Switching to Big Girl Bed

With all three of my children we went from crib to full sized bed with bed rails. None of them tried to climb over the rails. In fact they all would stay in their bed and call for us when they were ready to get out. I guess they thought with the rails there they could not get out themselves. It was actually quite funny. My youngest is 2 1/2 and we moved her into a "big" bed in June. She knows she can climb in and out of the bed on her own but still prefers for me to come in and get her. I say "Go for it!"

Hi! I started by taking the drop side off the crib and putting the railing there. I only did that w/my first because she would get up in the night to go to the bathroom. We didn't keep it that way foe long. We moved her into a big girl bed w/the rail on it. Never bothered w/a toddler bed. My second went right to the bed w/the rail. Neither one ever climbed ove the rail. There was enough space at the bottom of the bed to allow them to get in and out by themselves, so need to climb. Hope that helps!

I put my son in a twin bed and he was fine.......we didn't have rails back then, so he got out a bed all the time........AND he fell climbing out of his crib multiple times, which is why we moved him at a young age...........

I think she will be fine.....she is going to climb.....she's a kid and it's a given.....tell hubby to make sure you don't have anything she can hit her head on other than the floor, and if he wants, put a nice rug down beside the bed for more padding.....

She will be fine, just make sure that you keep any TV's out of her reach or climb so that it doesn't fall on her and child proof the house.....or baby gate her into her room......

Take care and good luck.

She'll be fine. Put on rails. Don't worry. Keep it simple - less stuff.

My kids always went into regular beds. Chances are she will not climb
over the rails and even if she does, she really will not get hurt if there is
nothing around, like an nightstand with corners. Did you worry about
her climbing out of crib. Distance from crib to floor is much greater.
She will be fine, don' t sweat it.

Hi,

i agree with your husband to use the toddler bed. The full size beds are too big and too high for a small child, even with the rails they can fall off from the other side of the bed. Anyway toddler bed can be used till 7 years or so (depends on what kind of bed you have and the weight of your child) ,so there will not be too much transitions in a short time. I have 3 children and I always use toddler bed, I recommend it.
Good luck!

How old is your daughter? Ours moved into a twin bed at 18 months. We had one side against the wall and used a rail on the open side. We had absolutely no problems. Good luck!

We discussed the rules of the "big girl/boy" bed before hand so that they would understand them way ahead of time. They also had time to ask questions and they'll know what to expect. we did this and it worked like a charm. We talked about the rules and then would have our twins go over them with us so we knew they were ready. When the time came they understood the rules and knew what was expected of them. Talk to her about the dangers of the rails, and that she is not allowed to climb on them. We were concerend about a window in their room so we addressed that alot. Try it out. Hope this works

Skip the toddler bed for sure. Since you already own it, maybe, but honestly, you've already shown her the other bed, have it set up, etc. I don't think she will hurt herself. My daughter was 22 months when we moved her straight to a full size bed with one side against the wall and one rail. She does climb over the rail now (we ought to just remove it at this point!LOL) but that didn't start for a while, definitely not until she had mastered sleeping in the big bed. The full size bed is nice b/c you can cuddle with her if necessary! I have heard of people putting the mattress on the floor, but honestly, she's probably fine. Just put her in the bed and make it work. My only other advice is this....if you don't need to move her yet, don't. We had quite a few months of hell when we transitioned her, but her baby brother was coming and needed the crib, so we had no choice. Now I'm happy we did it, but there were MANY nights I wish we hadn't done it so early!

My 2 daughters, now 7, & almost 5, went from a Pack-n-Play to a 2 drawer height Captain's bed with bookshelf headboard, once they started climbing out of the P-N-P. We used a rail on the outside of the bed (the other side was against the wall. We had a plastic storage container for the girls to climb up & down on, & had no problems. They didn't climb over or fall over the rail (at the head of the bed. Always climbed up & down from the foot of the bed where the container was. The container was full of off-season clothing & was wired shut until time to change out summer to winter, or winter to summer. So it was heavy enough for them not to be able to move it. The mattress is about 2 ft off the ground, & my kids have survived. Kids love to climb, make it safe & let her climb & enjoy her new bed.

We never used a toddler bed for either of our kids. We started them on a twin mattress and box spring on the floor, no bed frame. If they fell out, it wasn't a long way down - and we didn't move them from the crib til they were turning 3. By four, their bed was on a bed frame, never used a rail.
Good luck!

I think she'll be fine, both of my girls went straight to regular beds. We just had rails up and no boxspring (just put wood and made it like a platform bed) so that it's not so high.

My daughter didn't climb over the rails. she figured out immediately that the bottom of the bed and the bottom sides didn't have rails and that was where she should enter and exit the bed. My son has refused all beds altogether in favor of the floor and I wish I could get him excited about any kind of bed. She should be fine with the rails.

We went straight from a crib to a full size mattress on the floor for both my kids... we put my daughters bed together about a year after she was on the mattress (worked well because we moved). My son is on a mattress on the floor now... we use bed rails both with the mattress' and the beds so they were very accustomed to it. Both kids transitioned out of the crib a little after they tured 2.

you don't mention how old your daugher is - but i agree with going straight to a twin bed. why switch twice. tell your hubby that A. if she wants to climb out of bed she'll have no trouble doing it, regardless of which bed she's in, and B. falling out of bed is something almost every kid does at least once. most of the time that teaches them not to do it again. she'll be fine! :) it sounds like you're doing everything right - go for it!

I think either way is fine Mom, as long as the full size bed is not too high off the floor. If it is a standard height you may put a few pillows or an extra comforter on either side of the bed on the floor at night; this way if your daughter falls off she will land on the pillows, friends did this for a while when switching over. When we moved our daughter out of the crib got an small inexpensive Jr bed that the crib matress went on. We talked up to our "big girl" that she was getting out of the crib. I'd let her pick out some new bedding if you can and a cute pillow to make it inviting for her. A funny thing happened in the transition, for the first 3-4 months our daughter was so used to having to be helped out of the crib she would not get out of the big girl bed with out calling for me or Daddy to help her out. We didnt break the news to her for a while that she just had to scoot to the end of the bed over the side rail to get out on her own, that way we knew she wasnt up running around the house at age 2 B4 Mom and Dad were awake. She is a bright teenager now and this still makes me laugh when I think about it. Hope this helps.