Transition to the BIG GIRL BED

I think you have received some great advice and it would be hard to pick which one to follow first. My only idea is to let her fall asleep in her crib and then move her to the big girl bed when she is sleeping. Then she will wake up in the morning in her new bed and get more comfortable with the idea. When my 4 y/o was 14 months old we moved and she no longer slept in my bedroom and I couldn't get her to go to sleep in her room and that is what I did. After she was fast asleep I put her in her own room and it took a couple of weeks of waking up in the morning in her own room before she finally decided it was okay to have her own room. Best of Wishes.

I think you need to keep her in her crib with the big girl bed up so she can get used to it first. Have her try taking naps on it rather than just jumping into all night. Maura daughter is horrible with change so we had to do that to get her ready. Good Luck.

My youngest daughter who is now 3 1/2 was a NIGHTMARE to transfer to a regular bed she would come out over and over I did the whole supper nanny thing and just kept putting her back in bed but I was pregnant at the time with my youngest son who is now 1 and I was just exhausted I eventually let her fall asleep on the couch and I would carry her to bed once she was asleep and then she stayed there all night I am not saying that was the smartest thing to do cuz that just started a bad habit of her having to fall asleep on the couch first but it actually did not take that long before would go straight to bed and then stay there I think it was just a transitional thing. Hope this helps if not at least you know your not alone!

P.,
Both of my children did this. My son was a little over 3 years and my daughter was closer to 2 years. I think it is simply more about being "able" to get out of bed, than it has to do with the bed itself. We put child gates up on our children's doors. We had to use 2 and they have to be STURDY so if they try to climb they won't fall. This is just a part of growing up, exerting their choices and finding out what the limits are. It won't last tooo long but it may seem like forever. Stick with what you are doing, it will happen soon and all will be well.

If it is a twin or double bed, I would snuggle for awhile at this age too. If it is a toddler bed we sat on the floor beside it with our heads on the bed and pretended to sleep. So they felt safe but gave them no attention.

Blessings.
M.

My daughters did this too. They wanted the big girl bed and even helped us assemble it and was excited. That is until it was time to go to bed. So, I pulled the crib back out, and I would put them in the crib to sleep at night. During the daytime, I would place them in the big girl bed for naps starting 2 days a week (for the first week), 3 days (next week), so on and so on.

After I got to 7 days of napping in their new bed, I placed the girls in their bed for one night a week...and so on. I basically weaned them from the crib like the bottle. I mean you can't just take a bottle away from a baby when that's it's main source of nutrition right? Same idea hun.

I also let them play on the bed quitely, but I made it clear that no jumping and no horseplay on the bed.

Good Luck to you,

M. F.

i agree completely with michelle r. i think she is just realizing that she can get out of bed now, whereas in a crib she didn't have the option to. my son was nearly 2 when he transitioned into a toddler bed as well, so i do not think it is too early. you aren't a bad mommy! quite a good one if you care enough to ask advice on how to solve a dilemma for your baby! good luck!

Is her crib totally gone now? Are both available? I think it may be too early if she is reacting this way. My daughter kind of forced the issue with us around 23 months. She kept getting out of the crib and refused to stay there. I had no plans at the time to move her in a big bed...didn't even have one yet. However, there was no going back to the crib so we relented and bought a bed. I would have personally liked her to stay in the crib for at least 6 more months. So I guess my question is...what is the rush? I just feel issues like these need to be addressed by taking the child's cue. I would let her stay in the crib for as long as she wanted (within in reason).