Is My 15 Month Old Ready for a Toddler Bed?

My son was 13 months when we gave up on the crib and got him a twin mattress. He simply hated the (hard, baby-safe-against-sids crib mattress and slept better on a softer, regular twin mattress. We put it on a bedframe with no boxspring. This was lower to the floor, not because we were worried about him falling out, but so he could climb in! In my experience, my son definitely slept better with a regular mattress. (We bought a different crib mattress for my daughter when she came along).

My two kids are 18 mths apart and when I was getting ready for the birth of my 2nd I moved the first over into a toddler bed. She was happy to have her new bed, but didn't stay in it during the night. She would come up into my bed. I let her come in because I was so tired and felt that we never again would have this one on one time together to cuddle. Once I had the baby he slept with us also. Which made a crowded bed, but that worked for us. Once she turned three she was ready to sleep in her bed, the Dora sheets she got helped a lot.
Anyway, that is what worked for me. If yours wont stay put right away keep hope, they do go to bed on their own in their time.
Best of luck, and congrats! Mine love each other so much and are so sweet together that it melts my heart every time I see them play. (great age diff, h*** o* mom sometimes, but worth it!)

You might want to try taking the crib out of his room and putting the mattress on the floor in it's place to see how he does.

Mine are 17 months apart as well we're on week three and still alive and functioning! I moved our daughter to her big girl room only about a week before the little one arrived. I had planned to do so much sooner for her to adjust, it just didn't happen. :) But she did great instantly! Even night one. She has always been a great sleeper, but never held still. So I was worried about what do to about blankets (or not) and rails. We started with an extra wide rail from Babies R Us and no blankets, just her sleep sac. But she loved it. And stayed in one place all night long. With her head on a pillow like a big girl! She now has a blanket that she sleeps under. Before moving her to her new room and new bed, we referred to the project room as her "big girl room". So she helped us get her big girl room ready. She took to it wonderfully and we haven't had any problems, even with such a short transition time. She even treats the rail like a crib and waits for us to come get her in the morning or after nap, even though she knows how to climb in and out. Good luck. My daughter loves her big girl bed. (And loves her new baby brother!)

Here's what we did: I have a 4-month-old and a 21-month-old, so the age spread is the same. We have a tiny house, and have been co-sleeping, anyway. A couple of months before the new baby came, we got our little girl her own bed (actually, a toddler-sized stand hammock, which she loves), and put it next to ours. Most nights, I tandem-nurse the kids to sleep, then put the older one in her bed, and keep the new baby with me. Some nights, my daughter stays all night in her own bed, others she ends up back in with us. No big deal either way, but sometimes a little extra space is nice.

One thing to keep in mind is when it is nap time, when you and baby (and he) need to nap, how are you going to ensure he stays in his bed long enough to fall asleep??? (You can childproof his whole room and put a latch on his door or a good baby gate instead.)

Sounds like your son is ready for a good bed though. Keep it low. I dont think you need to worry about a rail, if it is low enough. For your peace of mind,you could lay down a sleeping bag/quilt down along his bed for softer landings, if there are any unexpected ones during the night.

Hi M.,
It's a good question an I'm glad you're looking ahead now as oppossed to in a few months down the road. You do have some time, as other mamas have said, since baby will be in the bassinette for a while. However, I do believe your baby is ready for a toddler bed. If you're worried about falling out, well, that does come with the territory. We always had a nice rail to prevent that. Push one side of the toddler bed up against a wall, and put a rail on the other side. However, if you're not comfortable with that, or it doesn't seem to work out for some bizarre reason, putting them on the mattress on the floor for a bit works fine, too. We've done both. We were in the middle of moving when one of our children went to the toddler bed, so they slept on the mattress on the floor for about a month, until life normalized after the move, and they turned out just fine. Kids will and do fall out of bed. It happens to all kids and it's not the end of the world. You can always put a few pillows on the floor to make sure the landing is soft. But to answer the original question, yes, 15 months is old enough for a toddler bed. I would do my best to keep him out of your bed, though. In that respect, you may want to start now with the toddler bed so that routinge is established before the lastest edition. He'll want to be in your bed constantly once the baby's born and at this point, he really needs to be in his own bed every night. Good luck with your one on the way, and with the precious one you already have. Being a mother is the best calling on earth! God bless!

It sounds like he may be ready. You can try a twin mattress on the floor and up againtst the wall. I've done that with my 2 girls. Since it is only a few inches from the floor, we didn't bother with a crib rail. Both girls were fine. We had the mattress on the floor before we completely transitioned and took away the crib. In fact, the youngest (now 22 months, but transitioned completely at 20 months, which happened to be Christmas Eve by her choice) either never fell off, or just got back on the bed. I've never seen her crying of the floor. When we transitioned, both girls were very good about staying in their bed. We never bothered with a baby gate at the door. During naps and before my husband and I go to sleep, we close our youngest daughter's door so that she won't wander the house while we are sleeping. Good luck!

Sounds like he has let you know he is ready. My son did this at 18 months. He has a regular bed in his room too and one night we fell asleep there together. The next night he chose to fall asleep there, and that was it. We were done. His choice. Sometimes they just let us know.

We moved our daughter into her big girl bed at 16 months so that we could put our son into her crib when he was ready. I wanted the crib out of her room for a month or two before we moved our son into the crib so that she didn't feel displaced. The day her big bed arrived we took down the crib. We set guidlines right away with her...she needed to call mommy and daddy to get her out of bed, etc... We put railings on both sides of the bed and she picked a special friend to sleep with her. We never had any problems and she has slept soundly in her bed ever since. That being said our son is now over 2 and we have not moved him into a bed yet, probably this summer. They have different personalities and due to the fact that our daughter is a rule follower moving her over to a bed did not cause any problems. I predict that are son on the other hand will test the boundaries and probably be in and out of his bed the first couple days. I would take a good look at your son's personality before making your final decision. We always kept our newborns in our room for the first couple months, so you could also give your son a few extra months in the crib while the baby is in a bassinet and evaluate the situation again later. Good Luck:)

It sounds like hes more than ready, my son went into a bed at 14 months as his sister was born when he was 15 months and she needed the crib. I couldn't believe it, he slept all night for the first time and all night since! I think he must have felt trapped in the crib.
good luck.

try a bed,maybe with a safety rail.

Hi M.,

congrats on the soon to be new baby. My son has been in a full size bed since he was 7 months old! Did not purchase a box spring as the mattress itself is on the floor up against the wall with a guard rail on the other side. I also have his bumper pad lining the wall and a long body pillow at the end of the bed, so if he does decide to crawl off (as he does all the time) he won't hit the floor very hard.

My only issue is him crawling off of his bed during the night. He knows how to do this with no problem. My son wakes up at specific times each night, crawls off his bed and crawls to my bed to be with mommy. My solution, i moved my bed into his room. So now he stays in HIS room, but can still crawl into bed with mommy. He is only allowed in my bed if its past 5am each morning, other wise he is put back into his own bed.

I say do what is best for your family. You know your levels of safety and what you can deal with. At first i was nervous as heck having him in his own bed in his own room. As everyone was against it to begin with at such a young age. But I knew the pro's and con's of doing it. Truthfully, due to my son's sleeping schedule (it changed at 6mo), this has made a huge difference for me. I can safely put him to bed without braking my back. As well as lay with him in his own bed and sooth him back to sleep without distrubing him or bringing him to my bed.

Where if he was in a crib, it be literally impossible to do these things with. He also pinned himself in the corner of his crib all the time and would scream terrible to get help! There are many benefits to this and why i did it.

Your son is showing signs that he is ready to be in a bed. Just need to make sure he understands its his bed, and he can not get up and move freely during the night, without calling you first. That is what I was recommended to do once my son got older.

This teaches him that he has to ask your permission to get out of bed (helps during night wake up times) and not take it upon himself to get out of bed and go play. Or be in harms ways without your presence.

Good luck and there is no wrong choice in your decision!

Well, it depends if he can get in and out of a toddler bed easily.

My son went into one at 20 months and did fine. He fell out a couple times, so I put my pregnancy pillow on the floor in front of him, and later changed it to a rug... kids are pretty resilient. :-)

You might not have to worry about the baby going into the crib for a few months anyway, usually they do better in bassinets or bedside sleepers until 3 months, so it will give you some time before the change for your son.

I personally wouldn't waste money on a toddler bed. I moved my 20 month old to a regular twin bed last month and we just made sure it had a rail and a step stool to get down. She loves her bed and doesn't get out of it unless she gets permission. We have a new baby coming next month, so we will need to crib soon. We also called it her big girl room and she should be able to use the same bed for most of her childhood.

Toddler beds are super easy to get out of, so safety shouldn't be a concern. I would just think about whether or not he is ready to have the freedom to get out whenever he wants to...sometimes that is an adjustment.

To get him a toddler bed will make him feel very very special and may even signify that he is the big brother, considering that a younger sibling is on the way much of the focus during the new arrival's weeks will be on the baby. Also, this will free up the crib for the new baby...A very good idea...its not too soon...congrats!!!

I really like Abbie's idea for putting the crib mattress on the floor . I think my son was around 20 months old when we put him in a toddler bed. He transitioned no problem. The question I wonder is , is it better to do it before the baby so he dosn't feel moved out of the crib because of the baby or do you wait a little longer since the baby won't need the crib for a few months and transtion he out when he's a little older? I always have moved the crib away for a while between babies so that they might not feel attached to it. Your son being younger might not have feelings of attachment to the crib. I don't know. But I do know that what ever you do, decide soon because transistions take time and almost always disrupt everyones sleep. When I moved my then 2 1/2 year old out of the crib to a toddler bed in preperation for new baby, it took 3 or 4 months to get a new routine down. Then stick to your decision, make sure it works best for your family. Once you have the baby you'll want life to be as simple as possible at bed time. Best of luck and congradulations.