Advice on Moving to "Big Boy Bed"

Since it sounds like he's got the idea, you should go ahead and have him try it at night. The biggest thing is that for night you probably want to remove the crib from the room, because otherwise he might be confused. I moved my oldest (15 mths at the time) for the same reason, and the first 3 nights were rough, and then it was all good. =)

Having a gate, or the door closed so he can't open it, is probably good. You might find him asleep on the floor sometimes or whatever he may do.. it's all pretty normal.. but they get the hang of it pretty fast.

Good luck to you and your big boy!

I moved my son to a bed (toddler bed) when he was 15 months (19 mo. now) because I had my second son (5 mo. now) and it was going to be time for him to be in the crib soon. I had planned on starting with naps only for a little while and then decided it was all or nothing since I didn't want to confuse him. The only problem I had was that he wouldn't stay in the bed. He would lay down in it and then he would climb down and lay on the floor by the door (we keep the door shut). I would constantly move him back to his bed when he fell asleep but he would end up back on the floor. He finally started to say in his bed after I had come in his room before he woke up and woke him up (he was in his bed then when he woke up). Also, I put his bumper pad on the bed and his music thing (it shines on the ceiling and pays music) on the headboard so it would be more like his crib.

That's great he's napping in the big boy bed. My son preferred the crib, so we started with night time in the big boy bed and naps still in the crib for fear he just wouldn't nap because he was more tired and NEEDING sleep at night than nap time. Sounds like a personal opinion to start with naps for the big bed from the peds. Start the night time whenever you want to or feel he is ready. What we needed to do was take the mattress out of the crib, so the crib was no longer an option. He looked at the crib and it didn't look right, so he resorted to the bed being fine to sleep in. We also did the gate in the doorway and it worked great. We still do because my son likes it there and it works well. He's 3 now. We also made the room as boring as possible at the beginnng so there was nothing to get into or anything...making the room kind of like a big crib in itself. We started the transition at about 15 or 16 months because my boys are 19 months apart. My older did GREAT for 2 weeks sleeping perfectly through the night and all and then he discovered his freedoms. (At that point we still had the crib in there with the mattress and all his books and everything, we took them out the second time we transitioned to the big bed) We ended up going back to the crib until about 2 months after the baby was born and then did all the gate at the door, making the room boring and taking the mattress out of the crib to transition. We didn't want to do it too close to the baby being born (also knowing the first was a month early and the second COULD be so when he began to regress we put the issue aside until after the baby). Plus, there is the time in the bassinet so we could still do just one crib. So you have that time if necessary as well. Best wishes to you!! Hope this may help!

Hi L. ,

I have 2 sons and they are 15mnths apart , I started the transition at 13mnths , my husband and I agreed to a twin bed (Ikea bed its lower to the floor) so we good lay down with him if he needed it . I agree with the last mom , naps were to important for me so we started out with bed time , it took about a week for him to fall asleep by himself but after that he loved his big boy bed . Another idea allow your son to pick his own bedding which might make this move alot smoother for everyone .

Good luck
K.

SAHM of 2 crazy little boys and our 3rd child due in Dec .

Dear L.,
We moved our son to a big boy bed at 16 months (b/c he climbed over/fell out of his crib). I think you need to just go cold turkey. I have a very close friend who happens to be a clinical psychologist and an expert in early child development, and her recommendation was to get the crib out of the house & just put him in the bed from day 1. our son was completely adjusted within a month or so. at bedtime we hung out with him until he fell asleep for a while so that he had some adjustment time. and we moved all bedtime activities (books, songs...) to his room and in his bed. the gate on the door was really important for us for quite a while. of course our son still doesn't sleep through the night... but it did seem like he wanted to explore the newfound freedom to its fullest at night for a few weeks. we just kept putting him back in his bed. now that he's 2, we don't even need to gate on the door. he figured out how to open it himself a while ago anyway. but it shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks for your son to feel right at home. I think putting him in one place for a nap and another for bed is too confusing. just make the switch and let him get adjusted. you'll be glad to get it over with.