Toddler Bed Issues

We moved at the same time. I decided to minimize changes and kept my son in his crib. He was 2 when his sister was born. He slept happily in his crib until 3years 3mo., when we moved straight to a big bed. I bought a new crib for my daughter for $100 plus mattress for $70-- everything worked fine. When my son moved up to the bigger bed, we gave his sister his more expensive mattress and use the cheap one for jumping on now! ;-)

Hi, B.. Congrats on the new baby coming. My kids are 17 months apart. When my son was born we kept my daughter in her old room for several months. We knew she wasn't ready for a toddler bed yet and didn't want to disrupt her great sleep patterns or make her feel displaced by moving her out of HER room. We borrowed a crib from a friend since we knew we wouldn't be using it for too long and didn't want to spend the money for only a few months of use. When my son arrived, her stayed in our room in a basinette for the first few weeks. During this time my husband redecorated another bedroom. This is the room that we put the borrowed crib- and my son slept in there for the first few months. We then transitioned a bed in that room for my daughter and since it was decorated all pink and girly, she was more than happy to move to that room. The transition went wonderful for both kids and I don't think we pushed either of them into something before they were ready.

The old K. (you know, the one before kids) would have freaked out that my son was in a room that was half decorated, all pink and girlie, etc. But the new K. (you know- the one with two kids) made me realize that it was much more important that the kids were adjusting well to the new family situation rather than being in a room perfectly decorated just for them!

Good luck.
K.

I read through the responses and I am only sharing my experience because we were extremely lucky in moving my son to a big boy bed early!! He moved into a big boy bed at 17 mos- against everyone's advice and it has been awesome! We had just moved to our house 1.5 mos earlier so we put him in the room we wanted him in. When I knew that was going to be "his room" and he had enough room for both a toddler bed and a crib, I bought a car toddler bed for him off of e-bay for like $75. We set it up immediately. I never forced him into his bed, we left him make the transition- and he did it all on his own in about a month. He started out just laying in it, then he started going to sleep at night in it while taking his naps in his crib. Then, he moved to 100% big boy bed. The great thing is, he is still a great sleeper! He will go down and doesn't really get up at all. I think if you are going to move rooms, put both the crib and big boy bed in there and then let him make the transition. Hopefully you have a bassinette or cradle for the new baby to sleep in which would give you about 6 mos to make the transition. good luck!

I would suggest making the bedroom switch now. Move his crib in there too, 18 months is really young for a toddler bed. And how will you keep him in it? Do you really want an 18 month old free to roam his room/the house while you are all asleep? It would scare the life out of me.

Be careful about making the changes after the baby comes. If you do that, he will feel replaced, even if it is a step up for him. If you do it now, it will be new and exciting, and fun. Move the crib with him, let the new baby sleep in a bassinet for a few months. Then move him into a big boy bed. He will understand it more and be more excited about it at that point. Let him help pick out the decorations, ask him what color he likes best when thinking of painting. Put up pictures of you and your husband and fun times you had JUST with him on the walls, and once the baby comes, put up a picture of the two of them. You don't want him to resent the baby, if the change is already in place, he won't associate the two events.

Good luck!

Jen

My children are 15 months apart and we went through the same thing. My daughter was/and still is an awesome sleeper and I was terrified of how the change would effect her. We decided not to change too much at once. We bought the new baby his own furniture. I changed my daughter to the bigger room and painted it and made it very special for her, but left her in a crib. She just wasn't ready for a big bed yet. She transitioned great. I didn't make a big deal out of it. One day she just moved to the new room and that was that. I also was reluctant to move her to a toddler bed (which we did when she turned 2) She did fine with that as well.

Well, I don't have any advice, but this is a wonderful question. I am basically in the exact same situation. My daughter is now 14 months old and I am due in July with my second. They will be almost 19 months apart. We want to put my daughter in a toddler bed, in a new room, so I am wondering the same thing. I am thinking about putting the bed in her old room right now to get her used to that first and then switching her to the new room once she is used to the bed.

My second child was due when my first was 21 months old... yours are a bit younger... but it might work for you...

We set my daugther's new toddler bed in the new room weeks before I was due to deliver. Every day we would go into her new room, and she would crawl all over her new bed, and play. At night, we would still put her in her crib, but we would tell her that "pretty soon, you get to sleep in the big girl bed!" We did this for about two weeks, and then decided to try her sleeping in her toddler bed. She slept great in it, and never looked back at her crib!

I think you'll be surprised how smooth it can go! Just try and slowly get the idea in his head, and a I bet he will adjust just fine...

Good luck!
Jen~

I faced more or less the same issue when my daughter was born. We moved 2 weeks before her arrival and my son was 18 months. We decided to buy another crib.

My kids are now 3 (almost 3 1/2) and 1 1/2 ( almost 2) and my son stayed in his crib until shortly before his 3rd birthday. He does not get out and wonder at night. He loved his crib, and it was easier to transition out when he could fully understand that it was because he was a big boy.

Also, in terms of night training for potty training with a boy, boys take a lot longer, my son still can not go the night without a diaper but otherwise is fully potty trained.

I recommend getting another crib, it worked for me and keeping them in a crib is better because then you don't have to worry about night wandering when you have a newborn as well. In addition, a new room is a big enough change, so keeping his crib will add some reassurance for him.

We bought a second crib and it was the best money we have ever spent. There are used stores out there with quality beds, just buy the new mattress.
Every friend I have talked to that transfered their younger children to big kid beds regreted it. Naps dwindled off and midnight visits...yuck.
Our now 2, 3 yrold in April, still sleeps in her crib with no problems! Our 15 mo old in her crib, again no probs!

Good luck
K.

My boys are 19 months apart. I didn't switch rooms, but we did try to do the big boy bed before the second baby came. We had the bed in there with him for a while for him to get used to it. Then we switched him to it one night. He did WONDERFUL for about 2 weeks. Then he discovered that he could get out and thought it was quite fun to be able to get out of bed on his own. At that point we hadn't made his room boring, as we maybe should have. So with the baby then not that far off (like 2 months away by then). We decided to postpone until after the baby since the baby would be in a bassinet for a while anyway and so there wouldn't be so many changes at once and to make it easy when the baby was brand new. Then when the baby was a couple months old, we cleared the room of ANY entertainment so it was just the bed and dresser in there, and I took the mattress out of the crib, so that the crib would not be an option. We put a gate in the door way and then the transition went smoothly. We left the crib in there a little longer so his big bed would be "his" and we weren't then giving "his" crib to the baby because "his" bed was now his big bed. Then we moved the crib to the baby's room for the younger to sleep in. That's what worked for us. Maybe you'd want to try making the room boring and putting a gate up in the door to try the transition before the baby comes, but remember you have that time too for when the baby can sleep in a bassinet (or pack n play bassinet as we ended up using for the second before the crib was freed up again). :) If it's not feeling like such an easy transition, you may want to wait until YOU are feeling more up to it with more energy after the baby comes and is a couple months old. Best wishes to you and congradulations!

We have a 20 month old son and are expecting a second child in August. They will be 26 months apart. I asked Jacob's doctor about moving him into another bed and room. We were thinking that we could get Jake into a new bedroom set of his own and a big-boy bed and Baby #2 could just have the "nursery". She said that's up to us, but the transition needs to be done sooner than later as the arrival of a new brother/sister can be overwhelming enough for toddlers. Take away "their" crib and room and you may be asking for a lot of troubles. Babycenter.com has a great article on moving a toddler to a big bed. It can be found here... http://www.babycenter.com/expert/baby/babyready/4598.html

Also, my doctor semi-joked that if Jacob is sleeping well in his crib and not climbing out (he's not)...it's better for our sanity to keep him in there. It's not hurting him in any way. The exception would be when it's time for night-time potty training and they need the ability to get out of bed to go if needed.

We have decided to invest in another crib at this point for the second baby and let Jacob keep his bedroom and his furniture. Jacob's crib is a crib/toddler/full size bed combo so he'll have that for as long as possible.

Good luck.

T.