Age to Move from Crib to Toddler Bed

You can always put the gate at her door or if that isnt an option you can go to onestepahead.com and they make a kit to put on the tops of stairs for round banisters. My son was a couple of months of turning 2 when we converted his crib to a bed, but it went right to a fullsize bed. You can always put the mattress on the floor and see how she does that way or if the crib converts to a full size you can put it right to a fullsize bed and get a bedrail i think the onestepahead.com sells the bedrails, if not you can buy one at babys r us.

I switched my daughter on her 2nd birthday. I think they say 2- 2 1/2 but it really depends on your kiddo.

Is she trying to climb out of her crib? If not, I would keep her in her crib as long as you can. It's nice for you to have that extra sleep not worrying if she is getting up or not. :) But, once she tries to climb out, that is when I would make the swith - for her safety. Good luck when you do make that transition - a whole "new world" opens up for them - so, if you're putting a gate at her door, just make sure the room is kid-proof so she is safe to play when she wakes up.

My mom's advice to me (I have a 23 month old) is to keep them in the crib as long as you can because that is the safest place they can possibly be. That is, of course, if they are not climbing out of the crib. I am going to keep Jack in his crib until he's at least 3 if I can. Good luck

Hi T., I personally am one that believes there is no need to rush a child from a crib into a toddler bed. If your daughter is still sleeping well in a crib, leave her there and enjoy the ability to know she's where you left her for as long as you can. I think kids have a way of telling you when they're ready to move to a bigger bed. If she starts climbing out and it's not safe for her to be in a crib anymore then obviously you need to switch. We didn't swtitch to a toddler bed until our daughter was 3 yrs old and she transitioned super easy once we switched her. She was old enough to understand what was going on and that she needed to stay in bed even though she had the ability to get out on her own now. Good luck!

I would wait as long as possible unless you have a compelling reason to switch. We didn't change my son until after he turned three and I did so he could get up by himself to go potty. It was a totally easy transition because he was excited and understood that there would be consequences if he got up (no stories at next bedtime or turning out his nightlight). Our girl is 33 months old and already starting to potty train but I will wait until we are peeing at night to make the transition for all of the above reasons.

T.-
My daughter is the same age. We just switched her because she started climbing out of her crib. She is all over the bed too, but the toddler bed has a little "lip" on the side. And if she does fall out, it won't be far. If you are worried about that, buy one of those gates that attaches to the side of the bed. We put a gate at her door that way we can still leave the door cracked. Just make sure before you make it into a toddler bed, that you child proof the room, especially attaching the dressers to the walls. Good luck!

Hi T.-
We moved my son into a toddler bed at 18 months. He wasn't climbing out of his crib or anything, but he was waking up a lot and fussing, so we thought maybe it would help with that, and it really has. He loves it - it's an Elmo, not very expensive. He moves a lot too, but it has little sides up by the top of the bed to stop him, and I keep a pillow on the floor by the open part in case he would fall out. We keep all the doors closed except our bedroom door, so if he gets up, all he can do is come in our room. He doesn't like being by himself, so he won't play in his room alone, he just comes and gets us or comes into bed with us. Definitely get that gate for the stairs though before you do it! Good luck!
M.

I think it completely depends upon your child. No age is right for everyone. Our oldest daughter began climbing out of the crib around 19 months of age, so we decided to move her then. Our youngest is 2 1/2 and just moved into a toddler bed about a month ago. She never did try to crawl out and so I left her in as long as possible. The transition with her went far more smoothly than with my older daughter, but that has as much to do with their personalities as well as ages. I would say, leave her in the crib unless you have to move her. You will know when that time comes.

We just switched our son from his crib to a big boy bed. He turned 3 in July. There is absolutely no rush especially with the stairs. Why switch? He loves his twin bed now. We switched our girls at 2 1/2 because the next baby was on the way, but with our son there was no reason until it was obvious that he was just too big for the crib.

Hi,

My two older children were in their cribs until they were about 3. They never tried to climb out and it was nice to know they were safe/secure in the crib. You need to do what works best for you and your family. My youngest son turned two in October and I will wait and see how long I can keep him in his crib. I agree that once they start climbing out on their own it is time to make the switch.

Wow, I envy you...if you have a 20 month old who isn't climbing the walls of the crib, ENJOY IT! LOL... Man, I miss the "containment days" LOL... but if you feel like you want to take her out of the crib and move her to a toddler bed, by all means go with your gut. We frankly, skipped the toddler bed. Neither of mine were interested and went straight to a big bed (for them, it was the ultimate priviledge).

I did, however, get the bedrails (the ones that actually attach to the opposide side of the bed between the matress and the box spring. Of course, you pay a little more for these rails (I think they were about $25/ea) but man are they worth it! They are good sturdy metal and fabric mesh and don't budge (which was really important as my daughter was a hefty child). The rails also will collapse down and slide between the matresses which was really cool if you needed to use the big bed for company. If you want the name of the side rails I used, just email me.

I would recommend that if you are considering the move to practice with her on the stairs (walking, climbing, or crawling up/down)...mastery of that will make you feel more secure than just a gate. Gates aren't always dependable. If she's not a climber, you could always get a couple of large tucker totes and put stuff in them to weight them down and block the stairs with those...they worked for several months for me until my kids figured out how to physically push them out of the way, but NEVER did they climb them b/c I piled them up 2 or 3 tall at the top of the stairs. But I will warn you...once they start the exploratory stage no amount of gates, tucker totes or anything will stop her from going up/down those stairs unless you really train her.

We actually moved our daughter into a big girl bed around 17-18 months. Her crib got recalled, so instead of buying her a new one, or moving to a toddler bed (which I think is a complete waste of money) we just opted for a twin bed. We have it on a frame set at the lowest possible height setting, and her mattress is on a bunkie board. If you're not familiar with bunkie boards, it's just like a box spring, only about 1 inch thick. So, her bed is only about 1.5 feet off the ground. We made it a big deal and let her pick out her sheets. And told her what a big girl she is. She absolutely LOVES her bed. We didn't have any problems at all with the transition.

You could always try a big bed and use rails, we didn't use them though, and we haven't had any problems. She fell out once and didn't even wake up.

kids go to toddler beds at different ages. My kids were between 16-18 months when they went to their toddler bed. Most kids switch around 18 months-2 years. If she is climbing out of her crib then that is a sure reason to switch but if not you can keep her in the crib longer. They did well staying in their toddler bed. You could put a gate up to her bedroom door and leave the door open so you can peek in on her and that will keep her safe from the stairs.

The age to move to a toddler bed depends on the child. Does she try to climb out of the crib??? If not leave her in it a little longer. but if she is trying to climb out then she needs to be moved to a toddler bed before she falls or gets stuck and hurt. My daughter solve the Problem of her twins roaming the house at night by putting a baby gate across the door of their room. It keeps them in their safe room but Mom and Dad can hear them if they get up (rooms are right next door)works really well.

I would keep her in the crib for a bit. Until she is climbing out, there really isn't a point. My son is turning 2 on Friday and is still in a crib. I know sleeping would be much harder without a crib, and he sleeps all over the place too.
If she's happy there, there is no need to change.