Big Girl Bed Transition

I hope you get lots of helpful advice. May I make one suggestion? Instead of calling it a big girl bed (which can be a point of contention - NOOOO, I don't want to be a big girl), just call it a two year old bed. That makes lots of sense to kids. Best of luck.

I transitioned my boys at 16 months. The first couple of nights they fell asleep in places other than the bed, the first night was by the door, the second night was in a pile of toys, but I just put them back in bed so they would wake up there and after a few nights they got it figured out. I just put a baby gate up at the door and make sure the room was safe so I didn't have to worry about them being able to get up out of bed.

For our three kids we did a twin mattress on the floor, at around 18 months. They were weaning at that point so it was fairly easy to do that final nighttime nursing before laying them down. And since the bedrooms were fairly close together I just kept the bedroom doors open, so I could hear if they got up. When/if they woke up they toddled into our room and climbed into bed with us. They didn't do this every night but when they did it wasn't a problem. The house was baby proofed anyway so I wasn't too concerned about them wondering around (which they never did.) Just keep the bedtime routine as normal as possible and it shouldn't be that big of a deal.
Though I think a baby gate would have made my kids cry, they knew where we slept and how to get to us, a gate might have freaked them out.

Wow, we did almost exactly what Mamazita said.

Around 18 months, we put our kids on a twin mattress on the floor. That way if they did fall, they wouldn't have far to go and probably wouldn't even notice.

When they woke in the middle of the night, they would come straight to our bed and climb in. They never went anywhere else. If they did get out of bed, they usually weren't very awake, just looking for some comfort from Mommy and Daddy.

I can't think of any time that they did anything other than come straight to our bed. Even when our almost 8 year old wakes up before we do, which is rare, he either comes straight to our room to wake one of us up or does this right after he goes to the bathroom.

ETA - I guess I do think you're over thinking this a bit. It's helpful to assume that she's going to be just fine and then deal with any challenges as they come along. She really might be just fine!!!

Yup, put the twin mattress on the floor, compleatly child proof the room, baby gate at the door. Monitor if you really need it.

Sounds like you have it all covered. One thing I have to mention is that the younger you put them in a toddler bed the better they do. They don't think about getting up to play or wander. At a toddler age the kids simply know bed is for sleeping.

Since she's not a toddler anymore you may have problems with her getting up to play but in reality what's it going to hurt? If she's playing in a safe environment and not upset then she's fine. When she gets tired tomorrow from staying up too late then she'll go to bed sooner tomorrow.

I'm glad you're skipping the toddler bed at this age. Going straight to a twin is a great idea.

Wow, you're doing a lot of prep.

I know I'm old school, my daughter is almost 20.

When she was 17 months she crawled out of the crib, we didn't hear her til she said "hi". No I did not use monitor or video. I just listened for her regularly. I had a monitor in the beginning and I got no sleep because I heard every noise she made so if go check on her. At that time.... Our bedrooms were not far from each other all on second floor.

Crib was dismantled that day. She slept on a queen bed mattress on the floor, no rails because I bought some and I noticed how she rolled between them one night. I preferred her to have a short roll to the padded floor vs possibly getting tangled in the rail and choking to death.

I can see the videos and monitors if you have multiple levels. We built this house when she was 5 and she had the entire upstairs to herself ( master suite downstairs) until she moved out in Aug 2013 to her condo about 20 minutes away to go to college.

Just enjoy... They grow up way too fast. I treasured each stage, good and bad.

I think you have it covered. If she wakes up and cries or comes to get you, do not say a word, just hold her or walk her back to bed and put her back down silently and as soon as possible even if crying. If she does this multiple times repeat. Don't get sucked into turning on lights, talking, singing, getting drinks, etc. For sure don't let her in your bed. Maybe its gross but when my DD was at that stage she was in diapers/pullups. I wouldn't even change a wet one in the middle of the night - just straight back to bed with no noise. My DD stopped getting out of bed within 3 nights, because it got her nowhere and she sleeps 9 solid hours a night - thanks goodness!! Good luck!

My kids cosleep and always have. We never used a crib. Maybe you could put the big girl bed in your room, so she feels safe.