Hi moms! My husband and I are thinking about moving our 26 month old daughter from her crib to a big girl bed. Our daughter has always been a really good sleeper so we're naturally a little nervous but for the last couple of months she's been getting up earlier and begging to get out of her crib. To give you a little history she has been in underwear during the day for over 2 months and doing great. She's still wet during nighttime but wakes nearly every morning (like clockwork) at 5:45am asking to go potty. When we go to get her 9 times out of 10 she does go pee or poop on the potty but then she doesn't want to go back to bed. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with this and would this be a good time or reason to move her out of her crib (she can go to the potty on her own, just not sure we want her to) or should we just keep her in her crib? This is a tough decision for us so any suggestion and more importantly support would be great. Thanks!
My daughter moved to a bed at 14 months. I would move her now. She might still not go potty on her own, but I would be afraid at this age that she might climb out of the crib and fall.
Our kids went from the crib to OUR bed. But now at 4 1/2 and almost 2 1/2 they are both in their own beds.
I suggest you put up the toddler bed or whatever bed you are going to move her in. And then give HER the choice of where she wants to sleep, crib or bed. Once she chooses the bed consistantly, you can take the crib down.
Good luck.
I would say the only reason you would need to get her out of the crib at this point is if she is climbing out. I don't know why everyone is so quick to get their kids out of the crib...especially when they are near one, they just don't know boundaries yet. At 26 months, she should be ready enough, but my daughters were well into their twos before I decided to switch them. Cribs just seem safter, they are there where you left them, but often they do just great when you switch them. I doubt doing it will resolve the morning potty then want to stay up routine, but do what you feel is appropriate for your child, or what you are most comfortable with. Good luck!
My kids moved into a toddler bed when they were 1. We were able to put a gate at the top of the stairs so they could either play in their room or come to our room. I would move her to a "big girl bed" and if you can block off other rooms if you don't want her in them. She'll prolly just go potty and either come to you or play in her room for a while. I'm sure she'd keep herself occupied with toys.
Does she get in and out of her crib by herself or do you always help her? You can get her a bed, they have great ones at Ikea that have a guard around the whole bed except for a little portion where you get in or out. I don't know if it will change her from waking at that time and wanting to go to the bathroom anyways. It's worth a try. I tell my kids that until it's light outside or 7 am that it's still sleep time. It works with ours. You can teach her the number 7 , buy her an alarm clock, and cover the minute numbers so she just sees the hour. When she sees the 7 she knows she can come wake you up!
Everyone who responded seems to have had a great experience w/ moving their children into a bed.... but that has not been the case w/ all the people in our neighborhood. It has been a a nightmare for almost everyone and several have said that they had good sleepers prior to moving them .... this is what is keeping our cribs still up!
One thing a neighbor did was keep her son's crib side down so that he can get out (safely) if he needs to. I wish you luck!!!
When our daughter was about that age we moved her to a small, low bed that still used her crib mattress. She was starting to climb out of her crib by herself, and we thought she would be safer if she didn't have a crib to climb out of. It doesn't have to be a tough decision--what do you WANT to do? Go with your want, and see how it turns out.
We moved our children to a single bed when they turned 2...and never had any issues, so I'd say go for it! I think it's one of those things where the longer you wait and the more your child gets accustomed to something, the harder it is to switch.
One thing you may want to try for the bathroom issue is to wake her to go to the bathroom just before you go to sleep so you can give her that extra time...and hopefully she'll sleep a bit longer in the mornings.
Best of luck!
i would definitely go for it. We put our 2 1/2 year daughter in a bed yesterday and she slept the whole night last night. She even slept longer than in a crib. It may take you longer to get your daughter to sleep. I read a book to my daughter and layed with her until she fell asleep, because of the transition. She is potty trained during the day but not at night or nap. If your daughter asks to go while in her bed then it is best for her to have her in a bed then she can get up on her own and go potty. My daughter felt too confined in the crib and she was able to get in and out anyway. Good luck and I hope it goes well.
