anyone go to toddler bed & then back to crib if it didn't work out?

groovygrl

We switched DD to toddler bed a few weeks ago (convertible crib) with huge success, she has had bedtime problems since she was born & the bed has worked wonders, she is very into being a 'big girl', etc.

Her brother is not so into being a big boy (not interested in PTing, still would prefer to eat w/ his hands to spoon/fork, etc) so we were not going the toddler bed route yet. However, in the last 2 months his sleep has fallen apart and in the last few weeks he has been crying a ton at bedtime, a few hrs after he falls asleep & in the night... we have tried everything we can think of and last ditch effort decided to convert his bed to toddler, got him some new bedding, made a big deal out of it, etc. He seemed semi-excited about it and the first night was pretty good, he got out a few times, we got him to finally go to sleep in there, I found him asleep in his door at 130am but moved him back no problem...last night was a different story, there was tons of getting out over & over, MH ended up having to sit outside the room and keep asking him to go back in (I realize this is normal when they suddenly have the freedom to come & go, however, he has been sleeping on the full sized bed at bedtime for months now  and we'd move him to crib & he never used to get out of the bed & leave the room until relatively recently).... then overnight he was up crying a lot, wanted me to hold his hand while he was in the bed, asked me repeatedly to 'get me out of here' etc... after 1 1/2 hrs of that type of thing he finally went back to sleep.

I am wondering if he is not ready for the toddler bed & we should go back to the crib. I know 2 nights is not enough and our plan was to try 5-7 days and see if it improved but as I'm sure you can all relate, at 3am my only thought was, this is ridiculous, I want to put the side back on it right now.... LOL!

Thanks.

tarebear9891

In my opinion when they are ready it is an easy transition. So if it's hard it probably means he isn't developmentally ready. We switched my oldest a little after two and he never came out of his room. I would put him back in the crib and try again later.

BethPSU

I would probably put it back into a crib.  My DS has similar sleep issues.  He goes to bed good, but usually cries for me a few times during the night.  Sometimes it is just a quick 1-2 minute thing that I let go and other times I have to go in and soothe him.  I think putting him in a toddler bed would probably be more disruptive at this point. If your DS isn't climbing out of the crib then I would keep it as a crib for as long as possible.

 DS#1 didn't transition to his toddler bed until he was 3.  He loved his crib for some reason.  We briefly made it back into a crib when he was begging for us to "put it back to his cribby".  At that point though he was climbing in and out whenever he wanted and it was just a game to him so back to the toddler bed he went!  

groovygrl

Thanks...my problem is that he was crying a ton in the night when he was in the crib also and always throwing one leg over & whatnot like he was going to climb out or will even sit up there on the side  (he climbed out 3 times just before age 2 and the 3rd time hit his foot or something coming down & I think has been scared to try it again since), so I think either way it is not going to go well. I did get him to nap in there today so I'm going to try a few days before throwing in the towel I guess.

groovygrl

Thanks again......he resisted going to bed again last night & although we've asked many times if he wanted his big boy bed (yes) or wanted his crib (no), finally last night he said he wanted his crib back... he cried a little when we put him in (not long maybe 10 min) and then slept through the night. not ready I guess, it is all good but hopefully this crying at bedtime & in the night thing is a phase, we finally got DD out of it and it is misery to now have her brother doing it!

ETA I think I wrote this in a confusing way, we ended up going back to a crib after 2 nights...and to follow up, he has STTN every night since, even though he was not STTN in the crib before all the toddler bed stuff! Who knows....

jwthoms1

Are you sure the crying isn't a sign of sickness/ear infection?  Since he was doing it with the crib and the toddler bed, I wonder if he has something going on like that?

Kingston54

We did!  DH switched it one day when I was at work and we tried putting LO in it but he wasn't having it.  He'd just jump out and cry.  He was too little.  So we put him back in the crib.  Doesn't matter now though because now he sleeps with us.

cassielynn09

We tried for 6 nights and night 6 was no better than night 1 so we went back to the crib. I am in no rush to move her. She sleeps 11-12 hours a night and I am not ready to mess that up