Staying in Crib

I would keep him in the crib until he is ready to move to the big boy bed. At this point you can probably go straight to a twin or full instead of a toddler bed.

I would have kept my girls still in their cribs (6 & 12) up until college if i could! once they move into a bed, it is all over. They are into everything - not that you really ever get a sound sleep after having children, but your ability to even entertain the thought of a good night's sleep dwindles. My oldest daughter was just 1 1/2 when i took down the crib...........big mistake! She was my first so i wanted to keep up w/the progress of all of the other children her age. We went from peaceful nights to having to lay down next to her toddler bed until she fell asleep every night. It took us a number of years for her to finally sleep on her own, through the night. If your son enjoys his crib, I'd suggest just keeping things the way they are. Good luck!

If he's starting to potty train I would suggest moving him into a bed. What if he needs to potty in the night? He will have to wet himself if he can't get out of his crib.

We moved our dd to a big girl bed when she was about 3, but if he's not climbing out and still likes his crib, i dont see any reason to move him. We moved ours so she could go to the bathroom in the middle of the night if she needed to, but in the months since she moved, she's never once tried to go use the bathroom at night.

The only reason I see is possibly for comfort. I had to move mine when 1 they were climbing out between 18 months and 2 years and 2 ) they were getting too long for the crib and it just didn't fit anymore, they still sleep EVERYWHERE in their beds. the top of the bed never ends up being the top of the bed. We tried a toddler bed but since it's the same size as the crib it didn't work well, so ours were in twin beds pretty much at about 2 1/2.

The only problem I see with leaving him in the crib while potty training is how will he get out if he has to go potty in the middle of the night? Can your crib convert to a toddler bed? That might be a better option. If not, could you leave the rail down so he can climb out if he needs to?

Our pediatrician's advice was to keep them in the crib as long as they weren't trying to climb out because it's the safest environment for them.

But, if you are potty training, Aimee S. brings-up a good point. Our son has never needed to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He was able to hold it all night from day 1 (with a few accidents over the past 9 months). He's also not stayed in his bed once since we moved him out of the crib. He sleeps in there until he wakes up each night and ends-up in our bedroom just about every night.

I think it's fine to keep him in the crib as long as he isn't climbing out. It will be difficult to nighttime train him while in the crib though since he won't be able to get out to go to the bathroom. I remember my daughter getting to be too big for the crib and just not sleeping as long, so we moved her to a twin bed on her 2nd birthday, but if he's comfortable in there, then I think it's fine. I am in no rush to move my son to a big boy bed. He will be 2 in a couple of months, but is nowhere near as mature as my daughter was at that age, so it isn't worth the fight to me right now since I know there is no way he will actually stay in the bed! Good luck! When you do make the transition, let him help you pick everything out and get him really excited about it. It should help make that transition a little easier.

If it ain't broke don'f fix it! If he loves his crib let him be However, you
need to carry thru on the big boy bed promise when trained. Good
luck.

We kept our twin daughters in their cribs until about 4 months past 3. They weren't climbing out, and I was in no hurry! We made the switch when one of them routinely started calling for us in the middle of the night to be taken to the potty. Then we knew she (at least) was ready to be able to get out on her own.

If he's happy in the crib, I don't see any reason to hurry him out!
Good luck,
A.

I say go for the bed - either a toddler or a big bed. Keep in mind that potty training is as much mental as physical. If he knows he has that diaper on, he can go in it. My daughter would say to us, "Mommy, am I wearing a diaper?" and then she'd go in it. This week (we're off from work) we decided to go ahead and just stop diapers cold turkey (she was day trained, just not nights). The first night no accident, the second night she woke in the morning and peed. Ever since then, no accidents in the last five nights. When she gets up in the morning, we take her right to the potty. Also for easy clean up, she has the normal waterproof mattress pad and a sheet, but then I folded another waterproof mattress pad in half and laid it under where she sleeps on top of her sheet. Then I covered that with a blanket. Then when she does have an accident if its in the middle of the night, I just pull of the blanket and mattress pad, and put her right back on the sheet, so I don't have to make the bed at 3AM.

My son is 3 (as of march 31st) and still in his crib. I am in no rush to move him out. I'm only STARTING to consider converting his crib to the toddler bed b/c he is big and I am getting tired of lifting him in and out of the crib - especially when he is already sleeping. But if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be thinking about it at all.

We kept our son in his crib as long as possible. He did climb out (out of the blue) about a month before he turned 3. I didn't see or hear anything, he hadn't been practicing--he just appeared downstairs one night while we were watching tv. He was okay, didn't get hurt or anything, but some parents worry about this. I say go with your gut. BTW, now that he is in a big boy bed, he still cries for us at night, instead of just getting up and wandering out by himself. Good luck.

My son is 3 1/2 he stayed in his crib until approximately 3 months ago. He also loved his crib and never tried to climb out. We bought a toddler car bed off of craig's list about 3 months ago...the transition was smooth. His crib mattress fit into the car bed. There is no rush for your son as long as everyone is safe and happy. My husband and I were ready for him to make the transition...we talked to our son....we built up the excitement factor...so he was ready. My son was in underpants way before he was in a bed. So, if your son is ready to train that is great but if he wants to stay in his crib a little longer that is okay too!