When to Transition Son from Crib to Toddler Bed...

We have never used a toddler-size bed. Both my girls went directly to an adult twin bed from the crib. My first didn't transition until she was 4 because she had special needs and had some developmental delays. It was a good time because I was pregnant and we needed to transition her anyway before her sister came. Then, I read an article in the newspaper one Sunday quoting Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, a well known pediatrician who has written several books and used to have his own tv show. Dr. Brazelton recommended trying to wait until your child is 3 or 4 years old, if you can. It will eliminate any insecurities, fears, etc., the toddler may have making such a transition. He said the only time you should transition them sooner is if they begin to climb out of the crib or if you have another baby on the way that will need to use the crib. So, we didn't transition our youngest until she was 3. Both transitions were very successful. Partially due to the fact that before moving them to the twin at night, we let them take naps in it during the day just to get used to the idea.

It may not be too early. Our daughter went to a "junior bed" at 18 months. It's longer than a toddler bed but still has a guardrail. She took right to it, so if you feel your son is ready for a change, I would try it.

Good luck. We had no problems moving my 17 month old to her toddler bed. We wanted her to be completely seperated from the crib before her brother came. She was sleeping on a cot at school and she did great. The first night she fell out of the bed three times, the second night she fell out once and after that, we didn't have any more problems. We kept the monitor in her room and so we could hear her when she woke up...she usually just sat in bed and called for us just like she did in the crib. When she went through a period of night terrors (at 2 years old), we put up a gate at her door so she couldn't get out and hurt herself by accident. It went much smoother than I had anticipated.

Hi M.!
I moved all of my kiddos when they were 16-19 months old (I needed the crib back!)
We made a big deal about the toddler bed for #1 and 2, # 3and 4 just went to a regular bed. Again, we made it a special Big Kid thing to do. We emphasized staying in bed- and would walk them back and put them in when they were up- no excuses, chts, stories (after they were put to bed the first time). # 3 was the only real explorer I had- for him we needed to put tofddler knobs on the doors so he couldn't get out but we could get in!
Good Luck!
D.

You know how most of us are that when our mom says something about children, we listen. So when my mom said that when the kids start climbing out of their cribs they are telling you they are ready for a big bed. We just transitioned our two girls to twin beds and bought a side railing that fit between the two mattresses to keep them from falling out. It worked great, they thought they were so big! A friend of mine got "tents" put over their cribs. It was made out of mesh so they could see and breathe easily but she wasn't ready to give them total freedom and it really worked for her (she has twin two year old boys!) As for safety, maybe like the other momma suggested getting safety doorknobs so that if they did get up they would be safe in their room until you got them out. Good Luck!