Advice on Transitioning from Crib to Be

We had our youngest son when our oldest was 15 months old and still using the crib. Our baby slept in our room until our oldest was ready to be in a big boy bed. He was about 20 months old when he started sleeping in a twin bed without any problems. He was actually very excited about it when we set it up with his Cars comoforter.

My son was a little older 2 1/2 yr old and he went to the store with my husband and they bought a matress and came with me to buy the sheets and new pillows. He has a full size bed and we put it up against the wall and blocked the other side with pillows. He was involved in all the buying and set up and we took pics and printed them out for him to see and talk about. We also had bought a book "My Big Boy Bed" and read it a lot so he was so excited. We were lucky and he only fell out once and he loved sleeping in his bed and jumping in it. When our second child came in Dec., 4 month later he was fine with her having a crib, because he was the big boy. Good luck!

Last year, I was in the exact same place as you! Our second baby (Frances) came in June, and Ruby was 26 months. The baby slept in our room for about 4 months. Two months after she was born, we set up a full sized bed in Ruby's room. She had started noticing her friends having "big girl beds" and was asking us when she would get one. We didn't want to buy a toddler bed and already had this full bed. She helped set it up and helped put sheets and blankets and stuffed animals on it. She was really excited! We kept the crib in her room, too. (It was a little crowded!) I really didn't want her to feel like the new baby was taking her bed, so we took the whole thing slowly.

So, for two months she got to choose which bed she'd sleep in for naps and night time. Sometimes she'd do fine in the big bed, sometimes she wanted to go back in her crib. To make the bigness of the bed seem smaller, we would make a little nest with extra pillows and stuffed animals. She really liked that. And after a few months, she just didn't want her crib anymore. She helped us take it apart and move it into the baby's room, put sheets on it, etc. She did get a little sad about giving her crib to her new baby, but with some hugs and support, she was able to get through it. She still proudly says that she gave Frances her nice, comfy crib!

Good luck!

My cousin switches all her kids to a regular bed after their first birthdays. She's really big on things like that like she takes the bottle away and pacifiers. I guess it's easier at age1 before the attachement and security is to much. Anyways her daughters have all done very very well with being in big girl beds.

I would put a twin bed in your son's room with a side rail and have him start to take naps in his big bed until he's 100% comfortable and then switch him over completely.

Hi S.,

We are in exactly the same boat! My daughter is 22 months old and we are expecting our 2nd in June. We know the baby will sleep in our room for awhile, and knew we'd either have to transition her now (along with all the other "baby" things that she feels are hers) or wait until later in the Fall. I found a great bed this weekend, after looking for a while, and she helped me set it up yesterday, picked out sheets, etc... We set it all up and then it seemed SO tall, that we took out the box spring and just have the mattress in the frame a few inches off of the floor, and now she loves to srawl on there and snuggle and giggle and cozy up to her pillow. We haven't had her sleep in it yet, but thought we'd try naps first, and leave her crib in the room for now. So I guess we'll see- she seems to be good about letting us know when she is ready for the next step, so she'll probably be fine. We, however, are losing the "enclosure" of the crib! A little scary to have her roaming free!

Good luck! We'll see how it goes!