Moms of 2 (or 2-to-be) come in please
did you move #1 to a "big girl/boy" bed in another room when #2 came along?
how old was #1 when (s)he went to a big boy/girl bed?
why did you decide to move #1 to another room?
Our nursery/DD's bedroom has 2 blue walls and 2 white ones (we never painted) so gender is not an issue. I am debating whether we should just keep DD in that room and make the guest room #2's room, or should we keep DD's room a nursery and move DD to the guest room?
what was your reasoning for moving #1? That seems like what everyone does but I don't really get it. If DD is too young for a big girl bed, it doesn't really make sense to move her. We can just move the changing table (or get a 2nd one) and the glider to #2's room and keep everything as it is in DD's room. Her crib is convertible and will become a toddler bed, and then a double bed. I will discuss moving her to a big girl bed with the pedi. She will be 20mo old when #2 arrives.
Was cost a factor? As in, it was cheaper to buy a toddler bed than keeping #1 in a crib and buying another crib?
Thanks, sorry this is a sort of rambling.
Re: Moms of 2 (or 2-to-be) come in please
I must have missed your announcement about #2. Congrats!!!!
DD is 21 months old and we are considering moving her to a toddler bed (convertible crib) as she's gotten out of her crib now by herself and she keeps trying it. I have the feeling it's going to be a tough transition as she sleeps so good in her crib and I have the feeling she'll never stay in the bed. DH has been bolting her bookshelves and dressers to the wall to babyproof.
Since ours were only 20 months we decided to get a 2nd convertible crib. Plus we had the first convertible to match the dresser etc. So we got a new crib and tall dresser for DD#1 and kept the original convertible crib and changing table/dresser combo in the nursery (our smallest bedroom). We changed our guest room to DD#1's new room because it was bigger and we could also put her toys in there to play, whereas the nursery was so small it really only fit the crib, dresser and rocking chair. DD#1 was no where near ready for a toddler bed and still isn't so I am glad we didn't even try it.
We set up the new room and changed her over about 3 or 4 months before the baby was due to arrive. We talked up the big girl room and all the toys and book we could play with before bed. She loved getting some one on one playtime upstairs in her room after her bath and we got some new books to read before bed. I then just kept the nursery room door closed until Molly arrived. We had no issues with Maggie remembering that was her room but they are only 20 months apart and I forget how far apart yours will be.
hmmm I honestly don't know, she may be too young to understand. She does like to go into the guest room b/c the bed there has stuffed animals and she likes to climb up on it but I am not sure she would be able to understand that she has a choice of rooms (she's 14.5 mo old now)
Hi Sofya!!!!
We are just transitioning Sydney to the big girl bed (she's 2 1/2)...we've been trying for almost a month now. She is at the point where she will FINALLY take a nap in it but doesn't want to sleep at night in it just yet. I def rec starting the transition as early as possible and let her ease into it. Don't make it seem like she is moving because of the baby. Oh and we didn't bother with a toddler bed. We just bought her a nice Twin bed and got bed rails. We plan for her to have this bed till she goes to college
We are leaving her in her room...DS's room will be out current office - which is smaller then DD room. I am not ready to give up my guest room yet - which is quite large. When the kids are older we can move everyone's rooms.
I wonder if I can just buy the rails for the queen bed we have in the guest room and put DD in there...we'd need rails for the bottom of the bed too, though. Does anyone even sell something like that?
I am not ready to give up my office LOL I'd rather buy an air mattress or a pull-out couch for the basement (it has a normal couch now)
Sofya - we bought the rails at BB&B (I got them online - but they may have them in the store as well) they are extra-long. Not sure about the end of the bed..maybe you can find a foot board that would match your current head board? The bed we just bought had had/foot boards.
We actually are moving the office to the basement. We have a bedroom down there as well...and we don't use the office frequent enough not to relocate it.
We moved into our current house in mid-June and put DD in a room with all her baby furniture (including a crib). She was exactly 2 years old. We bought a full-size bed, put it in an unused bedroom, and had her in it in early August (DS was born Sept. 19). We left her previous room exactly as-is for DS, so she didn't have any "carry over" between rooms. Just put her in it one night, she slept (albeit perpendicular, which she still does), and that was it. We were very lucky, especially since she'd never slept in a regular bed before.
We moved DD into the new room because it's bigger and fits the full-size bed better. Also, if we have one more child, DS will move into DD's current room with her in a twin-size bed. I decided to skip the toddler bed because she wouldn't be in it all that long...figured we'd avoid that intermediate step (one more adjustment to make her go through) and just put extralong rails around her bed to keep her safe (One Step Ahead sells good ones). The legs on her bedframe are adjustable and on the lowest setting, and DH insisted on couch cushions placed around it for a few weeks.
Cost wasn't a factor - we had budgeted to buy her a new bed. We got a full-size so it can be used as a guest bed in a pinch. We used DH's dresser and nightstand (bought ourselves a new set) and an old bookcase. Her room's not all that fancy, but we kept it minimal for a few months to make sure she wasn't going to be the type to climb out of bed and get into everything (though she never tried to climb out of her crib, so it's apparently not her nature). I'm just now getting around to really decorating it.
We have a three bedroom house...our bedroom, the nursery, and the guest room. We are moving DD to the guest room, which will be her "big girl room", although she will be bringing her convertible crib with her. We will get a second convertible crib to put in the nursery for the new baby.
DD was a surprise (sex-wise), as this baby will be, so the nursery is gender neutral. We will make her room a little more girly (just a little). DH thought we should move her into a big bed, but we are moving her around 14 months, and IMO, that is way too early to leave her crib. She loves her crib and is cozy there. Because we will have two convertible cribs, they will easily convert to toddler beds when the kids get a little older.
When we had #2 we did not move #1 she stayed in the same room. When #3 came we moved #2 into #1's room, and that is also when #2 moved into a big girl bed. It was an adjustment but they've been fine with it.
When #2 came, we just moved the changing table into the other room and the set the crib back up (#1 was already in her big girl bed by then) Then we got more grown up furniture for #1. When #3 came we didn't really buy anything at all except for the bunk beds for 1 and 2.
DD was 21 months old when DS came along and not ready for a big bed yet. We borrowed a crib from a friend for an indefinite amount of time (which has turned into forever because she's decided not to have any more). DD went to a big bed at 2?. We kept her in her room, both of the bedrooms are about the same size and the guest bedroom was already painted blue so it worked out great to be DS's room.
We never got a toddler bed, we just moved her right to a twin. We bought bunk beds and right now they are separated. DS will have the other as a twin in his room when he is ready. We're planning to have another baby or two so hopefully we'll be able to use them as bunk beds someday.
DD1 9.24.06
DS 7.1.08
twins due 9.7.11 lost twin A at
DD2 4.7.12
We moved #1 to a new room and to a twin bed when she was 22 months old (she was 24 months old when #2 was born). We moved her before the baby arrived for obvious reasons - didn't want her making all these big changes all at once. Plus, we were potty training at the time - lots of big stuff going on. We didn't bother with a toddler bed - we got a regular twin bed and just put the extra long bed rails on either side - so honestly it's almost like a crib, since it has four "sides." She sleeps very restlessly and moves all over her bed. I expect to take those rails off when she goes to college.
The reason we moved #1 is unique to our house and it doesn't sound like you have the same issue. The nursery is the bigger bedroom, and I love having the glider/ottoman IN the nursery, so we knew we wanted the baby in the nursery so I could rock/nurse her in the bedroom.
The room #1 is in now is much smaller than the nursery. We got her a captain's style bed with storage underneath, a dresser with a shelving unit on top, and a nightstand. That's all that room can take, it's really small. For us though, we don't have any aspirations that the girls' bedrooms will be where they keep their toys (or, when they get older, their desks for school work and computers and stuff) because the bedrooms in our house are pretty small. We have a finished basement/rec room that is the play room and eventually will be where they do their school work (and be on the computer under the watchful eye of ME).
Sounds like you don't have the room size issue, so do whatever works for you!
ETA: The room we moved #1 to was my office. All I did was move my desk out of that room and put it in the guest room in the basement - so now that room acts as a guest room and an office. My husband did some very clever arranging, so only the desk/computer are in the guest room. The printer and all my files are in the laundry room - so that's like my office "annex." It was a great way to do it - so the guest room looks more like a bedroom than an office. Plus there is a queen sized bed in there, so there was not enough room to have all my office stuff plus bedroom furniture.
thanks for everyone's input! I suspect there will be many more posts about having 2 kids in the near future:)
We are thinking of just moving DD to the guest room and making that bed her bed, the only prob is that it's a queen and pretty big, so we may have to rearrange stuff to fit all her toys, etc. So far, most of her toys are in her room as we do not have a dedicated playroom.
Our crib is convertible to a toddler bed and then a double so we may just have #2 use that as his/her bed until he/she goes off to college.
thanks again!