- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Austin Babies
Bloom Photography
Transitioning out of crib - tips/advice?
I haven't been on the board lately but I'm just now coming up for air! It's been a crazy couple of months!
So...we are going to do it. We are moving C out of his crib and into the guest room which has a full size bed. Then E is moving out of the PnP in our room and into the nursery (C's old room). Of course I would love to keep C in the crib forever (maybe until he's 16?) but we need it for E. And E is almost 4 months old which means she is more aware of her surroundings.
We have been talking up the 'big boy bed' to C all week as we have been moving things around and getting everything set up. We have all new decor and of course some Thomas pillows ;-) as well as some fun new 'things that go' sheets.
Any advice or tips as to how we should do this? I don't want him to feel like he is getting kicked out of his room, but we have been telling him that his baby sister will get to sleep in his crib now. How do we make sure he doesn't get out of bed? We have a railing for one side of the bed but we were just going to keep one side open (the bed is on a metal frame which is really close to the ground). Unfortunately we don't have any way of putting the side of the bed against the wall without having C's head against a window.
We are hoping to do this tomorrow night (yikes!). Is anyone going to get any sleep?
I remember when we moved C from the PnP (in our room) into his crib it was no big deal. But I am nervous about messing with E's sleep since she has been doing really well. I'm hoping she will love the crib too.
Thanks in advance for your advice/tips/encouragement/special dust....
Bloom Photography
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Transitioning out of crib - tips/advice?
I wouldn't move them both at the same time. Maybe give C a week in the new place before moving the baby, just for your own sanity.
We didn't have to much trouble with nights, but naps were a pain. Whenever she got out of the bed and cried(or pounded on the door) we'd go in there and walk her back to the bed and have her climb up herself, tuck her back in and leave.
Good luck, it seems to be hit or miss for most people
For awhile Luke didn't realize he could open his door, which was absolute bliss.
Once he wised up we got this clock that fjaril recommended and it has worked beautifully--for naps and nighttime.
We transitioned the day I found him straddling the crib railing.
So my fear of him cracking his head on the floor superseded my worries about the new bed messing up his sleep. But he didn't go straight from the crib to the big boy bed. We used the toddler bed conversion kit that came with the crib for a few weeks while he helped us pick out his big boy bed. Then we hyped it up in conjunction with our move to the new house. Luckily it all went very smoothly. C is a pretty chill little dude. I bet he does great! Good luck!!!
Rosie, we have this clock and it has been AWESOME! we were dealing with dd getting up int he middle of the night and coming into our room. now with the clock she knows to stay in her room until it turns green. her bathroom is attached to her room and we leave the door cracked with a nightlight, but in your case maybe i'd tell him it's okay to use the bathroom but then get back to bed/room until it turns green. honestly, that clock has been a lifesaver! it really works.
E, good luck this weekend. C will do great!
We haven't had to cross that bridge yet. His interest in PTing comes and goes, so we're no where near getting rid of the overnight diapers. I'm not looking forward to dealing with this issue. Sorry I couldn't be more help!
Bwahahahaha! I often wake up in the morning with little fingers poking me to get up.
You have to decide if you want to baby gate the room. Dh and I had a big fight about this but ended up not doing it (we don't have stairs to worry about). We got the bunny clock someone else posted and told him not to get up until the sleeping bunny wasn't there anymore - and he would just turn it off and get up. Hey, the sleeping bunny was gone, right? I think he was actually a little young at the time we tried it and we are going to revisit it in a few months.
He acted really scared the first week or so, and we babied him and would lay in the other bed in the room until he fell asleep to help him get used to it. After that we would just repeatedly put him back in bed if he got up, ala super nanny style. He went through a phase where he would get up and open the door (once he realized he could open doors) and we would just put him back in bed.
The transition wasn't without its challenges but overall not too bad. C is going to do great.
there are some rails that go over both sides of the bed so only the head and foot would be open. We had this to start with.
we also used a baby gate on the door.
we started with a nap. he did fine so we asked if he wanted to sleep there that night too and that was that. I know I know, we are terribly lucky yaddah yaddah
H is still in a night nappy, but once we pt'ed I simply told him if he wakes up and has to peepee to come get us.
lots of luck and ditto about not moving them at the same time.
It went surprisingly well for us when DD turned 2. We kinda went cold turkey w/ it though - she "helped" us take apart her crib and build her new toddler bed (we did not have a convertible crib) and she was THRILLED with it. For a while, I'd find her sleeping on her floor somewhere random when she woke up in the morning or after naps, but it was not long before she was staying in her bed. We had one of those door knob covers on the inside of her door to keep her in there - and once she knew she could not get out, she was cool with it.
IF you're like me, you'll worry about these things a lot and then be pleasantly surprised when they work out well - at least I hope it works out well for you.
I agree w/ PP though about maybe not doing them both at once. If you move him and her at the same time, it seems more likely that he'll view it as being "kicked out" of his crib, you know? Maybe you could help facilitate some conversations like "C, I'm so proud that you're a big boy now and you get a big boy bed, that is so exciting! What will we do with your crib now though...hmmm...since those are for babies....do we know any babies that could use it?" That kind of thing has seemed to work well w/ DD - she kinda thinks it is her idea that her new sister can use the old crib.
GL, I'm sure it will all work out fine!
Thanks, ladies! I knew I could count on you for some good advice :-)
And I like the idea of staggering the transitions. Maybe we'll move C tomorrow and if all goes well we can move E into the crib the next night.
we just did this a few weeks ago, so i feel your pain!
we set up the bed and let it sit in the room for a week. then we did a nap (we have rails on both sides of the bed). we left the crib in the same room. then about 2 weeks later, we moved the crib into #2's room. #2 takes naps in there now.
#1 didn't seem to care that much--we made a big deal of it and she didn't think it was big deal.
i read stuff like this--if he starts getting out of his bed, take a stuffed animal away each time him does it. or take his blankie. dd didn't have any animals really, so we started throwing some in her crib to get her excited about them. now she sleeps with a whole crew. we haven't had to take them out yet.
she has gotten out of bed 2x when she wasn't supposed to so far. dh put her back in and explained it was time for sleeping. that worked.
the other time, we found her asleep in front of her door (we keep the door closed--not sure what other people do?). she was probably sleepwalking (runs in the family)
he may not know that he can be defiant. sounds weird, huh? dd is very challenging, but she doesn't seem to know that she could drive us crazy getting in and out of bed. he may not go anywhere.
good luck!