Spinoff from another thread...When did you transition to a bed, at what age, and how did it go? just curious as to what people have done when transitioning their LOs out of the crib. Please vote!
Spinoff from another thread...When did you transition to a bed, at what age, and how did it go? just curious as to what people have done when transitioning their LOs out of the crib. Please vote!
75 votes
pineapple / 12802 posts
We switch between 2 & 2.5. We transitioned him into a toddler bed. He dropped his nap a couple months after the switch (not sure if it's related but I think he still sleeps at daycare to my disappointment). Now he's in a twin bed at 3.
No real problems sleeping through the night, but he's picking up delay tactics like a kid in a candy store. Which, I think is more age related than bed related, but who knows!
pomegranate / 3032 posts
LO is 2 1/2 and we havent done the transition yet. Our house is listed and we're hoping to close before she turns 3 and once we get settled in the new house we'll take the front off her crib and put the toddler rail on. When its time for baby dos we'll figure out if we'll get her a twin or a full size bed. I'm not looking forward to it.
squash / 13764 posts
We switched at 2y10m to a toddler bed, and it was rough for the first few months--mostly because he started really stalling at bedtime. bUT it coincided with him mostly dropping his nap, so that helped, because he was so exhausted. But forget napping once he was in the toddler bed--that never really happened again!
pomelo / 5791 posts
We switched around 2 to a toddler bed. We needed the crib for DS2 and it was much cheaper to buy than a twin. Plus, he could keep using his mattress.
He had no problem with the transition.
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
Switched at 23 months to a queen bed. It sucked for 2 weeks. Then it was fine and she is still a great sleeper.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
DD
22 month
Crib to Twin (in a new room)
She slept fine but for the first month or so we had to sit with her to help her calm and fall asleep. Not really anything different though then what we were doing in the crib. So I voted Seamlessly.
olive / 62 posts
Switched right before she turned 2 because she was climbing out. Was fine at first, but now (2 1/2) she gets up at least once a night and either has to be put down screaming by daddy or have mommy pat her back for an hour...
We need to be consistent and just have daddy keep putting her back in.... lots of incentive to stick to a plan now because #2 is on the way!
cherry / 235 posts
With DS1 we converted the crib to a toddler bed at 26 months. The first night was fine but after that he kept getting out of bed and would not stay in it. Within a month we got a twin bed for him, which went much better. At 3 we moved him to a new room and a queen size bed.
DS2 is almost 2 and this time I want to keep him in his crib for as long as possible!
persimmon / 1467 posts
We switched to a floor bed at 20 ish months. It went fine. He was so excited about his bed. Now 6 months later he has only left his room twice. He always stays in bed and waits for us to come get him even though he can open his door and come downstairs by himself. I think doing it earlier was good for him and our family.
pineapple / 12793 posts
Switched DD1 at 19 months due to her climbing out and finding her in the twin daybed in her room.
Trying a switch with DD2 at 15 months because she's trying to sleep in her sisters bed. First night was good, second wasn't, third was OK but not great. We're taking it slow.
clementine / 811 posts
We just did it about two weeks ago the week of J's second birthday. He wasn't climbing out so I was worried that I was messing with a good thing, but we needed the crib for #2 next month--I didn't want to buy a new crib, and wanted J in his new bed for a while so we weren't "stealing his room" for the baby.
We had a double in that room that we used, so we didn't buy a bet yet, we just painted and got new curtains. So far it has been really great. He is SO proud of himself. We bought some re-stickable wall stickers that he put on the walls right before his first nap. The first nap I lay down with him until he fell asleep, and haven't had to since. DH always holds him for a few minutes before he leaves (he did this with the crib too) but he goes to bed awake.
I don't even want to type it, but he hasn't gotten out of his bed yet, he sings or talks to himself before he falls asleep or when he wakes up-which is what he did in his crib. Sometimes he kicks the wall, which he did in his crib too.
I really like the mattress on the floor, since if he does roll out its not that far. When he's awake, he can easily get in and out-- not as easy for me when I lay down with him since I"m 32 weeks along, but its good for him
pear / 1616 posts
dd - 16 mo to a twin size bed. we needed the crib for ds. we treated the bed like a crib (put guard rails, block the ends) and the transition was seamless. no issues whatsoever. to this day (almost 3.5yo) she still hasn't gotten out of bed without us there. i'm hoping this lasts for a long time!
not sure when ds will transition. hes 20 mo now and i know as soon as he transitions, he will make a run for the door. so we are keeping him in the crib as long as possible. hes our last so we don't have to worry about another kid needing the crib. he thankfully hasn't tried to climb out yet... hopefully we get another year or so.
grapefruit / 4903 posts
We transitioned LO1 at 28 months from her crib to a twin. It went smooth as could be. One rough night, then all was well.
pear / 1703 posts
DD was 3 when I transitioned her to a twin bed. It was a dream. Because she stayed in the crib so long she actually thought she couldn't leave her bed/room without me coming in to get her (as if she was still in the crib and needed me to lift her out).
I thank my lucky stars on a daily basis.
kiwi / 657 posts
We switched around 22 months and she went onto a floor bed twin mattress. She wasn't good in the crib, so it wasn't any worse in the big girl bed, but it had its challenges.
coconut / 8472 posts
We switched at 20m by converting his crib to a toddler bed. A month or two later we converted it again to a full size. We never had any problems until DH taught DS to leave his room if he needed something .
pineapple / 12566 posts
We switched to a twin at 33 months in preparation for the new baby. It went perfectly fine!
honeydew / 7283 posts
We switched to a twin at 2.5 (waited until after the baby was sleeping well in case there were issues). It was easy peasy.
eggplant / 11716 posts
We switched before 2. To a queen. There wasn't a big change in LO1s sleep because she wasn't a good sleeper before the change. We had a golden age where her sleep was semi decent and she didn't get out of her bed and just called for us when she woke up----
But somewhere after she turned 2 when we 1) had another baby 2)paci weaned! 3) potty trained, LO1 figured out she could get out of bed and now we are back to sleep problems.
We have the Okay To Wake clock, and that's helping somewhat. But she still wakes nightly at least once and will either scream cry for us or come to our room and shout, which wakes the baby.
But...I'm not sure it's a bed-transition thing. It could be a paci weaning thing. Or a potty training thing. Or a new-baby thing. Surely, it has something to do with all of the above.
pomelo / 5326 posts
@Autumnmama79: ooooh glad to hear a good story about switching at 3. DD is 32 months and I really don't want to switch her anytime soon but we likely will this summer when she turns 3. Glad it went smoothly for you!!
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
DD1 went from a crib to a toddler bed (convertible) around 20 months. It was the best thing ever for her sleep. Bedtime was atrocious and taking almost 2 hours. It literally magically solved our problems.
Bedtime is wonky with DD2 right now. I'm not quite at the desperate stage yet.
apricot / 431 posts
@BabyTsMom: just moved my son last week at 28 months because he was climbing out of his crib. Moved him to a twin bed with side railing. Let's just say we're less than a week in an it's not going well. Goes to bed fine but has been waking 4-6 times per night. Everyone says it gets better after 1-2 weeks.....really counting on that at this point!!!!
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
I didn't answer about the age because we switched at 18 months. We switched to a twin floor bed and it went really well. We put all of his toys away during the transition so his room was basically just his mattress and bookshelf, and after a couple weeks of him falling asleep in random places around the room and us moving him to his mattress after he fell asleep he started sleeping in his bed. We shut his bedroom door and he wasn't able to open it, so he wasn't able to leave his room once we said goodnight. We are planning on doing the same with our daughter in the next month or so. She is 13 months.
pomelo / 5628 posts
3-3.5, toddler, seamless. We were so scared because our kid is such a good sleeper but we have not had one issue!
clementine / 856 posts
@MommySLP: Ugh, I'm sorry to hear that! how long had he been climbing out of his crib before you made the transition? What do you do when he gets up motn? I think that's my biggest concern... that he'll just keep coming out of his room. I hate to lock the door but I think that may be the only option......the door monkey thing doesn't work on our door frames and a gate is also difficult.... but have you tried any of those options?
apricot / 431 posts
@BabyTsMom: he just started climbing out last week but he kept doing it over & over so we bit the bullet. When he gets up I just take him back in his room. I've been sitting in his rocking chair til he's a sleep because he's been hysterical if I leave. That's part of the problem but I think maybe it's overwhelming for him & he also seems to be going through some separation stuff. I don't know!!! I can't/don't want to let him cry too much because his room is next to my daughters & it wakes her up! Just trying to muddle through at this point & hope it gets better! Unfortunately we're all tired in the meantime. If it's any consolation, my daughter transitioned to a bed at 19 months & it was completely seamless!
nectarine / 2466 posts
We had no reason to switch, we just did randomly one day. She was 2.5 when we did. It went really well, we had no problems originally. It's only been a few months, and we've only ran into one issue. Sometimes, for whatever reason, she will get up and climb up her change table. We think she does it because she knows we will come in and take her down. ( We do have the table anchored to the wall!) I think I might take it out, but I still use it so it would be annoying not to have it. Aside from that, it's been good.
blogger / grapefruit / 4836 posts
@BabyTsMom: We lock our sons door and it is not an issue at all. Our locks pop open when you turn the handle so it wouldn't slow me down in getting to him and I don't see it as any different than him being behind a gate or in a crib, except that it's easier and safer IMO.
pomegranate / 3601 posts
We just gifted our 3 year old a big boy bed for his birthday. And we took his beloved pacis away and it has worked wonderfully so far #knockonwood. We talked a lot about it leading up to it but the set up of the bed was a surprise for him. He is so proud that he keeps telling everyone who'll listen or won't (he doesn't really distinguish here) where is old crib went to and that he now is a big boy.
His bed is 2m x 90cm (so 6ft 6in x 3 ft) since a toddler bed didn't make sense for our 3ft 4.5in 3 year old. He could get out of his crib since he's about 2 since our crib has removable slats. This is necessary since he is not wearing diapers at night and thus needs to be able to go to the bathroom.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
To a full, just shy of 3. Seamless. Except he totally gave up his nap which he was doing 50% of the time.
nectarine / 2951 posts
We haven't moved DS yet.... We are wAiting until he starts to climb out. Our pediatrician said not to mess with a good thing. He is 2.5.
grapefruit / 4649 posts
We switched at 14 months to a twin floor bed and didn't have any issues, it took a couple of nights for her to adjust to the new routine but it meant bedtime took 60 minutes instead of 40, so not terrible. We were switching from our bed to hers though so I am sure that played a role in it. The location changed but I still laid with her to go to sleep-and still do now at 18 months.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
@Mrs Green Grass: Your story gives me hope! Xander is 3 and a great sleeper and I'm scared of making the switch. Did you lose naps when you switched? I'm not ready to lose naps...
clementine / 778 posts
We switched DS to a toddler bed right after he turned 2. It wasn't the plan, but he had started climbing out of the crib. The transition was really easy. I think it was a mix of sleeping on a cot in daycare since he was one and his personality.
blogger / nectarine / 2043 posts
We just did this in February (LO was 32 months). Her crib converted to a toddler bed, so we just took the rail down. Week 1 was like nothing ever happened. Then she figured out she can get out and started coming out of her room wanting to get in bed with us (she never slept in our bed so that was weird). That lasted for a week - us returning her to bed, trying to calm her down, etc. And then we locked the door, because bedtime was taking hours, and nobody was happy. Locking the door worked like a charm. For two weeks she would still get up and try to leave but once she found the door locked, she would lay around on the floor, tinker with her toys, whatever, and eventually fall asleep. And then a couple weeks ago she just started staying in bed outright, so fingers crossed no further adventures
clementine / 856 posts
@Mrs. Lion: i'm more worried about lo getting royally pissed off that he can't get out of his room, and throwing a total fit about that. I guess I see the inability to escape the crib and leaving his room differently, though I can see what you're saying too. Anyway, I foresee many tears... but maybe I'll be wrong!
pomegranate / 3706 posts
We switched to toddler beds before 2 for both of our girls, eldest DD was only 18mos, and it went great! I think doing it early is *why* it was easier.
pomegranate / 3113 posts
We've tried to convert her crib to a toddler bed twice, once just after she turned 2 and again a couple weeks ago at 2 years 4 months. Both were epic fails and she's still in a crib. She started hyperventilating and told us to close it back up, she doesn't like it open. Wouldn't go near it until we put the crib side back on. Sigh. She knows how to climb out but has only actually done it once during a horrible tantrum...if she does it again, we'll have to convert it for good and I'm scared it'll be awful.
persimmon / 1345 posts
We moved when she was about 2.5. My parents gifted us Lo's bedroom furniture and we just got a full sized bed. Before that, we were all living in one room at my parents house as our house was getting built. We had a toddler bed in there but she never slept in it and would always crawl into our bed. It was just easy to switch as we moved into the new place. The switch went okay. Bc it's a full sized bed and taller, she doesn't get out of it like she did the toddler. Occasionally she does come into our bed in the morning but it's rare.
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