When to Move from Crib to Bed

We switched my daughter when she was about 26 months. She loved her crib and slept so well in it that I hesitated, but the transition went a lot smoother than I thought. This would be a good age to transition him because if you wait a lot longer he might have a hard time switching over. I had to tell my daughter that her auntie needed the crib for her baby she was about to have(which wasn't true), but she believed that a baby needed it and since she was a bid girl she didn't anymore. If you already have a good routine set in place for bedtime just emphasize it and if not develop one that he can look forward to.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband and I knew that we would need to get him into a toddler bed so she could use the crib. He was 11 months old when we got him his toddler bed, and let him use it that same night. He slept better in the toddler bed than what he was doing in the crib. I would recomend using it for both naps and bedtime. It may be a hard time for him to adjust, and it might help if you sit next to his bed untill he falls asleep. A great book with tips for toddlers is "What To Expect The Toddler Years" It as helped anwer a lot of questions and concerns that I have had about my son.

We moved our little girl when she was 16 months, maybe a little bit early, but she kept trying to climb out of her crib and I just didn't see the sense in buying a toddler bed when I would have to buy a bigger bed anyways!

We just did it, we took her crib down and had the big bed set up with her there. She was very involved by choosing where to put it, what comforter and sheets to have, and what animals/babies she would like to have. We never had a problem with her being scared or nervous. Good Luck!

Well, I've done the bed transition twice now and used the nap time method. Both of my kids tried out their beds at nap time and after a couple days they both wanted to only sleep in their big beds. So we took down the cribs so they couldn't revert back.

When we moved our son to his big boy bed, we just did it. We had him nap there that day and sleep there that night. We did not have a bed rail installed during his nap and he had a hard time falling asleep. But that evening we added the bed rail and he went right to sleep that night. He said he liked it better with the bed rail. I think it made him feel more secure since it kind of reminded him of the slats on his crib.
He was just over 2 years old when he made the move.

Hi L.. I read your posting and thought that I would give you my two cents worth. I have a little girl now who is going to be three years old in June. We decided to move her into a "big girl bed" when she was about your sons age. I think the best thing that helped her is we got her all excited about sleeping in a "big girl bed". Every child at that age wants to be a big kid and playing on that really helped us. I also think that if you are going to make the change, do it full force and have him sleep in it at nap and bedtime and do not switch back to a crib cause that might confuse him. You know that little ones are creators of habit and if you change their routine it is a hard adjustment. So just remind him that he is a big boy now and he is getting a new bed. Who doesnt love new stuff!?! :) Good luck to you!

Wow! It seems we're a wee bit behind the curve. My son is 1 month shy of his 3rd birthday and we are not yet officially moved into the big boy bed.

My son has a very difficult time with transitions so for us, this has been a very gradual process with each step determined by him.

We setup his "big boy bed" in the same room as his crib and let him play in/out/around the frame. Then we brought in the mattress. Of course, he loved exploring it but was never ready to sleep in it. We setup the rails and then special sheets (kid-themed stuff). All along, he showed an interest but always wanted to sleep in his crib. To help get him comfortable w/ his bed, we would cuddle and read stories. I'm sure the pace was somewhat determined by the bed we are moving into. We didn't start with a toddler bed - I didn't want to do this twice. We are moving from the crib to a captains bed.

Tonight, we read stories and we both fell asleep (which we NEVER do). When I got up, I told him if he wanted to sleep in this bed he needed move closer to the pillows (he was near teh end). Otherwise, I would help him into his crib. He moved towards the pillows, I tucked him in, and that's the last I've heard from him tonight :) It's our first official night in the big-boy bed.

More important than anything is to follow your childs queues. Some are much more flexible to change than others. If you do force something to happen when they are not quite ready, you may start to experience problems or regressions in other areas where they feel they can still control the outcome.

We moved both of my kids cold turkey. Took the crib down and put them in the bed. They both did great!! We did have a bed rail up for them and that helps. We moved my son our of his crib at 17 months so my daughter could have the crib and we moved my daughter out of her crib at 19 months. They both did great. Good luck!!

Hi L.,

We moved our daughter to her big girl bed when she was also 22 months. We just did it. She did great. She slept all night and never once cried or acted scared of the transition. It was a very smooth move and think easier on her that we just did it. Good luck!

Unfortunately our son never really slept in his crib. He slept in a bassinet at first, then he basically was in our bed. I breast fed so I kept him in bed with us a lot due to my laziness of being so dang tired, so I really blame myself. It's been hard to get him out of our bed. Then we got a big boy bed, and just talked it up to him, 'this is YOUR bed, only your bed', etc. Now he does great, but still climbs in with us sometimes. And probably will for years to come, maybe it'll stop if we have another child, then he'll be the big brother and may try to act bigger then. BUT I used to just let him sleep wherever he fell asleep for nap time, (never scheduled nap times, it's hard when you're a first time mom to figure all that out, well it was for me), BUT I finally started to put him in his crib and now his bed for naps. Then when he woke up he would learn that's where he is supposed to sleep. I've struggled a lot with this issue too. I think as long as they have the rails, then your son will feel safe, yet not caged in a crib. You have to just TRY things when it comes to kids, and they are ALL DIFFERENT....

I moved my little one who is only 18m into a big boy bed and he dose just fine. It is hard at first because they find out thay can get out of bed now and so they want to play with there toys instead of sleeping. I just let him play till he went to sleep then moved him into his bed if he was not already there. Just have fun though.

This all depends on the child and when they are ready! My 19 month old daughter has been in a "big girl" bed for 3 or 4 months now! She asked for it! She went in her room and started shaking her rails and saying, "big girl bed, please!" So, we decided, well, she decided she was ready! I have a 25 month old sister that is just starting to go in her "big girl" bed! I would suggest setting it up for naptime (if it is easy enough) and see how he does with that, and if he is comfortable with the change! If he is, after a few days, have him sleep in it at bed too! If it isn't easy, you can just try it, and if he isn't ready go back to the crib! Good luck!

L.- We switched our son to his big boy bed around 26 months. Our pediatrician suggested that we leave him in his crib as long as he's not clombing out of it. But I will tell you that I think it's better to move them to a big kid bed before they learn to climb out because my friends kids were switched to their big beds before reaching the climbing out of the crib stage and they didn't realize that they could get out of their big beds on their own. We struggled with my son to keep him in his crib and his big boy bed. As far as what time to move him, nap time or bed time, we did cold turkey and took out his crib and moved him staight in his big bed (which is what all of my friends did too). And for the tring to get pregnant-did you know that some women are only fertile certain times of the year? So try around the same time you got pregnant with your son. My kids were born 1 day shy of being 2 years apart. Hope it helps-Have a great day.

We are in the process of teaching our 22 month old to sleep in a toddler bed. What we did was kept both the crib and the bed in the same room and then told her as I was assembling the bed that this was going to be hers. Let her try it out a little and just went full force with it. At night time we put her in the bed and went through the nightly routine with her. I had put a gate up in front of her door so she could not just get out of bed and wonder though out the house. For the first night she stood at the gate and cried, but the 2nd when she got out I put her back in the crib and she kept saying "Bed Bed Bed". So then we disassembled the crib. She is good to go. I will say that this is our 3rd training on switching, but they were all about the same. At first the other 2 just fell asleep at the gate in the doorway. I did find that the one I am training right now prefers to have the door closed when I leave. It blocks out all the distracting noise that would other wise keep her distracted and looking over the gate wanting to join in. Good luck to you and I know you will find a way.

I found with my 24 month old son it was just easier to go cold turkey. That way he didn't have a choice where he wanted to sleep - if you give them the choice, it may be harder to get them to change. I also tied a fleece blanket for him of his new favorite toy, Thomas the train. The blanket stayed in the big boy bed and that's where he'd have to sleep if he wanted the blanket. He fell out of bed the first night, but that's the only problem we've had. Good luck!

L.,

Hi mom of 2 year old boy and girl twins here, it was super easy. I always do everything at naptime because it just seems easier. I got both of them a bed rail so they can't fall out and my son has a plane mobile and my daughter has a canopy over their beds. By all means get rid of the crib unless you have another baby coming. If he is also a BIG BOY, he will be more comfortable in a bigger bed anyway.

This is a super exciting time for your son he is a big boy "I am so proud of you. You get to sleep in the big boy bed. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11"

Lay him in the bed and walk away like it is nothing new.
When he wakes up, say " I am so proud of you, my big boy slept in his big boy bed, did you sleep good. I love you, what would my special big boy like to do."

Whether he can respond or not give him lots of surprises that day. I have also started a sticker reward board for the twins so they will stop throwing their food on the floor at mealtime. It works too. They colored the board. they stuck their stickers on the board for such great artwork, they got stickers for a clean floor, and cleaning their spot.

Our tough thing has been the bottle. We just got rid of that on Monday because the last of the nipples broke so there are no more bottles. Now we have cups. They have been sleeping better at night but scream and yell at bedtime unless one of us lays down with them. They are doing better though.

Best of luck,
K.

Hi L.-

I have have an 18month old little girl that we recently made this change with (about 1month ago).Like all things it took time for her to adjust to the idea of sleeping in a bed. We did the full switch at once, both naps and bedtime. One of the thing a that worked really well was placing the new bed in the exact spot that her crib had been, then not moving the crib out of her immediatly ( just to give her the sence that it was still there in case she wasn't ready). It took her about a week and a half to completely adjust to the new idea,however now she is sleeping in it with no problem, and I think actually enjoying the independence that she has now. Good luck with this transistion, it may be difficult at first but it is worth it.

C. H

It was easier for us to just start at bedtime and continue through the next day at nap, so I guess what I am saying is just doing it all the time, but I put my son in a toddler bed at 14 months b/c he kept escaping from the crib. Best of luck

We moved are daughter to her toddler bed at 13 months primarily because she was climbing out of her crib. I didn't like the idea of her falling that distance so we moved her. She did really well. The first night we spent 30 minutes going in and putting her back to bed but the second night we only did it once and have no issues since. Good luck!

We moved our son from crib to bed at around 21 months because we were expecting a second child and wanted to switch him well before the new baby arrived. I'm pretty sure we started him sleeping in the big bed at bedtime, because he was so much more tired then. Amazingly he slept through the whole night on it without trying to "escape". He's always been a good sleeper though so we were lucky. He's now almost 2 1/2 and NOW we're having problems getting him to stay in bed. So hopefully at around 22 months your son will be good. I would just advise that he keeps whatever he had with him in the crib in his new bed. For example, my son had a crib aquarium, and always has his blankie. I would definitely not try to take anything like that away until they're ready. Do whatever works best for you and good luck!

We moved our daughter at 18 months to a toddler bed. We started at nap time and didn't have any problem with her going there at night as well (we may have just been lucky). At 2 1/2, she moved to the guest bedroom next door to her room and started sleeping in the "big" bed, so we moved that bed into her room.

We made a big to-do about her helping us "build" the toddler bed and set in the mattress from her crib. We also did this with the adult bed. She loved helping and couldn't wait to sleep in it. Hopefully you'll have the same experience!