Toddler Still in Crib

my 31 month old still sleeps in his crib. I keep the side rail in the down position and he climbs in and out as he pleases. I converted it to a bed once he started climbing out but he kept falling out of bed!! So I put the rail back on. He enjoys climbing so he's pretty happy.
By the way he started off climbing in but wouldn't climb out until he was over 2 years old. I wouldn't stress over it. He'll do it when he's ready. My pediatrician said her son stayed in his crib til he was 3!!

A.... each to there own but my 2.5 year old has been in her own full size bed since before she was 18 months old . We tried to get her into a toddler bed but it was too small- she liks to spin in her sleep!

My husband and I have always held to the philosophy that teaching her NOT to do something is better then NOT ALLOWING her to do it. We had her get up through the night a few times but just put her straight back to bed and she learned.

It is great now -she gets up in the night to go potty and goes back to bedand now we never really have a problem with her staying in bed because she has a schedule and is always tired-out about the same time each night and wants to go to sleep.

In the morning she comes and climbs into bed with us - which saves having to get her out of a crib!

Good Luck!

F.

A.,
Good for you for making the transition. My son moved to a toddler bed (one of those plastic race car kind) when he was 18 months. I would be needing his crib in a couple of months for our new baby so I wanted to transition him long before the baby came home. All I did was put the bed in his room and he slept in it as if that's what he did every night. I think because I didn't make it a big deal, he didn't. He'll be 2 next week and he still is doing amazing in his bed. He stays in it all night and waits for me to get him in the morning. I hope it will be easy for you as well.

I would agree that there is no need to change at this point if you don't want to. Obviously the best thing is to do so when your ready or IF you feel he needs to. Honestly, I dont think it has to be such a big transition. Both of my sons were barely two when I put them in toddler beds. Neither of them gave me much of a problem...they were both excited actually! My oldest NEVER climbed out of his crib...but he did climb in when I had my youngest in there. (They are only a year and a half apart in age.) But my youngest climbed out very easily by two years of age. Good luck to you!

Mine stayed in a crib until at least 2-1/2 maybe even 3 years old. I just told him no when he tried to climb out. Yours isn't even trying, so I wouldn't worry. When he wants to climb in, just put him in! Honestly, the older they are, if they do climb, they are agile enough to do it anyway. The mattress is as low as it can go, right? Also, the longer you wait, the easier the transition into the toddler bed b/c he can understand to stay there. Also, the toddler bed is low to the ground, so if you are worried about him falling out, that is not really an issue. Just staying in the bed might be. I didn't have to do it, but I've heard some people put a gate in the doorway, so if they do get out of bed, they can;t leave the room. Good luck!

My oldest daughter just turned 3 and I had her in a crib until she was about 2.5 years old. The only reason I took her out of it was because I was pregnant and needed it for the new baby coming otherwise I would of left her in it longer. She never tried to climb out but she would try to climb in. The change was easy I set the bed up in advance and start with her just taking naps in the bed and at night in the crib. I did it for about 2 weeks and shes been in her bed ever since. I think I got lucky after hearing some of my friends stories.

I wished we would have waited. My son slept through the night since he was 3 weeks old. That changed after we took away the crib. This gave him the freedom to get up when he wanted. This is when he started sleeping in our bed. It took me a long time (a year) to get him to fall asleep in his room. I don't mind him coming in late in the night. I just like some time with my husband. Of course he was part of the problem. My husband loved having him in the bed. Now that I trained both of them :) we are all happy with the sleeping set up. Out of the 8 mothers I can think of off the top of my head. Only 2 has no problem with their kids staying in their bed. I guess it depends on how strong you think you will be at 2 am :). It's not an easy decision, but at least you are thinking about the pros and cons... I didn't consider what was going to happen after he was out. One suggestion I can make is to put a gate up at his door so that if he does get up he can not leave his room and roam the house. Most everyone I know stripped their kids room down to the basics so they couldn't hurt their selves. GOOD LUCK for on an easy transition when ever you decided to do. It can be successful, just make sure both parents are on board!

I would move him to the toddler bed. My daughter was doing the same things your child is at 19 months (trying to climb in, not climbing out but defiantly could). She seemed ready so we switched her over a move (my daughter seems to make transitions the best when exciting and new things are going on, like her weening her self over X-mas at my parents last year). I didn't have any trouble with her sleeping on the floor (she did it 3 times total, once when fire ants had invaded her bed and the other 2 when she was sick with a 101 fever). You might want to try having him sleep with his mattress on the floor to see how he likes it.

I transitioned my son out of his crib right around 2 years old. It only took about 2 weeks for him to get used to it. It really wasn't that big of a deal. What was the problem was he thought, oh my, I can get out of bed now. So he'd get out of bed immediately after I took him for his nap. He fell asleep on the floor a few times. Never had a problem when we put him to bed at night. It is nice since he can get in and out all by himself. I really think you should try it. Good luck.

keep them in the crib as long as you can!! why set yourself up for more stress right now?

as long as everyone's happy with it, there's no need to change. you won't be doing any developemental damage if that's what your thinking. wait until he starts climbing out (mine even climbed out 3 times, but then never did it again!) we felt that when she got closer to her third birthday, there were things we could talk to her about and felt she was ready. and the best thing was since she was ready, she never climbed out of bed either!

a crib is a safe place - let that be your savior right now!

maybe you can make the transition when they start becoming more potty trained...and if he needs to get out of bed in the night or something...closer to 3 for sure!

My son is 22 mths and I was in the same situation. To my surprise he did stay in his bed for that first night and it wasn't really a battle. Try a toddler bed for nap time and see how things go. That's how I started out and it worked great. Hope things go good!!!

I think he wants a big boy bed. My son has been sleeping in a full size bed since he was 6 months old so its never too soon it just depends on your son and his needs. There are beds that have rails all around then where the child cant fall out of the bed. I have a little tykes car bed for the full size bed (we got it at a yard sale for only $40), it has hard plastic all around and the mattress sits in the middle. We dont use the box for the mattress because the bed would come up to the top of the plastic car and he can roll out, but that might be bed to consider purchasing. Oh and they make them in just about every design and style and at all kinds of prices. Look into it and its not going to be as bad as you think. You never know he might love his new big boy bed and is waiting for you to get it for him! Happy holidays! T.

Hi A.,

This is a funny one...because my girls were rarely in their crib, however, I slept in a crib until I was four years old. My parents had a small house and my brother and sister were in their late adolescent/teen years so they each got their own room for privacy obviously.

I really don't think I've been damaged! Others may have different opinions :) And I climbed in and out of mine. (It was a loooong time ago too so I'm sure my crib didn't meet ANY safety regs, lol!) There are other things I wish my parents had done but the crib has never been an issue!

Thanks for the memories!

M.

When I transitioned my daughter from crib to bed I made sure and put up the bed rails on both sides of the bed. She still felt the secure feeling of being enclosed. It worked out wonderfully.

My son, now 2yrs. 9mos. did the same thing, maybe a little earlier. It became the ritual for a while to let him climb in the crib at bedtime; he was very proud of himself. He did start doing it more often and also started climbing out and coming into our room. Once he figured that out it was like a game for a while and times got a little tough. He has a twin size bed in his room (along with the crib) and we started letting him choose which bed he wanted to sleep in, offering the "big boy bed". The crib isn't even an option anymore, except of course, to climb in and throw all the stuffed animals that are in there out, and he stays in his bed all night (for the most part - no perfect world here:) We are planning on converting the crib to the full size bed for guests. My son never "jumped" out of the crib and he's very athletic, so I didn't worry about him hurting himself. If a child is jumping out I think that can be dangerous and a toddler/twin bed highly recommended. Also, I would've let him sleep in his crib until he didn't fit anymore...he's probably my last baby. God Bless you and your family! Tell you husband Thank You for his Service!!!! ~Suzanne

This may be a little late but I just joined... My girls had German beds that had removable bars. We took three bars out as soon as they started trying to climb onver the rail and they then had a little hole to enter and exit the crib. If your son really likes the security of his crib you can start with that (maybe your hubby can figure out how to remove them?)and he'll gain that independence in stages. I just made sure we had a baby gate so there was no night wandering or falling down the stairs when halfway asleep and made sure they knew they were NEVER to climb over those gates!!!
And congratulations to your husband's safe return and your time without him. A military wife is the hardest job in the military, or so I hear!

Everything I read, said keep them in the crib until they are a danger to themselves trying to crawl out...meaning you catch him trying to do it all the time. My daughter would try to crawl into her crib when she got tired, but she never tried to crawl out. I switched her to a twin bed with a rail when she was 26 months but mainly to get her used to having new furniture so I could have the baby set for her brother I was pregnant with. She did great! It only took us 2 nights to get her used to it. She loved her "big girl princess bed" and still loves to sit on it all the time. If your son is content, I say leave him in there.

Good Luck,
K.