Transiting to a Toddler Bed

I would keep her in her crib.
You can get inexpensive cribs at kid to kid or a similar 2nd hand place. Believe me, it will be SOOOO much easier for you!! She will let you know when it is time to be out of her crib. She will probably start climbing out!!
Until then, just ENJOY the heaven of having a baby in a crib!!!

Hi R.,
I tried that same thing when I was pg with my 3rd and my 2nd was about your DD age. It backfired. Long story short they know that something is coming down the pipeline and their life is going to be changed so they try to hang on to what they know. I should have tried to leave the crib up and put the toddler bed out and give her control of where she wanted to sleep. I hope this task comes easier for you and wish you luck. It's really a matter of what she is ready for.

Even though you are going to keep the baby in a bassinet at first I would transition your daughter before the baby comes. because in 10 weeks she will be so used to sleeping in her own bed that she won't even care that the baby will be in her crib. I would also consider just getting a twin or day bed. I have heard that kids grow out of toddler beds way too fast. For my daughter we got a day bed and bought a one of the safety rails so she won't fall out. She loved the bed and I think having all the sides still closed off made it feel a little like a crib so she was really comfortable sleeping in it. When you first put her in the bed I would do it for nap time. I think it's an easier way to transition. Well good luck.

Go get a inexpensive bedrail at Babies R Us or some place like that.
When I found out I was pregnant my daughter was 22 mos and I put her right away in a daybed with a bedrail (don't bother with toddler beds, they are expensive and they outgrow them fast) You can get a nice twin with box springs for around $200 or less depending where you get it.
Just do it. I seriously had not one problem. My daughter was a great sleeper and still is. She was so excited and we picked out the sheets and all that. She never fell out of bed, never got up and I think the bedrail helped that. When she was about 3 1/2 I took off the bedrail and she did great. One night, I just put her in her new big girl bed and that was it! Promise, it was that easy.

I was more paranoid then she was. I had a baby gate on her room door since her room is by the top of the stairs but it was a non issue. When my son was 2 I got him a twin too and it was over with in one night and not even a problem. They both took a lot of enjoyment from picking out the new stuff for their big kid beds. I bet your daughter will do great.
Do it now so she doesn't associate getting out of the crib with the baby in case it is a hard adjustment, the sooner the better. And if she sees you excited she will be too! :)

Toddler beds are basically not even worth the money and you have to have a crib mattress with most of them. Go save yourself money so you don't have to buy another bed in two or three years when she outgrows the toddler bed and go to a twin or daybed.

Many of the experiences have been positive but you should know that it could go horribly wrong. It did for us. I wish we would have just let our daughter be because for the last year, since we had to give the crib to the next baby, sleeping has been more of a nightmare. She will only sleep all night in our bed, otherwise we must get up several times a night to put her back to bed and she's nearly 4. There are a lot of other ways to get a crib, ours was borrowed in the first place. Borrow a second crib, buy a used crib or use a portacrib for the baby. My oldest son slept in a portacrib and never had a crib and it worked just fine until he was about two years old and he moved right to a bed although to this day he is a sleepwalker. Both the boys that had uninterupted crib time and used them until they felt ready to give it up are great sleepers. Good luck with whatever situation you choose.

Hi R., I was in the same position except it was my son transitioning. We bought him a full size bed (brought him to the store and everything). Then we set it up in his room in the corner with his crib right next to it (on the side). He slept in the crib for a few nights and then started requesting the bed for naps and then for bedtime. Also keep in mind we had the baby in the room with him (due to moving to a new place when the baby was 3 weeks and the fact that my older son never had his own room before). It worked out great. Oh, but the baby was in a playpen bassinet.

The great thing about the full size bed is we could put his stuffed animals in it, some books, a toy, and he still had plenty of room to sleep and the feeling of a crib with the crib on one side and the walls on the other 2 sides.

Another side note is that due to odd architecture (and it being a rental) we put the stair safety gate on their bedroom door. I never had a problem with him getting out of bed I just had a rule that he could bring his toys to bed. He would play a few minutes and then lay down and pass out. He didn't bother the baby, but maybe we were lucky and we did have sound machine. Also our crib is a sleigh bed, so my son couldn't climb in it from his bed due to the sleigh side being against his bed.

Side note on toddler beds, in my friends experiences they were either used very well, or not all, no real in between.

good luck!

I would transition now so you can see how well she does and have time to purchase another crib if she doesn't do well. We transitioned my 15 month old for the same reason about 8-10 weeks before the new baby was born and made sure to put away the crib for that time. He did Great! He only even came out of his bed a couple times but we always put him back in. Within a week it was as if he didn't know the crib existed. We have just transitioned my 22 month old little girl this last week because of another one on the way but this time we just removed the front railing of the crib to make it as a day bed because her brothers are using the toddler beds and will be getting bunk beds next month so then she can use one of the toddler beds. It has worked wonderful as she has slept better the last few nights than she has the past few months. If I had known I would have done it sooner! Removing the side (if your crib allows) might be a good idea as it is still her "old" bed but gets her used to the idea of a new one. After a few weeks transition her to the "new" one. Sorry for my rambling and good luck!

A little about me: Married for 7 years to the most wonderful husband and have a 5 year old boy, a 3 year old boy, a 22 month old girl and a baby on the way!

R.,

Looks like you have a lot of advice already, but I just want you to know that we just transitioned our 19 month into a twin bed because we too are expecting #2. We had a new bed and a new room. The day we did it we talked about it a lot that day, and when we asked him if he was going to sleep in the big boy bed he calmly said "no" all day long. At night we did our normal night stuff and tucked him into his big boy bed then asked if he was going to sleep there tonight and he said "yes". He waits till we come get him to get out and has not fallen out yet.

We had to take a trip to Alaska last week and he went back to a pack and play and also slept in his first hotel bed, no problem. We thought it would be best to introduce him to the new sleeping before the new baby so he never felt like he was kicked out. GOod Luck, and I hope your transitions was as easy as ours.

Get her all excited about sleeping in a big girl bed. If you don't have the bed yet then take her shopping to pick out the bed and maybe some bedding if you don't have that all ready. Make it her special thing. Then when it is time for bed get her all excited about sleeping in her big girl bed, lay her down in it and tell her how big she looks. Then expect her to get out of bed. The first night she might not, but the second she might. If this happens just gently grab her by the hand without talking and walk her back to her bed and have her get back in her bed. Cover her back up and leave the room. A few times of this and in less than 3 days she will be completely adjusted to her new bed.

We just did the same thing a month ago with my 18 month because we have a baby coming in about 11 weeks but we just put him in a twin bed. We set it up and for a couple of weeks told him it was going to be his bed. We let him climb on it and play a little to get use to the idea. Then we would go through the normal bed time routeen and put him to bed in the big boy bed. We would also shut the door to his room so he knew it was time to sleep. The first couple of nights he wanted to get back out, but now he does great. I think he likes being the "big boy." we did buy a guard rail to keep him from falling out of bed. We also made sure he had his blankets and a few of his stuffed animals with him. We wanted to give him as much time to adjust as we could before the baby came.

My little boy was 18 months when his sister was born and I wasn't ready to get him out of his crib. He is such a good sleeper. I also didn't want to buy a second crib. Finally I just asked my sister if I could borrow her's for awhile. One day we made a big deal about my boy getting a new crib (my sister's) and put his old one in the baby room. Now when we are ready to put him in a 'big boy' bed, his sister isn't 'taking' it from him. I would see if a friend or relative has an extra crib you can use.
Good Luck!!

We discovered when my second child was 11 months that she would have a sibling due in July (born June). She was already walking though very small. We just bought a normal mattress and put her on the mattress on the floor when she was 12 months. Then we put the crib up so she would forget it. I think with the 10 weeks and the time the baby will be in your room she will have time to forget the crib. Our second child (daughter) had no problem with the crib when her brother came in June.

You can start with telling her she is a big girl, and that big girls sleep in big girl beds(toddler bed). After you buy her one, talk to her about trying to take a nap in it, but for awhile leave the crib in the room. And after she starts taking naps in it without a problem, start with naps and bedtime. When the crib means nothing to her anymore take it out of her room. But dont force her to sleep in the toddler bed, and it may be that she may not like toddler bed, my two kids didnt, I had to by them a twin bed and siderails. Which I recamend doing that, saves money in the long run. Other advice is, when you go to buy the bed, let her pick it out and even pay for it, helps them feel bigger.