Again, thank you for always being so helpful.
I have received some advice from moms who may be right about this but wanted additional input.
We're moving June 1st since we're having out 3rd child in Nov. to a hm with 4 rooms.
My daughter is 21 months and I was thinking it may be the perfect time to turn her crib into a toddler bed.
That way I figure she won't relate this home with her crib and the transition to a new baby in a crib will be a while after she has been in her bed.
Now, do I shut the door so she doesn't get out?
Do I keep going in if she cries?
Friends recommended putting a bow on the door and making a fuss over her getting a big girl bed....
I partly want to do this bc I am perfectly ok with her wondering about upstairs after waking up, she doesn't need to sit in her crib waiting for us at this point. The gameroom will be upstairs so she can play up there until everyone wakes up.
Which means her bedroom door will have to be open.
Do I put toys in her bedroom while she learns to go to sleep alone in her bed?
Any siggestions will help greatly - I only have a couple of weeks left and dread loosing sleep again but better now than when I have a newborn.
Also, is 22 months realistic to do this?
My son, was at absolute most, 18 months old, when I transitioned him to a toddler bed. (I do believe it was 15 months). He was not sleeping in his crib anymore, but when I put him on the floor he would fall right asleep. We gave him a big boy bed and he would fall right asleep. His cribe was a transition bed, and we merely took the side off and it was then a toddler bed. So it wasn't like getting a whole new bed, and yet it was. He took to it right away, until he got sick the first time. :(
I think 21 months is a perfectly fine age to transition.
I think that every child is different. Some little ones wouldn't be ready at that age and some would. I think you know your child best. I have a 21 month old and would transition her in a heartbeat! We are having some construction done on our house and and soon as its done she and my other daughter will be sharing a room... she will be going into a toddler bed. So I say go for it!
My daughter was about 12 months when we started working on a "big girl" bed for her. We are in a 2 bdrm apt. & the 2 kids have to share a room. We bought them bunk beds. She sleeps great in it. The apt is set up so that we put a gate at the front of the hall & close the bathroom door. She has no where to go, but my bed. I am also a lite enough sleeper that I hear her come in. We are also co-sleepers so that helps even more to let her know where to go. If she wakes in the middle of the night, she just crawls in bed with me. I agree that every child is different & you would know her best.
Michelle,
As the others have said, you know her best. At 16 months my son was very large and rolled around a lot in his crib. From my room I could hear him crashing into the sides of the crib. It would wake him up and of course I was up too. We put a twin mattress on the floor and a gate at his door. (our upstairs was not safe for him to wander)He slept very well and was sometimes on the floor by morning, but he had plenty of room to roll. Not that I am against toddler beds, I just knew he would roll out. That worked so well for us I did the same thing for my daughter at about the same age. We put the mattress on the frame by about 2 1/2 years. Just one more idea. Hope it helps,
Jamie
My son is now 4 but even as a baby he didn't like his crib at all. I didn't like it much either. It was a hand me down from a friend and a piece of crap at that. Anyway when he turned 1 years old I got him a twin size blue race car bed. B/c the sides were higher I didn't have to worry about him rolling out of bed. He absolutely loved his bed soo much that he never wanted to get out of it. He was so excited. If you don't mind your child getting up I would make sure there is a secure gate so the child can't fall down the stairs if she leaves the room. I always left the door open a crack but honestly he doesn't like any light coming in when he is sleeping and he used to get up and shut the door and get back into bed...My parents got me my own waterbed when I was 1. Maybe if you get her something really special.. pink.. a canopy bed or something like that she will like it so much that she won't have any problems transitioning.
I think you're right that this is the perfect opportunity to switch over!! I don't think you should keep the door shut in case she needs her mommy but make sure the upstairs is safe and there is a gate at the top of the steps. My granddaughter was climbing out of her crib at 9 months so it isn't too soon if you are ready!!
Definitely make a fuss over her having her own new big girl bed. You could put a few of her favorite toys in her room and make a fuss about her playing with them in case she is up before the rest of you. If you are that comfortable about her roaming the house, then let her do so, but only after she gets use to it. You could try to tell her that if she gets up before them, that she should only go as far as her room, your room or the play room. Make sure all the doors are securely looked and she cannot reach them to open them. My Daughter kept climbing out of her crib at 15 months and that's when we made the transition to a bigger bed at 16 months. New house, new bed, new playroom------------She should be OK.
I absolutely think this is possible. Talk to your daughter and see how she feels about a big girl bed. If she is ready and excited go for it. We put a basket of books next to my daughters toddler bed and she did a fantastic job with the transition. Good luck
i put all my LO' in toddler beds when they were able to climb in and out of them alone wich was around 1-1.5 with no problems. I just put a gate up at the stairs so we dont have any accidents and let them go. good luck with the move
My daughter was 22 mo. old when she got her big girl bed.
I took her to the store & let her pick out her new sheets/comforter. We took it all home, washed them up & that very night she slept in her new bed. She was SOOOO excited!!! That was it. No more crib. No requests for it either.
She would wake & yell for me, instead of getting up, so I can't tell you what your child would do. We had toys in her room already, you know how that is, but we didn't have problems with her getting up & playing.
Good luck with the transition & the move. :o)
we just moved our 19 month old into a new bedroom (same house, just down the hall) with a twin bed. she went straight from the crib to the twin (it's low to the floor). we were dreading it as well, anticipating many sleepless nights, etc etc. we were shocked b/c she slept through the night continuously for the past two weeks. she does get out to play with her toys sometimes & then falls asleep on the floor or in front of the door (we keep it closed) but that has only been twice. naps were a bit more difficult to pull off. she would play for a long time (an hour or more), then sleep for only an hour (she had been taking 2 1/2 to 3 hour naps in her crib before the transition) & usually slept somewhere other than the bed, like the floor or in the glider rocker. only in the past few days has she started to sleep longer in the twin bed for her naps. still, she would stay in her room the entire nap, (again, we kept the door closed) which still gave me about 3 hours of afternoon time to myself. it has worked out so much better than we thought! our pediatrician advised that she will figure out that it is more comfortable to sleep in the bed than on the floor on on her toys & this has been happening. good luck!
We just made this exact transition and we do close his door, but have been doing that since he was in a crib. There is a gate at his door (for now til he starts potty training) to make sure he stays put, but that hasn't been a problem. He has toys and books in his room, but loves his bed so much that's where we find him when he wakes from naps and nighttime. Good luck with the transition. :-)
I think a toddler bed is a good idea at this age, but I moved my children out of the crib into a regular twin bed. One built low to the ground. As long as you have the upstairs gated off from the downstairs so she doesn't make that long fall part of the learning process I don't see a problem.
My children have always had their stuffed animals in their rooms and a bookcase. I guess this means there have always been toys in their rooms and a radio as well. That way they learn about the joys of music as well. Disney channel became a favorite with the 10 year old I am now raising and most of the music isn't something I object to them hearing.
I would leave the door open, not just so hearing her cry if that is a problem is easier and can be done without a monitoring system, but because she may get up, and being young want to wander into your room for a moment of comfort. I understand the desire to shut the door and if it is closed on her room now would continue to close it.
I would make it a big deal for her, big girl, big bed, etc. You are correct in getting her out of the crib and used to the idea of it not being her bed so she won't feel ousted by the new baby.
Pam R
We moved our daughter at 2 1/2, but we, too, were expecting our second child back then. We made A HUGE deal out of moving her to a new room. She picked out the colors, theme, etc. She loves her Tinkerbelle room. But, she was ready for the move, emotionally, and physically. You'll know the signs when your pixie is ready for her own big girl bed. Can you borrow a toddler bed from someone, or pehaps an air bed might work as "trial" run. Our daughter has stuffed toys in her room, but no other toys to speak of. And when we first moved her, we barricaded her in her room with a baby gate and left the door open in case she needed us in the night. She's 4 now and does great in her room. Good luck!!!
Both of my boys were in toddler beds before their 2nd birthday with no trouble at all. I got one of those side rails to keep them from rolling out while sleeping, but they could still scoot down to the end and get out when they woke up. We also have a playroom upstairs so I just put the gate up so they can get to my room and the play room and I close all the other doors (bathroom etc.)
I had a friend who kept the bedroom door opened and put a baby gate in the doorway. She said that sometimes her little boy would end up falling asleep on the floor in front of the door, but at least he learned to stay in his room. She would move him into his bed after he fell asleep.
I couldn't get my son to move into a regular bed until he was about 29 monthts old. Then again, at the time, I didn't have another child coming and I wasn't moving, so I let him take his time.
Hello,
I just put my 21 month old twins in twin beds! It took a couple weeks for them to stay in their beds during nap time, but they went to bed in them at night without getting out of their beds. What i did was i didnt put any toys or anything fun in their room. The first 2 days at nap time I let them explore their new beds and room. I let that get out of the way, hoping that they would get bored. It worked. I started on the 3rd day going in there when they would get out of bed. I did the supper nanny trick. I went in there and told them it was nap time, put them in bed and gave them hugs and kisses. The next time I went in there i told them to get back in bed & i put them in bed and that was all i said. the next few times i just went in and put them in bed without saying anything. i took about six times but it worked. I would say after about a week they were done exploring and stayed in their beds. we have not had a problem since. We also keep the door closed & keep a pin above the door in case they lock it. i hoped this helps!
andrea
I would suggest that you keep toys in her room and have her stay in her room until she gets a little older. I am a foster parent and I have an area also that kids can go, but as all kids do, they always go past their boundries. This way, when she gets up, she can play and have fun until you are ready to deal with them getting up. When you have more than one, you will understand. When you have more than one up, you have a bunch of stuff going on all the time. It makes it a lot easier when they all have their time to be up, but in their own space. You could set a sippy cup with water and a snack so that she can eat when she wants. I have two grown children and a 2 year old with special needs. I also have 3 two year old foster kids, so all together I have 4 2yr olds. I would love to let my 2 year old do more things, but my experience shows me from my other grown children that what you do with one kind of has to go with the others. Since I have 20 years space between children, I see what mistakes I made. You have to think of what could happen even if it seems like you are more strict. When I let my older children have that same freedom, they were jumping down stairs, and also conning each other into doing things that I would have died if I knew. They have only told me lately things that they did. I hope that this helps you. Dana G.
I think your idea is very realistic. I actually put my son in his twin bed (on the floor, no frame) at 15 months. He slept much better once he had more space; he's a restless sleeper and was always getting a foot or arm stuck in the crib slats. My son's pediatrician said that as long as he can climb up and down by himself, it's safe.
We keep the door closed, mainly for safety reasons and noise levels (we're in an apartment). We do keep toys in his room and never had a problem with him playing instead of sleeping. We have such consistent bedtime routine, he knows it's bedtime!