Two Toddler Issues: Forge Ahead or Hold Back?

LOTS of accidents are typical per day so he is doing wonderfully! If he isn't stressed or frustrated and is content doing it just keep doing what you're doing to get him potty trained.

The crib is kind of a hazard, he could fall while climbing and hurt himself, especially when sleepy, so I would dismantle it and move it somewhere else in your home, if you have to leave it in his room I would do so without the hardware. It's funny he can get in but not out, it's usually the other way around ; ) Leave the mattress with a sheet and his animals on the floor for him to lay on if he chooses at night. When you find a place for the crib and mattress let him know, say a week or so before you remove it that it will be going on a certain day, and say this each day until THE day, then announce that morning, "The crib is leaving today!" Make it an event that he can be happy about, remove the crib and mattress and bake a cake or cupcakes and have a "No more crib" party for him, the big boy.

I also kept a potty in the room for my guy so he could go at night, it made things so much easier when he was first learning.

To question #1-- forge ahead with the PT. If your little guy isn't asking for diapers during the day, don't offer.

To question #2-- first, I want to ask, is he wearing just underwear at night, or is the wetting happening during daytime naps? I've helped PT a lot of kids (it's my job) and most of them master the daytime dryness first before staying dry all night. Here are some ideas:
1. In regard to bed/crib: I would link the crib with diapers, personally. If he sleeps in the crib, he *needs* to know that he needs diapers, because he is choosing a place he can't leave independently. If he sleeps in bed, no diapers during daytime.
2. Take the crib out of his room entirely when he's at preschool. No discussion, just do it. Take it apart and store it under your bed, if possible.
3. Take the side rail off the crib, if possible, so he can enter/exit independently.

I think you'll find what works best for you through watching your son's cues (as you already are--you sound very tuned in) and just offering lots of support. Huge transitions, but it sounds like he's doing pretty good, all things considered!

Keep up with the potty training. You are making good progress, don't look back. The accidents are understandable. He's not wanting to stop playing to use the bathroom. My son did the same thing when he started a new school.

For the big boy bed. I would dismantle the crib and place the pieces in the closet or basement. This is what we did. Also, for nighttime there should not be one method for big boy bed and one for the crib. Throw out all diapers! If you want to have a non-leak option, go for the pullups or Underjams that he can pull up and down by himself. There should be NO MORE DIAPERS!

Kids are more resiliant than you think. They will feed off of you so if you are nervous then he may be. He'll also act out as he's allowed.

Potty training: kids can have set backs whether life gets busy or life is not. Set him down on the potty regularly. Big praises for succes. Have him help with clean up. Have him wear big boy panties and Pull Ups only when you have to go out. If it's thicker it'll remind him of diapers and the chance of an accient is higher. As he does well with the time frame given spread the time out further apart when you sit him down to potty. As he masters one time frame for a while make the time further apart. Sit him down first thing when he gets up in the morning and up from naps. Sit him down before naps and bed. Sit him down before meals and after. As he's holding longer you'll be able to know when to sit him down and when to start letting him go on his own. If he seems to have more accidents on his own then go back to the time frames. Keep a regular routine. Kids need regular routines when there are changes going on.

Bed time: remove the crib from the room completely, even if you have to put the parts in your own room and cover with a blanket. The crib is all he knows and if he has that crib dangling in front of him it'll make the transition harder for some kids. If he's able to climb in and out of the crib it is not safe to have in there! Take it out. If he's taking his diaper off in his room then maybe he needs a potty in there at night. You don't want him roaming around on his own. When he makes a mess, be sure to have him help with the clean up. Lots of paper towels! Use Lysol disinfecting spray on hard floors. Puppy urine spray on carpet and rugs which is made to disinfect urine from fibers.

It's ok to make changes, just make it all positive and keep the rest of life on his regular routine.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

I think it depends on your parenting style and what your kid can handle! When dd was 14 months, she started showing lots of interest in the potty, so we bought one for her. By the first week, she had successfully told us when she needed to potty and gone both #1 and #2 in it. Of course, we still had her in diapers, mostly following what the schedule was at her daycare--they don't start potty training until 2. But, on the weekends, we'd make a game of how many times she could use the potty and I'd take her in with me whenever I needed to go. She'd use it for a few days in a row, then not again for weeks... no biggie. Then, when she started in the 2-3 y/o room, they actively start PT--starting with pullups. At that time, we also moved in with family temporarily, and didn't have room for the crib, so she started sleeping on a toddler bed. Pullups lasted about 4 months at home and about 6 months at school--before we moved her to underwear. I think I agree about the idea that their body has to be physically ready before nighttime accidents will stop happening. I say this because, for dd, as long as we had her use the bathroom right before bed, her nighttime pullup was always dry in the morning! She only had 2 nighttime accidents (in pullups/underwear) and both times we had stayed up late and forgot that last potty stop before bed! Now, she's 3.5 and has the rare accident--usually when she's very much caught up in a game/toy/playing outside! Oh, and just before she turned 3, we moved her up to a big girl (twin) bed.
So, I think both things can be done at the same time, but you have to make the committment to stick with it! The committment means that you probably should get the crib out of his room! Also, have you tried pullups? I think they are a good option for a short-term transition--since they will help prevent messes and he can pull them up & down like undies. At the tail end of it, we were only using them at naptime and on long-ish car rides.
Good luck mama!

The only thing I can think of here is why are you making things so hard?

If he wants to sleep in the baby bed then let him. If he can get in there by himself he can get out anytime he really wants to.

Kids are not supposed to wake up in the middle of the night to go pee, their kidneys are supposed to turn off while they are asleep. Once their kidneys stop producing urine while he's sleeping he'll stay dry at night. There is no other way around it. It won't matter what you do for years or if you get lucky and it happens right when you want it to. His brain has to signal the kidneys to stop making urine when he's sleeping or he will always be wet at night, forever. So it will happen at some time, when his brain is ready.

I think I would put him in clothes he can't get out of, like maybe a zipper in the back or snaps in the back. That way he has to go in the diaper on not on the floor.

He would not have the option of the baby bed at 2 1/2 here because we transitioned the kids much closer to 15 months into a toddler bed. Then around age 2 they went into a big bed. Toddler beds are for toddlers and at age 2 their developmental stage is considered to be a preschooler.

I do think the longer he sleeps in the crib the longer he'll be acting like he's a baby and not start acting like the preschooler that he is.

I do however think he's had enough changes lately. He does need a few weeks to get back in the swing of things.

Let him go the rest of July then slowly start just making changes. Maybe one per month. First thing is getting him out of that crib. He's way too large and it is emotionally holding him back. I would go

Be prepared to be up each and every night for at least a month though. That's probably how long it will take for him to get the idea and to get over the hump.

I would also just like to say. If you do insist on the cold turkey into underwear be prepared to spend a bit more money on laundry items and utilities since those bills will likely go up. Pull ups vs wearing clothes is a long debate. But in my house I would rather have more free time and spend $20 a month on pull ups instead of $20 plus my time and energy on extra laundry.