When to Switch to Big Bed?

I'm a first time mom too so i'm no expert, but i'm planning on switching my 14 month old son to a toddler bed around 20 months (will have baby #2 by then). I think 13 months might be a bit young. see what others say too :)

I'm a co-sleeper and my son is almost 2.5 and we're just now working on the big bed move...it's really about when your kiddo is ready.

13 months does seem a smidge young, but if he's getting stuck in the crib and needs more room you might want to consider a mattress on the floor to start out. My friends have done this with both of their sons who were very big and active babies, but at around 16 months old. I believe they put a crib mattress on the floor of the bedroom, and this way there wasn't a huge drop from bed to floor. Once they were older, around 20 months and had control over all their movements (getting in and out of bed without crashing) they added the bedframe.

Some kids aren't necessarily ready for the big boy bed, but need more space to move.

good Luck.
Deanna

Too young.

If he is sleeping fine in his crib, then leave him there.
It is not uncommon for a baby to get his limbs stuck between the slats. My son did this, but once it happened about twice, he didn't do it anymore.

Sure, they at this age are just naturally more mobile and their gross motor skills increase, and they all seem to want to climb out of the crib. My kids did that too. When my son tired to climb out once, he did and fell to the floor. It was carpeted and he didn't get hurt. But after that one time, he never tried it again.

My son is now 28 months old, and he loves his crib, and he sleeps well in it. So, I do not plan on putting him in a toddler bed yet. But, we also have a futon mattress on the floor of our bedroom... and when the kids need to, they sleep there and I co-sleep with them.

The thing is, even if you do put him in a regular twin bed and even if it does have railings... they WILL escape and climb out and NOT stay there. It is the age. They will do this. So, putting him in a twin bed is not necessarily the answer. And they will not just "at will" all of a sudden just stay stationary.

Transitioning to a regular bed, is a BIG transition and will be filled with another set of sleep issues. So be prepared for this. It can take MONTHS AND MONTHS for even a 2 or 3 year old to get it right. They will leave the bed, escape and come into your room and bed, they will still wake up and cry, or wake up for any reason, they will crawl out etc.

I would leave him in his crib.. it is safer at this age.

All the best,
Susan

It is entirely up to you. We moved our daughter around 18 months - she never looked back and absolutely loves her twin bed. A lot of the rails aren't quite long enough, but place it near the middle, with a bit extra going towards his head and it should be fine. We also placed a soft stool at one end so our daughter could get in and out by herself. It truly has been a great experience for us .... but one piece of advice - use a baby gate. One the little one figures out how to get in and out of bed, he will do that at will and then work on the door. Up until a few weeks ago, we put a baby gate on the outside of her door so she could open the door, talk to us, but could not escape while we were sleeping. Obviously most of the house is baby proofed, but .... we preferred her having to play stricly in her room if she woke up early.

Good Luck!

You know your son and what will work best for him. If he seems uncomfortable with the crib (especially if he is a big guy like my son was), go on to the next bed.

By 15 months both of mine were in toddler beds, with guard rail. I was worried about them climbing out as well. I figure a foot fall is safer than a 4 foot fall. I also thought that if the transiton was earlier they wouldn't be so used to a crib and have trouble later on, such as around 2 when they are very set in their ways.

My kids adjusted quickly to the bed and had no trouble with the new found freedom. The first couple nights we did have to send them back to bed a few times until they fell asleep. What kid doesn't do that anyway, though? They did not roam around at night and it allowed for them to have early morning cuddles when they crawled into our bed. If you would be worried about him out and about while you sleep, you can put a gate on the door.

We then moved to a twin around 2 1/2 years old. If you don't want to use a toddler bed, just lay the twin mattress on the floor. It won't be so high and he can manuever in and out easily.

Hi J.,
I switched both my kids at around the same age as your son for the same reason. We bought our son a car bed to help the transition and it worked great. Good luck!

We bought our son, now 25., a big bed and had it in his room. We let him pick some big sheet and told him what a big boy he was. What made him fall in love with the big bed was his ability to jump on it ALOT. Since your son is "super-active" that may help. The transition was also made easier by moving some of his crib toys, the movie/music box in particular to the big bed (attached it to the side) and keeping the same blanket. We did have to remove the crib after a week because he started missing it. A friend's son also made the transition only when the crib was removed. Good luck!

Hey J....go with the twin bed with rails. It will be a great investment and less worries. I'm a mother of 4 and gave each of my children a twin bed at 14 months. Let your little one pick their bedding or coloring and Only 1 pillow. Story and cuddle time is more precious. When it's nap time or bed time there's alway's room for mommy.

Nancy

A crib tent was the answer for us. It kept them safe and confined! I dont know what I would have without it.

about a month before our daughter's second birthday, we would prepare her by shopping for a bed and bedding set... then daddy would put the bed together. and get her "big girl" room ready with her familiar things...and tell her how she's going to get to sleep in this big bed now...because she's a big girl etc... and on the day she turned 2, she slept in her new bed, in her new room..and all went well thereafter.

we bought a full size bed from IKEA (instead of a toddler bed). The bed sits low, and we also use a bed rail. this saves us time and money from having to switch from a toddler to a kid bed 2 years from now.

It's up to your son. We switched our DS to a twin when he was 20 months, but only because we needed the crib for DD coming soon. He was fine for a week, then didn't want to sleep in the 'high bed' but in the trundle underneath. He hadn't fallen out or anything, just didn't like being so high, so we let him sleep on the trundle (which was about 2 inches off the floor, plus mattress height of 8 inches) with no guardrails and he was fine. About 6 months later, he asked for the 'high bed'. Go figure. DD was switched to a toddler bed around the same age. Reason for toddler vs. twin was simply she has a much smaller room and toddler bed looked better spatially. She also has a propensity to fall out of bed so the partial rails helped.

I have friends who switched their children from a crib to a twin bed at about 12 months and they didn't have any problems with it. What they did was start with just the mattress on the floor with the gardrails positioned on the sides of the mattress. They first introduced the new bed during naptime and then within a week or two, they had their child sleeping in their big kid bed at night. I think it took another 6-months to a year to put the box spring underneath the mattress and then the frame as well.