Am I crazy??? re: not switching to toddler bed

Traycee1242

We are going to be getting DS big boy room ready soon.... I don't want him to feel "kicked out" if we do it too close to when the baby gets here so we will transition him in a month or so. (He will be switching rooms to the larger room down the hall) We are getting new furniture for baby's room.

DH and I have been going back and forth and I really do not want to put him in a toddler bed. The kids I nanny PT for have stayed in their cribs until their 3rd birthday. I guess this is just what I'm used to... I guess I'm doubting myself because I see so many posts on here on transferring before they even turn 2... and so many of my friends have done it.. They think I'm nuts for wanting to keep him in the crib.

My problem is DH travels a lot. And I am just terrified of having a newborn and a toddler getting out of bed all night...

I know we have time to transition him... but I'm worried if we try the toddler bed and it doesn't work he won't go back to the crib (and he sleeps SO well in the crib... never tries to get out)

DH is thinking we should try it but I'm so hesitant. If we wait til he's 3 the baby will be almost 1 and will be easier to work with him. Am I crazy? Any advice??

If you transitioned your toddler to a bed earlier are you wishing you wouldn't have? Or did it work just fine? I know obviously every kid is different... I'm just having a hard time with this one!

AgathiP04

I think every child is different.  Your DS may want out before he turns 3.  My DS started climbing out at 2.5 and then we switched him.  I didn't have a baby on the way, so we just waited until he gave us signs that he was ready.  I had hoped it would be until 3, but no go.  Anyway, how about just waiting until he's ready to get out?  Are you getting another crib for baby #2? 

bellevuebride07

As of right now, I wish we had waited.

kel716

We only transitioned because we HAD to.  DS was climbing out of his crib regularly and not able to get out without falling (scary!)

Anyway, for us it was a really rough transition until I bought those bumpers I referenced in bellevue's post.  Seriously- those things are magic and by far the cheapest bumpers I could find.  Once I bought those, DS sleeps every night in his bed his usual 11-12 hours.  He no longer naps at home (he will at daycare), but he dropped that at the same time he climbed out of his crib. 

Moesten

We transitioned K at 20 months. She slept great in her crib and never tried to climb out in the middle of the night. She sleeps great in her twin bed and doesn't get out in the middle of the night. 

We moved her out of her nursery and into a brand new, big girl room at the same time as transitioning her to a twin. (We never did a toddler bed. Just went straight from crib to twin). This was 4 months before #2 was born and 4 months before she turned 2. I wanted her to be transitioned to her new room and new bed well before baby's arrival.

I am so glad we did it when we did. Obviously all kids are different and there is no way to predict what will happen with any given child. But I am so glad we didn't wait any longer. It was nice that K was well into her new routine when S was born so I didn't have those big changes looming ahead of us as we were adjusting to a new baby.  

Traycee1242

AgathiP04:

I think every child is different.  Your DS may want out before he turns 3.  My DS started climbing out at 2.5 and then we switched him.  I didn't have a baby on the way, so we just waited until he gave us signs that he was ready.  I had hoped it would be until 3, but no go.  Anyway, how about just waiting until he's ready to get out?  Are you getting another crib for baby #2? 

Yes we are getting a new crib for baby #2 so I don't need his crib...

Thanks for the advice.. that is a good idea. We have the Angelcare monitor (we got another one for baby girl) and I was planning on still putting it on so if he does climb out and I happen to sleep through it the alarm will go off.

Traycee1242

Moesten:

We transitioned K at 20 months. She slept great in her crib and never tried to climb out in the middle of the night. She sleeps great in her twin bed and doesn't get out in the middle of the night. 

We moved her out of her nursery and into a brand new, big girl room at the same time as transitioning her to a twin. (We never did a toddler bed. Just went straight from crib to twin). This was 4 months before #2 was born and 4 months before she turned 2. I wanted her to be transitioned to her new room and new bed well before baby's arrival.

I am so glad we did it when we did. Obviously all kids are different and there is no way to predict what will happen with any given child. But I am so glad we didn't wait any longer. It was nice that K was well into her new routine when S was born so I didn't have those big changes looming ahead of us as we were adjusting to a new baby.  

That is a great point too... because I don't know how he will do with it.. my hesitation on waiting is with my luck he'll start climbing out when baby is 2 weeks old and I'll have to do it then.

As always ladies, thanks for the advice! A lot to consider

KYMelissa06

You're not crazy!  Carter will be 2 in July and I haven't even begun to think about transitioning him.  He doesn't climb and I'm not ready.  I also don't think that he is ready.  He's all over the place when he sleeps and I'm sure that even with bed rails he would probably fall out of bed.  I think, with anything, that you will know when you are all ready to make the switch.  

gandcnky

I don't have any plans to transition B to a toddler bed until he starts trying to get out of his crib or until he seems uncomfortable in the crib.  He sleeps perfectly well in it, and I don't like the idea of him being able to get out of bed at this point.  He is often up and playing for a while in his crib before i go and get him in the morning, and it makes me nervous to think about him being able to get out of bed (not that there's anything dangerous in his room, and he can't open the door yet, but still).  I feel like, if it's working for you, why change it?  We got new furniture for A's room (both convertible cribs), so we didn't have the need to get him out of the crib.  I know that's the issue for some people.

Klmorgan83

We transitioned around 2 because we had to...he climbed out.  We were already in the process of getting his room ready since #2 was on the way, we just had to do it a bit sooner than we planned.

It was a bit of a pain, we spent a good week or two getting him to learn to stay in his bed, but now looking back on it I'm so glad we did it before #2 arrived. He sleeps wonderfully in his bed now, and there's no memory that the baby's nursery used to be his room, so there's no jealousy in that area.  Noah has had a difficult enough time adjusting to having a little brother, that I can't imagine making him switch rooms at the same time. 

You may want to wait until your DS is 3 and the new baby is 1, but what if he climbs out on his own when your new baby is a week old?  I can't imagine doing the transition at that time.

sistrkate

I don't think you're crazy at all.  I had absolutely zero intention of moving Justin out of his bed just because another baby was coming.  I wasn't ready and he wasn't ready, simple as that.

Justin had just turned 2 when Tyler was born and there was no way in heck I would have moved him before he was 2 years old.  He had never tried to climb out at any time, and to be honest, I wasn't worried about him trying to do it, either.  Just because one kid does doesn't mean yours will, so I wouldn't let that sway you.  If he is sleeping well, why mess with it?  I sure wouldn't.

We bought another crib for Tyler when he was born.  Justin stayed in his crib until 3 weeks past his 3rd birthday, and honestly, the only reason we moved him then is because he was just too darn big for the crib.  He's a tall kid so we skipped the whole toddler bed thing because it wouldn't have gained us anything at all.  Tyler was a year old when Justin transitioned at 3 and it could not have been easier for us.

allibaba76

My son was a few months shy of his 4th birthday before we finally switched   He was sleeping great in his crib, never tried getting out, and loved his bed...why in the world would you mess with that??? He would call for us when he needed to go potty during the night.  We didn't have another baby on the way so there was no rush. Anyway, he finally outgrew the crib and needed more room so then we moved him to a full sized bed with rails. He had a few tumbles (he moves so much in his sleep!) but adjusted very quickly and we never had issues with him getting out of bed other than to go potty.  I am glad we waited.  It worked for us.  

Brougham7-15-06

We just put DS into a bigger bed this past week and he is almost 3.  He was perfectly content in his crib and would have stayed longer (and I liked him being in there because while we knew he could climb out, he stayed in there when he was supposed to) but we were re doing his room, and he was getting a bit big for the crib, so we made the transition when his room overhaul was complete. 

I saw keep him in it if he fits ok, seems ok with it and if it make you comfortable.

DS does ok with the new bed, but we have to go up to his room multiple times to tell him to stay in bed.

buckeyethor

Our pedi pushed us to switch after we found her trying to get out for safety reasons. I would have loved to have kept her in the crib another year. We had to sleep train all over again and it was very very frustrating. It has been 2 months now since the switch and she still isn't back completely to her old sleeping habits.

If you find him trying to climb out, I would switch. Otherwise, don't fix something that isn't broken.

adamsbabble

We moved Ava to a toddler bed just before 2.5 and it went fine, but we probably will wait longer with Charlotte.  They're two different people, and I don't think this is one of those things where it's dependent on the age, but rather the maturity and personality of the child and also your comfort level.  If you want to wait until 3, I think that's completely fine. 

Also, Ava was still in her crib when Charlotte was born, and Charlotte was still in her crib when Lila was born.  I don't think another child on the way should factor into the decision at all.  Whether or not he's ready for the move should be the only consideration.

ryry1977

We switched Cedric at 16 months old and he has done great.  It probably is different with each child though.  He does get out of bed at times, but always returns to bed to sleep (and isn't up too long).  I took out all toys and only left books and stuffed animals.  I figure if he is up looking at books, that isn't bad at all.  He has a night light so he doesn't trip or anything.  He has a end table (2 metal boxes stacked on top of each other) and I leave soft books on it.  We shut his door after putting him in bed and use a baby monitor to listen to him.  He has done wonderful with switching, hope your LO does just as well if you deceide to switch now.

KYmama9286

Nicholas will be 21 months when this baby comes and we have no plans of switching him out of a crib. I think just moving him to a different room (we are keeping our nursery the same since its right next to our bedroom) will be enough of a transition. I dont want to make things harder than they need to be. I will also be keeping Nicholas in his crib until he can climb out and even then I might be tempted to do a crib tent. I just cant picture Nicholas staying in a bed AT ALL considering he NEVER will lay in bed even with me, DH, no cuddling on the couch, etc. If he isnt "trapped in" haha he wants to be playing and moving around.

cat81305

We moved DS at 16mths and we had 1-2 rough nights and that was all.  We did not want to buy another crib (did not have finances too either) and they were sharing a room at the time (lived in an apt).  I do not regret it at all.  We moved him into a twin mattress on the floor only.  DD we moved just a week ago (almost 19mths old) b/c we got a great offer on a toddler bed and I did not have to buy another mattress (she will go into a twin bed after Christmas - asking for bedroom stuff for birthday and Christmas for her).  She has done AWESOME from day 1.  Every child is different.  We also caught her with her leg up on the railing one day and she is a climber so I did not want to risk that when we had a toddler bed basicaly given to us   You are not crazy and it is your choice on when you feel you want to transition

teacherjess

Leah will be three in a few days and is still in a crib. I have no plans to move her. She's never tried to climb out and loves snuggling up in there for bedtime with all her "friends" and blankets. I even showed her a toddler bed at Ikea and asked if she wanted one, and she said no. So I plan to keep her in there as long as she's comfortable. If she hasn't asked to move/needed to be moved by age 4, we'll move her then. You have to do what works best for your particular situation. Don't worry about age.