Need Advice for Moving My 19 Mo Old from Crib to a Toddler Bed

My son had a hard time staying in his "big boy bed" at first. Once he realized he was not confined he wanted to get out of bed and ran-sack his room. We have a very simple but consistent bed time routine: pajamas, brush teeth, read books, tuck him in, lights out and close the door. If he gets out of bed we quickly put him back in bed, say goodnight, and leave. If he gets out of bed again we quickly put him back in bed without talking or interaction, and repeat that over and over if needed until he finally gives up and stays in bed and falls asleep. It's the same thing they do on Super Nanny. There were many difficult nights at the beginning, but we stuck with it and now he goes to bed very easily and sleeps great. Also for the first few months he preferred to still nap in his pack-and-play even though he slept in the bed at night. Eventually he was ok to sleep in the bed at nap time too. It's good you are doing the transition now so he won't feel like the new baby took his crib from him. Good luck!

The only advice you need is patience. Just make sure the room is very child proof. Come up with or continue with a bedtime routine that is completely consistent (i.e., brush teeth, read book, prayers, kisses etc.) and then walk away. He will get up and play until midnight for a few nights because he's gonna think he hit the toddler jackpot...lol You will go to check on him and he'll be asleep on the floor. But after a couple of weeks the novelty will wear off and it won't be new and exciting that he can just get out of bed whenever he wants and eventually he'll just stay in bed from the get go.

Good luck

L. H

PS I'm a sahm to 10 and 6 year old girls and I own a home daycare in Kent, WA

Hi, I had sons, close together & when they were bothe in cribs in same room Johnny hollared at Theo, Moved Johnny to a small bed in our room,I know,I know, but we were exausted!
I put an airplane cover on his small bed & pillows that looked like clouds aroun..he wasn't more than 2 yrs & he loved it!! Then, because he seemed to sleep really well moved him back to his brothers room,slowly. He enjoyed "his" bed so much (it had his favorite stuffed animals, he enjoyed going to sleep & when he was about 3&1/4.had his own bigger bed & his brother got the same airplane bed. I just tried to make it safe & FUN!!!!

We were in the exact same situation. My son was 16 months and my second was coming fast. The toddler bed had been in the room for months, but he also thought it was more of a toy. When we put him in his big boy bed the first night we also had to put a baby gate at his door. He did not stay in bed, and in stead fell asleep at the door the first 2 nights. I would put him to bed so he would wake up in the toddler bed. The next couple of nights he fell asleep next to the bed, or under the bed. After the first week he figured it out and fell asleep in his bed after that.

If your child is not climbing out of his bed, my advice to you is to keep him/her there as long as you can. My mommy group here at work has adviced that to me. They have their kids running aroung at night, some playing with make up, in the living room or in their room at night. Mine just turned three and I know he is safe in his crib.

Start by leaving the sides of the crib down so he can get down by himself. In two or three weeks, have a talk with him that he is just too big for the bed and you need to have him help take down the crib. Then do it.

If the crib is not there, he will be fine. Put all his special blankets and toys on the bed. You can get one of those half bed sides from babies r'us if you are worried about him falling out of bed.

Stay simple and uncomplicated about this--like when he took his first step. It is just another step in growing up. Approach it that way and it will work out. No big deal.

My daughter started crawling out of her crib at that age so we had to transition her to a bed. She became a nightly visitor for months as she has free range. I would buy another crib off Craigs List and keep your child in the crib as long as possible. Or, have the baby use the portacrib. My kids are 17 months apart and they both have a crib (they both are convertible cribs so we took one side off for my daughter when she started crawling out).

My advice may not be possible, but I wish someone had given it to me before we put our oldest into a toddler bed! I would say don't do it yet! Can you borrow a crib from a friend or have the new baby sleep in a bassinet for a while? I have read that kids aren't really ready for the freedom of a "big kid" bed until closer to age 3. We transitioned our daughter when she was about 26 months for the same reason as you and we paid the price for more than a year. She got out of her bed over and over again at both naptime and bedtime and all through the night. This was so h*** o* all of us, especially with the newborn baby requiring so much time! I have read that kids aren't able to reason about staying in their bed until closer to 3 and unless it's unsafe to have them in the crib, you should keep them there. My daughter is very bright. I am not sure if she was just constantly testing the limits by getting out of her bed/room all that time or if it was a developmental thing. All that being said, I would just reconsider keeping your son in his crib for a while longer. Best wishes and congratulations on the new baby on the way!

It looks like you've gotten great advice, and a variety, so that you can find the things that suit you. STarting the bed just for naps sounds like a good idea. Our son is 2 1/2, and still needs the crib for boundaries, but does fine with naps on his cot at daycare.

I'd just second the recommendation that maybe you could wait, and get a co-sleeper for the new baby. Co-sleepers are nice because the baby is right there, is soothed by your presence, but you don't have the same wakefulness that you do when the baby is actually in bed with you. If you don't want the baby in your room, a simple bassinett would work for quite a while.

Best wishes.

Something that worked for me was to put a gate at our sons door. Plus if your son is jumping on the bed now because it is in his room, make him stop, he won't understand later, that was a huge problem fro a friend of ours. It took about a month for my son to adjust to the toddler bed but we found the gate at the door worked the best, and make sure no toys are in the room. That way if he does get out of bed there is nothing for him to do. We have a couple of books in his room but no toys or anything like that. Good Luck and I would start before July so he is comfortable before the baby arrives. My best friend had a really hard time when she waited till after the new baby.

We actually never invested in a toddler bed - my son went straight to a queen sized mattress (because we had an extra) that we put on the floor - no box spring...We told him that he could not get off the bed without one of us in the room - and still, today, he calls us to ask permission - he is now 3.5 years old. We put it on the box spring after several months - he never has fallen out...If the toddler bed is seen by your son as a jumping place - perhaps you want to move to a real big bed and treat it differently, don't let him start to jump on it.

The only other advice I have to add is: Reconsider. If he's not climbing out of his crib, leave him in it. Just put the baby in the playpen, or get another crib off of Craigslist. (You can get them cheap or even free on there.)

Especially since you have a new baby about to arrive, it would be nice to not have to battle your toddler while you're sleep deprived. Unless you have some miraculously odd child, he's bound to challenge bedtime once he's not in a crib. It took our daughter 2 weeks to realize she could get out of her "big-girl bed" on her own, but once she did we had 3 months of re-training for bedtime.

Good luck! Congratulations on the baby.

My boys were 22 months apart, I wish I would have made the transition before my 2nd was born, in my case my oldest wanted to be the baby again, he didn't want to give up his crib, we had his big boy bed and new bedroom ready for him but he was not interested, my youngest slept with us until he was rolling over and then spent a month sleeping in his playpen while I got big brother squared away. I personally think we could have avoided all that stress had we gotten it handled before the new baby.

Have him take his naps in the bed for a few days to help him relate the bed for sleeping. Also when he falls asleep anywhere else put him in his bed. Another thing that worked for me was sit with my child for a little while at night as she layed in her bed ( I would tell hr goodnight then sit on the bed and ignore her unless she got out of bed). I did this for about a week till she got used to it. A guard on the bed may be a good idea too.

A L-

I found starting with naps easier than nighttime. I also found that if my son was already asleep, like from a car ride, then I could put him down in the bed and he did fine. Then you could talk it up, like wasn't it fun to wake up on your big boy bed? It worked for me. I hope it works for you. I have 2 boys 21 months apart, and it is really fun.

Annemarie

Congratulations on your new addition!
We moved our (now 22mo) dd a few months ago. She had a rough couple of weeks adjusting, but now she is sleeping great, for both naps and at night. Of course, her move was doubly challenging because we were moving her into her big sister's room.
The best advice I can give is to clean the room out, and don't leave anything in reach but a few stuffed animals and a couple of books. That way the room is "boring" and he will be more likely to sleep.
Also, blackout curtains or shades really help at naptime, and during the summer when our LOs are going down before the sun is.
The last thing is, keep his bedtime routine the SAME. We do bath, diaper and pjs, two stories, prayer, quick hug and kiss, and into bed. It's exactly the same as her crib routine, just in a different room.
Good luck, and stick to it! He'll get used to it before the new baby gets here!