Two Under 2
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Switch #1 to a bed before #2?
Just wondering how many people are going to/did switch their 1st to a big kid bed before the baby was born. My son will be 23 months when the new baby is born & we are back & forth about buying another crib for #2. I don't think he'll be in the crib for too long after the baby if we left him in so spending the money for another crib may be a waste. Thanks!
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Re: Switch #1 to a bed before #2?
dd was 19 m/o when ds was born. He was in the bassinet in our room for 3 months. when dd was 21 m/o we put our "guest bed" in her room... actually we started with the full size mattress on the floor... she did awesome so we added the boxspring under it... then a few months after that put it all together. We never used a side rail. She's done awesome. Ds will probably need a side rail when we switch him... he's still all over the place at night. Dd was staying in one spot and not "fighting bears" in her sleep by the time we switched her.
I say wait and see what kind of sleeper he is closer to your due date... but give it a month or so before you put the newborn in the crib... give him adjustment time. dd never looked back. she loved her big girl bed and had no issue with ds sleeping in the crib with the same bedding she had used. But some children may mind.
My daughter will be 20 mos. when #2 arrives in a month. She is NOT ready for a big bed yet, so we're getting another crib. If she starts climbing out of the crib right after the baby gets home, then so be it - but I really didn't want to push it before she was ready.
It's so kid-dependent... I know a lot of kids who moved to bigger beds well before 2.
I didn't want another crib. I love the one we have and it was pretty expensive, and we aren't really in a position to spend a lot of money right now. That being said, I was scared.to.death. to transition my just barely 1 year old DS to a regular bed. And until now I hadn't even considered the mattress on the floor (which would be a good idea!). What we did was buy bunk beds (which we'll use together for both boys when we have #3) and set up the top bunk with the rails all the way around, on the floor. We left the other bed in pieces stored in the basement.
Now, DS is a climber anyway and we probably wouldn't have kept him in his crib much longer as he was trying to climb out, but we just transitioned him to his big bed last week. Like I said, I was terrified to do it (I just knew he'd flip out over the rails and break his neck), but we took it slow, starting with one nap in the big bed to 2 and then all night after almost 2 weeks and DS has done wonderfully. He doesn't try to climb out on his own either, which I was worried he'd do at all hours of the night.
Good luck at whatever you decide!
DD -- 5YO
DS -- 3YO
We switched DD #1 to a big girl bed at 22 months. (#2 was born when #1 was 24 months). We also wanted her to get used to it before baby arrived.
We got #1 a twin bed and locked it down like Fort Knox, so it may as well be a crib. We got the extra long bed rails, so she'd almost have to TRY to fall out of that bed. I'm in no hurry to take the bed rails away. It's almost like having a crib, but without having to buy a second crib.