Help with Transition from Crib to Bed:

Another idea is to use a pack-n-play "crib" for awhile. It's kinda in between a baby crib and big boy bed. We used that for my daughter until she started climbing out of it around 2 yrs old. :-) At that point, she started sleeping in a regular bed. (bottom bunk) I just put large body pillows between her and the edge of the bed. It works great!

(btw, pack-n-plays can have pretty hard floors, but I always put blankets under the sheet so that it was softer.)

put the mattress on the floor by itself and surround it with stuffed animals. set up a tape recorder with yoga or massage music that he gets to listen to while he is going to sleep.

Are you changing him now because you need the crib for a new baby? Otherwise I think 18 is way too young. My dd is 2 1/2 and still in hers. I will probably keep her in until I find a "big girl bed" that I like, but I wouldn't consider changing kids before two. It is just too disruptive to their naps and bedtime. Plus, they are too young to understand that they need to stay there, which is what you are experiencing. He's just too young to get it and you are setting yourself up for extra effort that won't be there in a year. Also, I wouldn't want a kid that young waking up earlier than me and quietly getting into things while I slept. It's just too young to be unsupervised. I'd change back to the crib. Also, when you do make the switch, the easiest thing to have them used to not being in the crib is to have the mattress directly on the floor for a few weeks so there isn't far to fall. Once they have slept in it without falling consistently it is time for the big bed.

Hi.
I totally understand ,this is a huge change for your son I know what seems to be simple to us grown up's is really big for our lil ones.Im a mother of 5 kids 2 of them have ADHD well atleast thats what they say I chose to treat with diet not med's ,well back to ur question I did this really cute rutine and still do to all my children except the 2 oldest 13 and 15 yr's old (they wont let me )lol well what you need to do is make bed time fun and how I did it was told my son ok it's bed time let's go take out all those bad dreams and put some really good ones in.I know it sounds corny but try it your gunna be amazed how much he will love it ok what you do is

tell your child they have to be in there bed for it to work and then you put both palms on the top of his head and rub around like ur rubbing a magic ball saying "ok bad dreams time to come out" and as you say that roll ur hands like patty cake (roll em roll em) and roll the bad dreams all the way to you then open ur palms and tell him ok grab the bad dreams and crunch it up and encourage him to crunch it hard and then tell him throw it as hard as u can far far away and pretend you see the dream flying far away then tell him "Ok now it's time to put sum really cool dreams in for bed time"..he will get super excited then tell him ok rub my hands I need to find the good dreams you want to have then act like ur recieving them from him HINT: Always use things he or she loves power rangers,barbie .etc.. ur sure to get a home run it's very important you have alot of excitment then you simply roll roll roll the good dreams into his head doing the same thing in reverse to put the dream in ..My son had alot of anxiety about bedtime before too until I found this magic potion...well hope it helps I've told all my friends and they luv it...

I also went from crib to bed at 18 months. I used a long round bolster pillow (like a body pillow, but round) as a bed rail. This way she could crawl out of bed or even move the pillow to get up, but it prevented her from rolling out of bed. Yes, I let her out of bed. Every night when we tucked her in to bed we said "please stay in your room." and she did! We would often find her sleeping on the floor though. We would just cover her up and leave her there. I really felt like....if she wanted to get up and look at her books or talk to her stuffed bears, fine. As long as she didn't come out of her room. She most often would play for 5-10 minutes get a toy or a book and crawl back into her bed and go to sleep. We always sneak in to check on her when we go to bed. This is when we put the bolster in place and cover her up AGAIN. I feel this method gave her a little bit of control. If you feel your son plays longer then 5-10 minutes then maybe start bedtime routine a little earlier. Good luck,

Hi R., I think as new moms we are so eager to get our little ones to that next big phase. At least that is what I was doing with my first. I tried putting my son in a toddler bed about the same time and we had a big enough nursery to have the crib up as well. He hated the toddler bed. He would not calm down in it and go to sleep. He ended up sleeping in his crib till he was about 2 1/2 and then we tried again, because we had another baby on the way. Just take things slow. Appreciate their babyhood. Don't let people tell you he should be doing this or that. Those are really big steps and it isn't hurting him developmentally by sleeping in a crib still.

I would definitely go back to the crib. I left my twin girls in their cribs until they were three. I was highly motivated to not have them have free reign of their room egging eachother on. And by the time they get a bit older you can reason with them and/or punish them more effectively. There's no reasoning with an 18 month old. My son is 26 months old and I am not ready to switch him. He is such a good sleeper when he is trapped. I think until they have figured out how to climb out, are too big for the bed, or you have another baby that needs the crib, then there is no reason to hurry this phase. I hear more complaints from my friends from doing it early than I ever do from friends that waited as long as possible. Good Luck! :)

When I transitioned my son, I had the toddler bed and the crib in his room at the same time. Once he got used to the bed, he wanted to be a big boy and sleep in it.

Hi R.,
I have had 5 children and 4 grandchildren. Ther is 2 things you can try. 1 is set in there with him and make him stay in bed. When doing this you cannot interact with him. If you do then it becomes fun and games and you'll never break him. 2 is shut the door making sure he cant get too toys ect.. to play leave the gaurd rail on. Make sure there is nothing he can get hurt on plug ins ect.. set outside the door and check him about every 10-15 min. It will get better. Putting him back in a crib at this point after already introducing the toddler bed becomes a convenice for you. I hop ethis helps.

I don't know if this is responding much much much too late, but I can totally relate to this 'transition'. It's an interesting time for everyone!
I've had three boys go through this, and it's the same every time. Because they now can move out of their bed, they do. It's a perfectly natural response, and really new territory for them. I don't think 18 months is too young, but if you're going to stick to it, this is what I'd suggest:
-lay a mattress or something soft next to their bed in case they fall out during the night (mine ALL did, until they got used to sleeping in a bed, and this sometimes took a few weeks)
-every time they get out of bed, put them back, firmly but gently. It seems that if they know they're getting under your skin, it does become a game with them, but if you're calm, they seem more apt to be calm too...
REMEMBER, this doesn't mean they'll automatically stay in bed. In fact, they'll keep pushing the limits over and over and over until they finally realize you're not budging. My youngest is 21 months and he's been in a bed for a few months. He still gets up and wanders 2-3 times. We just put him back in bed; Maybe it's because he's our third, but it doesn't bother me as much anymore.
-Try to negoiate.... he may take a special toy or book to bed, but only if he stays in bed, and if he gets out, he chooses to give it to you for the night, and he can try again tomorrow morning (or he can try again in a few minutes, whatever you can live with)

Just a few suggestions...if it helps, my older two starting staying in bed by the time they were close to 2. I don't know if it's because they had the few months to get used to it, or if some magical button is hit at that point, but the consistency paid off.....hope that helps