Tell Me About Transitioning from Crib

maribel922

Our plan has always been that we are going to transition DS from his crib to a big boy bed come April.  Sure enough, April is almost here and I am scared out of my mind!  He sleeps so well in his crib that I am afraid we are going to mess things up.  Any hints or tricks to make this process easier?  I'd rather do this now than after the baby is born considering I don't want him to feel like we're giving him the boot out of the (sniff) only bed and room he's ever known.... 

fjaril

we have a convertible and just had to take the side off and put up the toddler rail so it was pretty much the same 'crib'.

we've have no problems with it. I tried it at nap time and there was no looking back for us

 

Good luck though. 

maribel922

fjaril:

we have a convertible and just had to take the side off and put up the toddler rail so it was pretty much the same 'crib'.

we've have no problems with it. I tried it at nap time and there was no looking back for us

 

Good luck though. 

  I wish we had a convertible.  I've thought about getting a toddler bed, but it seems silly to buy another bed.  We are going balls to the wall with a real bed... or that's the plan, anyway.

mrssnflwr

We just did it this weekend. DH put her new bed up while we were out of town last week, and when we got home, we made a big deal about it being her big girl bed, etc, etc. We let her help us make the bed, we all pretended like we were going "nigh nigh" and took turns tucking each other in. Night time has been a breeze, but nap time is a struggle. She's always gone down easier at night anyway, though. Good luck!!

batsteph

maribel922:

fjaril:

we have a convertible and just had to take the side off and put up the toddler rail so it was pretty much the same 'crib'.

we've have no problems with it. I tried it at nap time and there was no looking back for us

 

Good luck though. 

  I wish we had a convertible.  I've thought about getting a toddler bed, but it seems silly to buy another bed.  We are going balls to the wall with a real bed... or that's the plan, anyway.

This is exactly what we did.  We moved Daniel out of his crib and straight into a "real" full-size bed.  Our transition was helped by the fact that he moved into his bed at the same time that we moved into our new house, but like you, we wanted to be sure we had it done before William was born.  We didn't want D to feel like W had kicked him out of his room.

We went cold turkey and the transition was really pretty easy.  We talked up the big boy bed, of course, and let Daniel know that it was a good thing and something to be proud of.  He did fall out of bed the first two nights, but overall he was happy to be moving on and growing up. 

mrslaquinta

First of all, can I just say that I *love* that you said "balls to the wall" in your second post.    Second, Kennedy hasn't transitioned yet, but our plan is to move her sometime in the next two months.  We set up her big girl room before Atalie was born, complete with a regular bed, and moved all of her clothes and toys in there and started calling it her room.  We talk about how soon she will go night night in her big girl bed and how we are so excited that she will sleep in a big bed like mommy and daddy (even though we are not excited - we are sad!!  ).  She still sleeps in the crib in the nursery because we just don't feel like she is quite ready to make the switch, but she will definitely be moving before Atalie needs the crib, which will be in about 2 months.  So no real advice here, just our best laid plans...

maribel922

mrslaquinta:

First of all, can I just say that I *love* that you said "balls to the wall" in your second post.    Second, Kennedy hasn't transitioned yet, but our plan is to move her sometime in the next two months.  We set up her big girl room before Atalie was born, complete with a regular bed, and moved all of her clothes and toys in there and started calling it her room.  We talk about how soon she will go night night in her big girl bed and how we are so excited that she will sleep in a big bed like mommy and daddy (even though we are not excited - we are sad!!  ).  She still sleeps in the crib in the nursery because we just don't feel like she is quite ready to make the switch, but she will definitely be moving before Atalie needs the crib, which will be in about 2 months.  So no real advice here, just our best laid plans...

 

I can't believe they didn't censor that!   I guess "balls" and "wall" unconnected have squeaked me through!  Mrslaquinta, sounds like we are right about where you are.  We have his new room all decorated with his new full size bed, have been talking it up quite a bit and have been practicing going night night under the sheets, but actually "doing" it scares the bejeebus out of me!  

monkeylamb

Do you have to move him?  I know people who have kept kids in cribs until 2 or 3.  My DD is 18 months and we are going to have to move her soon because she is *this* close to climbing out.  I'm worried about her having full reign of her room all night.