Making the switch from crib to bed

lworth · #1 (**permalink**) 06-13-2002, 07:42 PM

My 22 month dd was more than capable of climbing into her crib but never tried to get out. I was afraid that she might try to get out and hurt herself, so I took the side rail off of her crib. She can now get on and off her bed whenever she chooses (we had a well established bedtime and naptime routine, so it wasn't a problem getting her to stay in bed when it was time to sleep)
My worry is this....is it too soon and how do you know when it's time ... We're moving (just up the street, faculty housing at a private school) and I DON"T want to have to move the crib, it's a real pain, have to take it totally apart to move it - YUCK. Anyway, I'm considering putting her into a real bed, twin size.
Any suggestions or thoughts ??

momoftwo · #2 (**permalink**) 06-14-2002, 04:00 AM

When CB was 20 months old, we set up the toddler bed. It's not as high as the twin bed and has worked very well. I had found out that I was expecting again and would be needing the crib for the baby. He has done just fine and it now 2 1/2yrs. I would suggest getting a toddler bed first. It's easier to get in and out of and if you look around at second hand stores or tag/yard sales you can prob. get one for next to nothing.
I'll be starting SB in one soon. He's 13 months now and loves his big brothers bed.
Good luck!

SuzyQ · #3 (**permalink**) 06-14-2002, 08:25 AM

Unless the new room is really small, I'd go for the twin size. If you think its too high, just use the mattress on the floor for awhile. My kids all went straight to the twin size bed at 18-20 months. I did use guard rails for awhile, and still make sure there aren't any toys directly under it (in stepping zone).

One thing we did was picking sheet sets & comforters (we actually got the comforters later since we did the switch in warmer weather). They were so excited about the new sheets they forgot they were leaving the crib!;-)

JennyInSeattle · #4 (**permalink**) 06-15-2002, 10:30 AM

We moved Holly to a toddler bed recently. She had been able to climb out of her crib for some time, but is an excellent climber so I wasn't TOO worried about her getting injured. The biggest reason we moved her to a "big girl bed" is that baby #2 is due next month, and we'll be needing the crib for him :p I didn't want Holly to have to adjust to TOO many new things all at once, so we moved her to her new bed a couple of months ago. I thought it would take her a few days to get the hang of it, but she just climbed right in and went to sleep.

We also thought about a twin bed...the deciding factor was really her opinion. We looked at a lot of twins, and asked her what she thought...she said they were too big to be Holly beds

She's very happy with her bed, and when the time comes to put baby brother in the toddler bed she will get a BIG girl bed.

Hope this helps!

kiwigrif · #5 (**permalink**) 06-15-2002, 08:51 PM

Transitioned my son at 19 mos. He was climbing out and I was very afraid he would hurt himself. We got him a toddler bed and he loved it. (little tykes racecar) We got him a comforter set he loved and it took a few days for him to feel secure but all was smooth. Children are so resilient.

*~Kiwi~*

Middleagedmommy · #6 (**permalink**) 06-15-2002, 11:09 PM

Hi.. My son is 3 1/2. He started to climb out at about the same time as your child. I had left the side down so he could climb out but it left a small barrier so he couldnt roll out in the middle of the night. When I felt he was ok with that. I moved to a regular bed no guard rail at about 24 months. We put down soft comforters on the floor for the first week or so just in case. He fell out once, cried a very little bit, then got back in bed and never did it again.

I decided against going into a toddler bed that is low to the ground and uses the crib mattress because my son is very tall for his age and already seemed fairly cramped in the crib at 2.

Most children can go use a toddler bed till they are about 3 years old max. They can stay sometimes stay in them till they are 4 if they are small, but ya don't get a whole lot of use out of them. A year goes pretty fast.

My neice bought a toddler bed for her daughter and she never got more than a years use out of it, and her daughter is small for her age.

If you have already taken the side off the crib completely and they dont roll out. Then I would say they are ready to go into a big bed. A crib mattress is at least as high off the ground as a regular mattress and much smaller and easier to roll out of.
Once they can sense their boundaries, which happened pretty fast for my son, they usually have no problems in a big bed.

I was a baby furnature salesperson for about 7 years before I became a mom. We were told that any time after a year old, once they climb out, it's time for them to leave the crib. Whether you think a year or so of use from a toddler bed is worth the expense is up to you.

I hope that helps.

lawnangel · #7 (**permalink**) 06-15-2002, 11:11 PM

A toddler bed is perfect with side rails optional. If you're worried about her roaming the house when she gets up use one of those door knob thingamabobs so she can't get out but make sure her room has lots of safe soft toys to play with while she's in there and mom doesn't know she's awake!

lworth · #8 (**permalink**) 06-16-2002, 06:43 AM

Thank you for all the suggestions and thoughts. I'll probably go with a regular sized bed, Rachel is pretty good about not moving around a lot and as of yet she hasn't fallen off the edge :-)
Now, if I could just convince her to sleep a little longer in the morning, used to be she'd wake up but since she couldn't get out of her crib she would either go back to sleep for another hour or just lay there and talk to herself, now it's straight into Mommy & Daddy's room and she's not just content to lay in bed with us, it's "GET UP" time.
I hadn't thought of the doorknob thing, I may try that.
Thanks again for your comments

3msmom · #9 (**permalink**) 10-23-2002, 12:28 AM

I moved each of my girls to a regular twin sized bed when they were about 15 months. We had no problems with transitioning, we did have a few out of bed falls though but that ended real quick.

Each of my girls love being in their own big beds, in fact, my 5 year old thinks she needs a Queen size now b/c my SIL has told her that they are all Princesses and Queens. And since there are no beds named "Princess Size" she has opted for Queen size.

barbszy · #10 (**permalink**) 09-16-2003, 06:23 AM

I'm trying to decide if I'll take my toddler out of his crib. He is 18 months and quite the climber though he hasn't managed to get out of the crib yet. We're surprised he hasn't!

Because he is so active though, I'm considering just putting the crib mattress right on the floor for a little while--and then putting the baby gate at the doorway. This way we can test the waters. Any thoughts?