Well, it's time to bite the bullet. I walked into my twins' room today during nap time after hearing some strange noises and giggling from the hall...they were both out of their cribs and had their little fingers stuck into the box fan! (Their fingers were fine.) But this is the first time they've ever climbed out of their cribs before. Should I give it a few days, and risk them hurting themselves, before I convert to the toddler bed? And if not, what are you ladies' experiences with converting to toddler beds? (Specifically any mothers of multiples!) Did you have to sleep in the toddler's room for a few nights until they get accustomed to the new bed? I know, this question gets asked all the time, but I never needed to read any of the answers until now, any advice would be appreciated!
I would definitely NOT stay in their room with them. That could create a problem that you would regret for months! Don't do it! -- You can look up old entries on this website by clicking the requests/responses link. Good luck!
Hi R.
i recall asking this question a while back :) My son is now 2 and has been in his toddler bed for about 5 months!! it was DEF time for him b/c he dive bombed out of bed head first!!! :) he wanted out and thats how he did it..more than once! SO.....at nap time the following day, we converted his bed...he had a blast knowing he could get in and out....he did great at nap time but after nap i put up a guard rail so he wouldn't fall out at night..the 1st few nights were ok b/c he didn't realize he could get out.....HOWEVER........EVERY NIGHT AFTER THAT......he was up!!! Walking into our room and up SEVERAL time a night!!! IT WAS TERRIBLE.....our solution was sleeping on his floor and each night moving closer to the door..if he tried crawling out, we promptly put him back in after about 2 weeks of this it seemed to work. He still got up but not as often. finally he slept through the night 5 nights in a row...was up just last night at 4 a.m. but over all i'd say he does ok for an active 2 yr old!! good luck, its a big step esp with more than 1!!! :) :)
Twins might be a little different; however, my little girl started sleeping in a full size bed at 24 months. We put the matress on the floor for the first few months (we ended up putting some bed railings on b/c she kept waking up after falling (it didn't hurt, just woke her up and us). At first I just transitioned nap time and sat at the door with my back turned until she fell asleep. I did this for the first two days only b/c she transitioned pretty well. When she slept in the bed the first night, I slept on the floor at the foot of her bed. The second night, I faced my back to her until she fell asleep. By the third night she was fine. Good luck!
I think once they figure out how to get out of the crib it's time to go ahead and switch before they get hurt.
The very first day that I was aware of my daughter crawling out of her crib, we went ahead and switched. We put her right down in it, told her it was a BIG girl bed and that since she's a big girl now, she needs to show us what a BIG girl she is and stay in the bed and go to sleep. She did great for about 4 days, then figured out she could just get up and mosey around if she wanted. We have a video monitor so I started watching and the minute she'd get up, I'd quietly go in there and ask her where she was supposed to be and what she was supposed to be doing and she'd get right back in the bed.
Nap time is a different story though-since there's natural light in the room it's been pretty tough to get her to go straight to sleep. So my next step coming soon will be to get everything she could play with put away in the closet so that there are no distractions from naptime.
One more thing-my daughter is a door opener, so I got some of those door knob covers because I didn't want her roaming the house while we are asleep should she wake up. So we slapped one of those things on the back of her door knob and she knocks when she's awake or wants out.
Hope this helps!
I am a mom to twin boys as well. Mine are 2 1/2 and are still in their cribs, but I wanted to let you know you are not alone and that I am listening to your responses. One of my friends who has twin girls (who are a bit older and much more mischievious than my boys) said it is a good idea to clear a lot of stuff out of their room and make sure all dressers are teathered to the wall (her girls used the drawers as stairs). Good luck let me know what works for you.
get a playpen and flip it over the box fan.
no problem going from crib to "big" girl/boy bed. might but some type of foam mattress around the bed for a bit in case they do roll out to the floor.
good luck!
I have 3 1/2 year old twins. They are boy/girl, so they have slept in different rooms from the beginning. So, I am not sure if my advice will help. We transitioned from the crib at about 22 months. We skipped the toddler bed, and went straight to big kid beds. We just started with the mattresses on the floor for a couple of months, then transitioned by putting the mattresses on the bed frames (when they were used to the big bed) We just made a very bid deal about getting to sleep in the big kid bed. They got to help set the bed up (put the sheets, comforter, pillows on). We made sure they understood that sleeping in the big bed was for big kids, and if they got out of them we would have to get the cribs back out. The did great after that.
We converted our son when he was just 13 months old because he hated his crib but loved my youngest sister's toddler bed. Like the previous poster, at first he didn't even realize he could get out of it. I converted it earlier in the day so he could get in and out of it (because I was afraid he wouldn't be able to), we could read books in it, and just generally talk about how great it was. He was so young that at first we put a couple of couch pillows down in case he fell out, but he did great. He's 18 months now and sleeps better than ever. Best decision ever!
Now having said all that, your kids are older and there's 2 of them in there, so I would expect some giggling and trying to avoid bedtime, but as with most things with toddlers, if you ignore them and keep putting them back in their beds long enough, they will eventually fall asleep. I definitely wouldn't leave them in their cribs any longer.
And everything the previous poster said about making the room safer too. Just assume that your boys will be up unattended at some point in there, and act accordingly.
Good luck!
I'm not a mother to multiples but I figured something's better than nothing! I have a 2yr old daughter who's been in a toddler bed for about a month now. We converted it and at first she didn't understand she could get in and out :)
We would put her to bed and she would stay! That lasted a couple of days.
My best advice:
Convert the bed early in the day so it's not a shock before bedtime - use it for naptime as a trial
accident proof the room - ponytail holders work great on cabinet doors, breakables up high, fans not accessible, etc.
baby gate at the door - sleep time means sleep time
Follow similar rules as when they learned to sleep away from you - reassure them, bedtime routine, kisses, etc.
let them know you'll respond to nice requests (my daughter has a couple of times called me over to tell me "stinky")
When you know they are just seeing how many times you'll jump up say goodnight, I love you and ignore them
Works about 80-90 percent of the time.
Make the toddler bed up with same crib bedding so it's familiar.
Sorry this is so long.
Good luck - it's not as hard as you might think - I was pleasantly suprised!
My two year old is in a regular twin bed with guard rails. He has a step stool to climb in and out of. I didn't want to spend money on the toddler bed just to buy a regular twin later. As for keeping him in and getting him used to it, I started with nap time. I kept the baby bed in the room too for night time use. After a few days of nap time, I started giving him a choice at night of big boy bed or baby bed. After a few nights, he started choosing the big boy bed. He's been in his bed for 6 months now and it's still a struggle. We have to put him back in his bed 3 or 4 times every night before he goes to sleep. I also purchased a baby gate and put it in his doorway to ensure he stays in his room. That's the saving grace as I can sleep at night knowing he's in his room and not roaming the house. Good luck!!
My son fell out of his crib at around 18 months. For various reasons I wasn't ready for him to have the freedom to roam so I got a crib tent at BRU. He cried at first but after that he LOVED his tent. He actually cried when I took his crib down and he no longer had the tent to sleep in! I took the crib down a few weeks after his 3rd b-day and he did great with the toddler bed. We didn't have problems with him getting out of bed and now 7 months later we still don't have any problems.
