I have a 17 month old son and was wondering how old he should be before switching him to a toddler bed. He sleeps anywhere from 10-12 hours a night in his baby bed but refuses to take a nap in his baby bed, this has gone on since he was an infant, he always has to take a nap in my bed but sleeps very good in his own bed at night.
I'd say if you have a toddler bed then go ahead and introduce him and see if he takes to it. But if you don't have one then skip it, he's really too old to go in one. Just go with a twin bed.
"Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth is a great book for everything sleep. It's helped me through two kids, including a colicky infant. We put our 18-month-old's crib mattress on the floor when we brought home his younger brother. After about four months, we put him on a regular twin mattress (bunk bed), because he was no longer rolling off the crib mattress. He's had no troubles in the regular twin bed and he enjoys climbing into it. We put floor safety mats (like you can find at Sam's Club) on the floor between the crib (with his younger brother) and the bunk beds, so if a kid did fall, any injury would be lessened, and that's also worked out well.
i didn't put my 3rd child (son) into his big boy bed until he was almost 3 because he loved his crib. He asked to go to sleep at night and at nap, and never climbed out, so there was no reason. finally when he started waking me up early and saying "i need to go potty!" i decided it was time, so he could be more independent and use the bathroom on his own, which he does. if he sleeps well in his crib, i'd probably keep him in it until there's a reason to switch him. but since he won't nap in it, maybe it's worth a try and maybe he'd sleep all night and nap in his big bed. you could always put a toddler/or twin low to the ground in his room with his crib, and just see if he's excited about it and how he does, before taking down the crib. if he's excited, that might help him nap in it. good luck!
My oldest began climbing out at about a year. The dr said move her immediately. The second started trying to climb out at 2 so we moved her then.
We put our daughter into a twin bed as soon as she turned 1 because she hated her crib so much and a toddler bed is the same mattress in a different presentation. She's not one to toss and turn so we never had problems. We tried to force the crib mattress on our son until he was 3 and I got zero sleep for 3 years. Our dr. said to do what works and just move toys away from the bed in case she falls out.
