep that way and so will you! we have an older daughter and she stayed in the crib until 3 and even then there was a long time period where we had to keep telling her to stay in her bed at night and she missed out on sleep during that transition. at 2 i don't think they are ready for the freedom of being able to wander. good luck

We transitioned to a bed when the the child could get out of the crib themselves. We put the mattress on the floor though since we were concerned about him/her falling out of a regular bed and that he/she might not be able to get into or fall out of. Eventually, he/she was able to handle a regular bed.

Once my daughter was potty trained during the day we switched her to a big girl bed because that way she had the option to go at night when she wanted to and it was a good idea because almost immediately she potty trained herself at night. She was 2 1/2 and totally potty trained. Just a suggestion, but if your child is potty trained I think that you should take the diapers off because there would be no need for them. Once my daughter was potty trained during the day I just put pull ups on at night and even then she got up to go to the bathroom. Oops, sorry, I read that wrong. I thought you said that your child was potty trained. Obviously if your child isn't potty trained then the diapers are a good thing. Sorry about that, I need to read slower.

Hope this helps.

In my experience it has been easier to tackle on thing at a time. That being noted, I would recommend making a move to the bed so that when she is ready for potty training, you won't be trying to do too many things at once. My daughter had a convertible crib-full bed and we initially removed the side rails, put the mattress to the lowest setting with pillows and got her accustomed to the indepence. She quicly adjusted and we had her pick out bedding for her big girl bed. It was soon after that she was potty trained, so not a minute too soon!

As close to three as possible LOL!! My son slept in his crib until he was nearly three, we actually had to persuade him not to anymore, my daughter on the other hand climbed out so much, that we put her ina regular bed when she was 18 months...we just made sure her room was super baby proofed and gated her in so she could not get into mischeif as she is apt to do when she thinks no one is looking.

R.,
We transitioned my son at age three. I know that seemed late but I was uncomfortable with the idea that he would have full run of the house when I was asleep. Which really wasn't his issue, but mine. It was a fabulous transition.He wasn't aloud out of bed without permission and I have never had a problem with it. We gave him a twin bed for his 3rd birthday and made a big deal out of the fact he was becoming a "big boy" with a "big boy bed".
We also had my daughter when he was 27 months and I didn't want him to feel like we were kicking him out of his crib to give it to her.
Hope this helps you decide.
K.

I think the time to transition is when they start to climb on, out, over the crib, etc...That is a safety issue.

C. T.

I would wait and do nothing until your daughter starts climbing out of the crib. No reason to uproot her b/c you have the idea that there is a "right " time to do it. The only "right" time is the time that works for you and her. And that goes for many, many decisions you will make as a mother. Obviously, there are times when you will want to survey how people are handling certain situations, but, just know that for most things there is no one right way (despite what a lot of "experts" say). You are the best person to judge things for your family! So just look for the signs that she is done with the crib and enjoy the crib phase while it lasts!

Don't start the crib change until she's no longer happy to stay in the crib.Potty training can be confusing enough for her. I would also stop the potty training for a month or so and start again then. She's not ready yet or you wouldn't be have such difficulties. Good luck mommy.

My son will be 3 on 12/01 and he's still in his crib. He likes it and I like knowing where he is at night. (We also have a crib tent.) I've been trying to potty train him, but he is still showing NO interest at all, so I think he's fine in there. We just moved into our house 3 months ago and I just didn't want to add more stress to his life. I think you have to make the decision based on how ready you think your daughter is. Do you think she'd stay put or try to crawl into bed with you all night long? It's also about how comfortable you are with the idea. Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

My oldest daughter was in a big bed at 19 months because her sister was going to be born a month later and needed the crib :) We started with a mattress on the floor and then right around her 2nd birthday, she went into the taller bed. My second daughter started showing an interest in the potty at 15 months, so she went to a mattress on the floor at 17 months so she could get in/out by herself. We ended up putting her in the tall bed around 22 months. Also, in both cases, since my kids were pretty young when they had free range of their bedrooms, I put everything up high or away until they were closer to 3. We also baby gated an area in the hallway, so they could only get from their bedroom to the bathroom and back. I "child proofed" the bathroom as well.

Good luck!

Hi R.-
My son was about 2 1/2 when we transitioned him. He did a pretty good job with the transition. He was partially potty trained. It was nice finishing the potty training after moving him so that I used the big boy bed as bribery to stay dry..."If you don't stay dry you'll end up back in your baby bed". My daughter, who is now 20 months, was transitioned into a toddler bed at 15months. She did a wonderful job--actually better than my son. She stayed in it all night & completely thru her nap times. My daughter was ready though, because she kept falling out of her crib while trying to climb it! I am just now starting to introduce the potty to her. I personally don't think an order depends too much. I do, however, think it's best to introduce one at a time. So if she's still potty training, maybe wait until you're a bit more successful with that. Too many changes can be confusing for her!!
I hope this helps & good luck!
J.

I have two sons and transitioned both of them into the "BIG BOY" bed between 2.5 and 3 years old. I felt it was better to keep them in it until they started to climb out (which my first son did, but younger son did not). My first son went into the big bed at 3 and a week later decided he was fully ready for the potty (no accidents)! My younger son was fully potty trained by 2.5 and that told me he was ready for the big bed.

Good luck!

Hi R. - I had the same question and our pediatrician suggested that we keep our son in his crib as long as he is sleeping well and comfortable. We finally converted his crib when he was 3 years-3 months after his "bigger" cousins visited and he asked us to let him have a big boy bed. Since he never climbed out of the crib, he now stays in his bed until we come and get him (and we did not tell him to do this). It has a been a great transition at the same time he became potty-trained during the day and during his naps. Once we progress to no diaper at night, I'm not sure how this will change, but so far so good. Good luck!!

Don't put her in a bed until she starts climbing out of the crib. She's still very young to understand staying in the bed, and you don't want to have bedtime become difficult. Unless there is a sibling on the way I would leave her in the crib for at least another year.

We transitioned our 2 boys at 2 years because they no longer slept well in the crib. BE SURE to buy a mattress cover. (It's a good investment considering accidents, sickness, water spills...). We also put the old crib mattress on the floor just in case he did fall out which was not often. The alternative is safety rails. You need to be prepared for her to climb out. As far as potty training goes, it is much easier to train girls because they are more socially conscience but I would try again when she's closer to 3. She will start to tell you when she needs to go (the bounce/strain and quiet moments). Good luck.

Our Doctor advised us to transition before they can climb out so they don't get hurt. We did this at 16 months and it was the best thing we ever did. We used a full size bed and just put the box spring and mattress on the floor. We always kept the door closed from the time he was born so he was used to that and doesn't try to get out. We have books or cars close by so he just plays until we get up. I think it would have been a lot harder if we had waited.