Transition to toddler bed

Ladiebug710

DS is 18 months, so we aren't quite there yet, but this has been on my mind a lot recently.  As of right now my plan is to keep him in the crib until he starts to try to climb out, which may not be as far away as I'd like.  My questions for moms that have made the transition is did you make any small changes to get LO "ready" for the big transition?  What I mean is, should I start giving him a pillow at night?  Maybe that way he would get used to keeping his head in one place instead of traveling all over the crib.  A pillow is OK at 18 months, right?  Should I start making the crib up like a regular bed with a top sheet and blanket tucked in at one end?  Or am I putting too much thought into it and when it is time he will let me know?

Ladiebug710

dillngr9 said:

We were forced to do it with L because he actually climbed out of the crib and came running down the hall to our bedroom one night and that was like Chucky movie terrifying.  It still haunts me if I envision it. 

This is what I am afraid will happen.  I have thoughts about putting LO to bed and then having him walk into the living room and say hello to DH and I after climbing out of the crib.  With all of the climbing he is doing on our other furniture I just know the clock is ticking.

big_noise

We talked it up for weeks. We were also switching rooms, so we had her "help" get her big girl room ready. And we also had her nap in a big girl bed a few times someplace else, so she had practiced and had the idea. My MIL was helpful with this when she was at her house one day. She was over 2 when we moved her but I would have preferred to do it closer to 18 months, and she was ready by then. The room just wasn't ready yet. DH had to finish the bar exam before we could start renovating it.

melly918

DS was over 2 1/2 when we put him in a full sized twin bed with a rail. It didn't seem worth converting his crib because we would have to get the rail and we needed the crib for the baby anyway. He slept all over the place in the crib but as soon as he was in the bed with sheets and a small pillow, he started sleeping the normal way. He never succeeded in climbing out of the crib as it was a sleigh style.

martinimomma

I'll be watching this post intently.  DS is 28 months and has never climbed out of bed (granted, we use the toddler sleep sack at night so he could not get his leg up far enough if he tried...and that might be on purpose...don't judge...).  I know that won't last and we are debating how to handle the transition since DS is so very, very sensitive to change and he loves his crib.  I suspect we will handle it over the summer, the question is whether to convert the crib (ie, remove the rail) or just go whole hog to twin bed.  DH advaocates for the latter, but DS is so tiny I have trouble envisioning him in a twin, even if it is on the floor.

We introduced a very small pillow somewhere between 12 and 18 months.  We added a rather flat full size pillow slightly before 2 maybe?  I think the nanny was using one with him at naptime before then without telling us, as he took to it without issue.  However, he still loves his tiny pillow and sleeps with it, too, and takes it with him when he goes to my mom's house, etc. to nap with.

thumper7912

DD is 19 months and I've been thinking about it more and more!  I'd rather not wait much longer but don't want to move her too soon.  I'll have to watch this thread!!  Thanks for posting! 

Ladiebug710

Thanks ladies.  It looks like we aren't the only ones in this boat.  I appreciate all of the advice.

ksyknelvr73

We transitioned DS to a toddler bed about a month and a half before his second birthday. He wasn't trying to climb out or anything, but he just seemed ready. We never actually "broke him in" so to speak, we just converted his bed one day and made a big fuss about it, talking about how it was his "big boy bed" and all that, and we ended up putting a baby gate on his bedroom door so he couldn't just wander around at night. He honestly did much better than I expected - the first two nights he got up a handful of times (probably just b/c he could and it was a new thing for him), but after that, we've had no issues. We just told him he was going to sleep in a big boy bed now, and that he was supposed to stay in his bed until the sun came up. For the most part, that has worked. His room is childproofed and we do still use a video monitor just to check in on him (even now).