Transitioning child into a new room

mkenney12 · May 2013

We are currently expecting our second, due the beginning of November. We are going to keep the nursery the same and transition our son to a "Big Boy Room". We have been back and forth about whether we should do a toddler bed, or buy another crib. I personally believe that he should stay in his crib. He doesn't walk yet, and is showing no signs of trying to crawl out. He is also VERY restless at night and I worry he'd fall out of the toddler bed even with rails. My husband however just thinks he will be fine. So I am trying to explain to him why we need another crib. That is ongoing...My question is how soon should I transition him to his new room before the next baby arrives? I am struggling with guilt..I feel bad for taking him away from his room. We wanted to have another child but now that I am pregnant and hormonal I am feeling so guilty because of all these changes.

carabear80 · May 2013

I could have written this post myself a month ago. I first felt guilty too but then I looked at it as "DD gets a new big girl room". Her nursery was neutral because we didn't know what we were having. We wanted to move her because we want the baby in the room closest to our room. I picked the paint out and DH painted it. She is now settled into her new room and is very happy in there. We moved her 1 week before her first birthday. I wanted to move her before she really was "connected" to her room. All the furniture is the same, and all her stuffed animals and books are in there too. We kept her in her crib because she also moves around lots in her sleep. We plan on keeping her in her crib as long as possible.

Qmommy · May 2013

I transitioned both girls to a big girl bed (twin) at 16 months. I also moved DD2 into DD1's room at 16 months. DD2 still sleeps all over the place and hasn't fallen out of the bed yet. We have an extra long bed rail but the bottom of the bed is open. She is still my baby even though she's in a big girl bed.

I would move your DS into a big boy at least 2 months before your EDD (so i guess september) So I wouldn't worry about beds just yet. We bought our twin beds and put them in the room about a month before we actually transitioned the girls. That way they could get used to the bed, explore the bed, and we could hype it up as their big girl beds.

Neither of my girls showed signs of being ready. They both STTN in their crib, never tried to climb out, didn't have problems sleeping or falling asleep. But we still made the move. Both girls did/ are doing just fine. I just make sure that all their toys (other than a few cuddle toys) are locked in their closet and all furniture is mounted on the wall.

I should add that DD1 and DD2 are 18 months apart and DD2 will be 19 months when DS is born.

chicsahm · May 2013

I am due beg of Oct and same situation! We are going to transition DS into his big boy room at the end of the month, plenty of time to adjust before the new baby comes. We got a new crib, he isn't walking yet either but is close and not trying to get out in ANY way! I plan to keep him where he is comfortable as long as he wants to! Kmart believe it or not has some CHEAP cribs! The one I picked was the cheapest and looks cute. Total with shipping was 150! It doesn't have to be expensive, plus when he is ready we are getting him a full size bed (that is when we will spend the money) we are not doing the transition crib into toddler bed and then another transition to a big boy bed.

memali26 · May 2013

Mine are 19 months apart, and we didn't transition to a big girl bed before DD2 was born, and we didn't buy a second crib. We kept DD1 in the crib in the nursery and DD2 slept in the RNP/PNP in our room. When DD1 was 23 months we set up the toddler bed in her new room and figured we'd talk it up for a month and move her around her 2nd birthday. Instead, she saw the bed and asked to nap in it that day, and that was that. She moved herself, and a month later when DD2 was about 6 months old we moved her into the crib in the nursery. For us it was a super easy transition, but I'm glad we waited until we were through the newborn stage with DD2 before making it.

mama2kyle · May 2013

We just did the same thing for my LO who is 21 months. We kept the nursery the same and moved him into a bigger room and decided we would make a big deal out of his big boy bed/room so he felt special. I was very nervous, he wasn't trying to climb out of his crib or anything so I didn't want to start a whole new issue... BUT it has been AMAZING! We switched him to a full size bed. It took him one night and he now sleeps perfectly in it. He hasn't tried getting out yet (knock on wood) and he loves his new room and "big bed" as he calls it. I was very pleasantly surprised, as I had been expecting the worst. I didn't want to buy a new crib knowing I wouldn't get much use out of it, and I didn't want to switch to a toddler bed because I just felt like, why bother? Now he has a full size bed (with rails) that he can sleep in for many years to come!

mama2kyle · May 2013

Along with my previous post, we switched him into his new room when I was 30 weeks. I wanted plenty of time to get him adjusted before the baby came!

drpayne · May 2013

ItsAllGravy7:
Mine are 13 months apart and we just bought another crib. I'm a fan of following your childs "cues" and making big life changes when they are ready. Personally I think it goes much more smoothly than forcing it to happen before they're ready. My 1st son didn't start climbing out of his crib until after he turned 2. We had 2 kids in cribs for over a year and it worked out great. Now, DS2 is 20 months and still in his crib and DS1 sleeps in the same room in a big boy bed. There's no reason to rush things. If you can afford it just buy another crib. Unless you have a financial reason I say wait until he is ready to make the "big boy bed" transition. I like keeping them in cribs as long as they're happy, safe, and secure there. Once they climb out or show other signs of readiness then make the bed transition. GL!

This

ebp913 · May 2013

We considered moving DD to a big girl bed before DS was born but now I am just so so glad that we didn't. She sleeps great and I didn't want to mess that up while dealing with a newborn. I'm personally a fan of keeping them in the crib for as long as possible. It's nice knowing that she's safe, not hurting herself or destroying her room. I put some toys and book in the crib and she loves it.

ebp913 · May 2013

Also, DD moved to a new room and DS got her "old" room and that went totally fine. The transition for us was super easy but DD is a great sleeper so that might have something to do with it.

SweetHurricane · May 2013

I'm in the 'keep them contained as long as possible' camp. DD1 is over 2 and is still in a crib. She stays in there just fine so why mess with a good thing?

We did the same as you and left the baby room as just that, and moved DD1 to a big girl room. We started prepping it as soon as possible so she'd have plenty of time to transition. I made a point of playing in there with her every day so she was comfortable with the room. We did that for about a month before having her sleep in there (3 months before DD2 was born).

For a little while she started to think of both rooms as hers so we closed off the nursery until DD2 was born so she could associate it with her.

Overall, the transition was pretty easy and I'm glad we did it ahead of time.

mkenney12 · May 2013

Thank you for all your input! It's much appreciated! I want to have the big boy room done and ready for him to move in by this summer. We go in there and play, (it's set up as a spare bedroom right now) and he seems to enjoy it. I think we have decided to move his crib into that room, (it does turn into a toddler bed) and we will purchase a less expensive crib this summer. We had his crib custom built and shed a pretty penny, not thinking we would be ever needing to buy 2 cribs...oh how the tables have turned. I want to keep him in the crib as long as possible because then we are opening a whole other can of worms with a Toddler bed. Again, thank you for all your knowledge and experience!

ZooCrewMom · May 2013

We moved our toddler who was 14mo at the time into a toddler bed and it was really very smooth. The first two nights he somehow fell out (his bed is maybe 6in off the floor), but one of the times he didn't even wake up. Since then he's done well. He did walk at the time, but never felt like he could get out of bed without permission. We gave him 2mo before his brother was born and he was totally unfazed when the baby arrived.

morgs8384 · May 2013

Mine are 13.5 months apart, and even up to this point, DS#1 at 22 months is still in his room, in his crib. He does perfectly fine in it, and hasn't given me any reason to change it. We are moving at the end of June into a new home, and once we are moved and settled I will probably change his crib into a toddler bed, but not anytime soon.

NNGnome · May 2013

mama2kyle:
We just did the same thing for my LO who is 21 months. We kept the nursery the same and moved him into a bigger room and decided we would make a big deal out of his big boy bed/room so he felt special. I was very nervous, he wasn't trying to climb out of his crib or anything so I didn't want to start a whole new issue... BUT it has been AMAZING! We switched him to a full size bed. It took him one night and he now sleeps perfectly in it. He hasn't tried getting out yet (knock on wood) and he loves his new room and "big bed" as he calls it. I was very pleasantly surprised, as I had been expecting the worst. I didn't want to buy a new crib knowing I wouldn't get much use out of it, and I didn't want to switch to a toddler bed because I just felt like, why bother? Now he has a full size bed (with rails) that he can sleep in for many years to come!

Just out of interest, is this bed full height too, and did it come with rails or did you just buy the ones that fit onto any bed?

We are currently planning on moving DS #1 to a toddler bed when he is about 2, so he has a couple months to get used to it before DS#2 starts using the nursery (DS#2 will sleep in a bassinette with us for the first 6 months)

I had not thought of skipping the toddler bed all together and it sounds like a great idea.

Transitioning child into a new room

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