Questions About Beds

As soon as my daughter could stand up, she would rattle the bars of her crib and wail. Then she started climbing. We took the Montessori method, since Montessori considered cribs cages that are only good for keeping children away from dangerous objects. And, if you've got a climber, they're even more dangerous. We got her a futon (full-sized) close to the floor, baby-proofed her room, and put a baby gate up in her doorway. She slept soundly most of the time. Sometimes she got up and played but then went right back to bed. It was the first solid sleeping we had in months! She's 13 months now, and I will never buy another crib again.

I'm with Debra on this one. My DD is two and a half. She is still in her crib. My thinking is to leave her in there as long as possible!!! I am trying to avoid a transition bed all together. Hopefully, I will keep her in the crib til she goes into a regular bed.....I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!!

Margaret :)

Hi M.,
don;t be in too big of a rush to get rid of the crib. If your little one is sleeping soundly and sleeping all nite in his crib that is good.
Each child is different and there are no "set rules" as to when to make the switch.
As a rule, with my children, it was about at age 2 or just before . Little boys are a little different because they tend to want to climb out of their crib- before you make the change I would first let him try to sleep with the side of the crib down (not that he would fall off the bed) and let him get used to the freedom of climbing in and out at his will.
Once you put him in a "big boy" bed- your time of control is over- so, when he starts climbing out and does not sleep well in his bed that is the time to make the change.
good luck and blessings

My son was about 15 months old. He never tried climbing out of his crib, it just seemed like he was not comfortable (he slept better in my bed). His crib turned into a full size bed. I thought that it would be a struggle to keep in it but it was fine. He will be three at the end of this month and still loves his big boy bed.

My little boy made the switch voluntarily and with great success at 19 months, but I wouldn't have even tried to move him until he started climbing out of the crib--if he hadn't chosen to do it earlier. It makes bedtime a little harder, so unless you're having another little one soon that will need the crib--or if he is climbing out of it--I would leave him there as long as possible.

My daughter was small, so I kept her in her crib until she was almost 4. I took the front side off the crib and put up a Toddler rail when she was 2.5. I think it depends on how tall your child is and if they are climbing out of the crib and it is dangerous. Many people I know just take the front side off until the child outgrows the crib or until they need the crib for baby #2. When we bought a twin size mattress, we just put it on the floor, so it wasn't too high, and I didn't have to worry about her falling out of bed.

I put each one of our children in a toddler bed as soon as they climbed out of the baby bed. I did not want them to fall and be hurt trying to climb out of bed. It was at an early age, usually right around their first birthday. This doesn't work for everyone, but I slept bedtter knowing they could just walk into our room if they "needed" me rather than my sleeping restlessly afraid they would climb out and get hurt.

My daughter started throwing terrible fits when she was put to bed in her crib at 18 months. It came out of nowhere! I decided to lay out her little foam futon couch next to her crib and put her to sleep there. She LOVED it. It was piece of mind for me because I knew that she couldn't fall out, just roll off. When I saw that she was consistently able to stay on the little couch all night long (meaning she didn't roll off) I decided that it was time for a toddler bed and that she probably wouldn't roll out. Every child is different. I would say as long as a child can safely get in and out of a toddler bed, and can stay in most of the time without rolling out at night, its time.

I would keep him in the crib as long as possible.
Deb

depending on how old your child is a try a toddler bed, mine is 2 and she's been in a toddler bed for about a year. hope this helped

Moved my little guy to a toddler bed as soon as he climbed out of his crib at a little after two.

My advice: keep in the crib as long as you can. When they are able to climb/fall out(hn you know it's time to go to a big boy bed.

My 2.5 year old still sleeps in a crib. He's never climbed out of it, but as soon as he tries we'll move him into a different bed. If he hasn't by his third birthday we'll probably start transitioning then - only because he is completely potty trained. It just depends on the child and your preference. I also have a 14 month old, and I know he'll be moving into a toddler bed long before his 3rd birthday because he is a little monkey!

There's no right or wrong age for the move. If your little guy is staying in the crib without climbing out, then I would keep him there a bit longer! Both of my girls made the switch from crib to bed around the age of two.

My daughter was around 2 1/2 when we wanted to put her little brother in the crib. I told her he was getting too big for the cradle and asked her what we should do. (She had a twin bed in her room just waiting.) She, of course, offered her crib.

Our son was also about 2 1/2 when we moved so we wondered if we should get rid of the crib. We were told to move the crib to the new house (he would need the familiarity) but we bought him a big boy bed and put it in his room. Within a couple weeks, he started asking about sleeping in the bed. We used railings with both of our kids so they wouldn't fall out of bed.

The new little toddler beds are great now - they don't take up as much room.

when the crib is no longer safe as he can climb over the rails. Leave him there until then. With one child, it can be until 3. With a child with older sibs, 18 months as the big ones teach the little ones how to climb out.
K.

Depends on the child. There is no exact age to move them.

Hi I found it best to wait with my son till he was 2 and understood more about bed times so he wouldn't be up and down so much before I put him into a big boy bed! I also started working a good sleep schedule with him. I did it at 2 also because they stop moving around in their sleep a little more and less likely to fall out of the bed. Even though my son still did it twice the first week I was sure it could have been more lol!!

I think they are ready when they are potty trained - it's a rite of passage to become a big kid and do big kid things and have a big bed, so 30 to 36 months old.

Our daughter learned to climb out of her crib at about 11 months, no matter how low we placed the mattress, we were afraid she was going to hurt herself.

We noticed she easily got into and out of our bed, so we decided she was ready for a big bed. We actually purchased a Queen sized bed when she was 1 year old. At first we had it up against a wall. then she said she wanted it facing a window so we moved it.. She did great.

BTW, she did not get out of her bed on her own till she was almost 4. She stayed in her bed till we would go and get her. We never brought up the fact she could have gotten up, but one day she asked, "may I get out of bed?" From then on, we told her she could go ahaed and get out of bed when she woke up.

I think each child will be ready for a big bed at different times. If you think your child is ready go for it. Some people love having their toddlers in the crib till they are 3, but we just could not keep her in there.In day care many all of the kids start sleeping on mats at about 18 months.

I had to move mine @ around 13 months because he was climbing out! I think it's different for every mom but my advice is to keep them in a crib as long as you can. Moving my son out had its own set of issues but I was worried he'd end up hurting himself. We started with a mattress on the floor, then to a big bed with side rails.

Good luck!