Transitioning from Crib to Youth Bed

A toddler bed is for toddlers, usually up to 3 years old. You might skip the toddler bed and just go for a twin or larger. My neice just put her son into his Queenbed at 2, they bought for him to be his bed until he leaves home. They are going to wander around that's why you have to make sure your house is "baby proof", laundry soap up, chocolate syrup put up, guess why I know that...yes, it's fun to wake up to messes.

I have real issues with kids in the kitchen so this was a very hard step for me. I don't mind the crawling in bed during the night but I really hate cleaning sticky dried messes. We put a very sensitive monitor in the bedroom/bathroom area and we turned it up to the loudest we could. If she's been in a baby bed and can't get out I assume she's not potty trained. Put a doorknob protector on the bathroom door, water flooding is not fun to clean either, plus hot water can leave permanant burn scars, also the toilet and bathtub are big enough she can drown.

What a big step, how exciting! First, what problems are you having with her sleeping? Is she is going through a little rebel phase, it may not be an appropriate time for a change, since children are creatures of habit and need as much stucture as possible. I DO applaude you on being able to keep her in a crib for so long! My first child was in a toddler bed by 9 MONTHS since she was climbing out and I was afraid she was going to seriously hurt herself. My second daughter was in a toddler bed by 1 year, since the older one would climb into the crib, and 'help' her sister out (by pushing her up and over! Crazy ladies!) A gate would be great (my kids climbed over them), but your child seems like she would know better, since she was in the crib for so long. Make sure that you put something on the doorknob anyway, in the event she does climb out and close the door, you don't want her locking herself in! (Yes, I've had this happen too)... Make it exciting for her, let her have some say in the new bed, and maybe even let her pick out some new 'big girl sheets'. Since she's just about school age, remind her that big girls who go to school sleep in big girl beds. Make it fun! Space permitting, you may want to think about keeping the crib around for a week or so, just in case the sleep problems persist. Good luck!

We transitioned our daughter to a twin bed when she turned 3. We talked about it for several weeks leading up to the transition to excite her. We took her to the store to pick out her bed and bedsheets to make it exciting for her. It also gave her a say in the change so since they are at that age where they want to assert their authority..it was perfect timing. Then I used a reward system. I told her if she stayed in her bed at night and did not get up to wander the house or play with her toys when it was time for sleeping, she would get to a reward. She loves playing dress-up so I let her choose lip smackers from the store and she was really proud of herself. Good luck!

My suggestion would be to first put her crib mattress on the floor or put it in a toddler bed. That way the transition will be easy at first because it's still like being in a crib. Then after a few months or more, since she's small, switch to a regular bed. As for getting up, there's not much you can do except put her back and say goodnight as many times as it takes. We had to make concessions with our kids, like letting them sleep in their doorway in a sleeping bag so they could be "closer" to us without actually leaving their room. We also allowed them to come in our room and cuddle if it's after 7 am. After awhile they adjusted and slept just fine all night. We also let them buy a pillow, blanket, and sheet set for their new big boy or girl bed. They enjoyed that.

We put my son in a toddler bed at age 2, and almost immediately had "wandering" problems. I would hear the front door open at 4 am, and find him out in the street! I first put a child-proof lock on our front door, but then I would find him wandering around the house at 4 am. I put a child-proof handle on the inside of his door so he can't leave his bedroom, and haven't had any problems since.

My daughters both stayed in their cribs longer, and when they transitioned to "big beds" (as we called them) they were so used to not being able to get out that they stayed in their beds until time to get up in the morning. It was funny to me, because they called out "Mom, come get me up!" from their beds...until one day when I called back, "You can get up by yourself!"

I think just pick a date & set up the new bed. Could you try the crib with the rail down for a while to see what she does? I was always freaked out by the thought of my son roaming around the house at night so we put a gate at his doorway. Be prepared for a bit of "transition" time.

Both my kids were in a toddler bed at age 2. We did put up a gate at the entrance of their bedroom for bedtime. They were in a big bed by age 4 I think. By age 4/5 they are getting ready for Kindergarten, etc. and are ready for more responsibility. Let her have fun picking out a fun set of sheets to get ready for the transition to a big bed.