Those who transitioned LO out of the crib later--?s

mrs.george2be04 · March 2011

Logan is still in his crib, and he does great. H and I are from the school of "if it ain't broke don't fix." However, I also realize that he cannot stay in his crib forever. Unless something changes, I'd like to transition him when he turns 3. By then, should we just skip the toddler bed? We wouldn't be buying one--his crib is a 3-in-1, which will eventually convert to a full-sized bed. On the one hand, it seems silly to bother with the toddler bed stage, but on the other, it's kind of hard to imagine my 3 year old in a full sized bed. What did you do--toddler bed, or straight to "big kid" bed and why?

kel716 · March 2011

We've been in the toddler bed since July/August out of necessity. However, we plan on transitioning to a full sized bed either this summer or next. It would be really nice to be able to sit next to him on his bed, and we can't do that with his toddler bed (built into the crib). Story time each night is hard on my dh with his back issues. We want to redo his room from the nursery theme, so we'll just do it all at once. There's no sense in buying bedding that soon. So... just wanted to put it out there that we may very well be in a full sized bed around B's 3rd birthday.

hav2run · March 2011

We are in the same place with Brenna. She has tried a climb out twice now, but it scares her, and she hasn't tried it in months. We are thinking we need to convert her crib by age 3 as well. We are in the process of making DS's old room into her big girl room. I am thinking we will put her crib in there and let her get used to sleeping in her new room in "her" bed. Then we will most likely convert it to a toddler bed. She is pretty small for her age, and can get out of a regular bed, but she can't climb back in. I see that as a potential nightmare at bedtime. Lots of trips upstairs to help her get back into bed. Urgh! So we have pretty much decided on using the toddler bed until she is older.

I am interested to see what advice you get here. I love confinement at night, so we are in no hurry.

Klmorgan83 · March 2011

We transitioned him earlier only because he climbed out. We were in the process of getting his big boy room ready anyways. He was right around 2 when we did it. We went straight to a full size bed. The first reason we skipped the toddler bed was because we already had the headboard, mattress etc...I didn't want to pay for a twin bed, and we had no place to store the full size bed. The bed will also work for him through his teenage years...I can't imagine him wanting to sleeping in a twin bed at 16 We have rails on both sides because it didn't want it pushed up against the wall. He has no problem climbing in and out of bed, he just stands on the box spring and pulls himself up using the railing.

We also decided to just skip the toddler bed because I didn't want to have to transition him twice...once from the crib to the toddler bed, then the toddler bed to the big bed. It was a struggle in the beginning getting him to stay put, but he's done great overrall.

allibaba76 · March 2011

We also waited because we had a kid who loved his crib, slept great in it, and didn't try climbing out. But he was just getting too big for it so we finally retired the crib at 3.5 years

Definitely skip the toddler bed! At first we took the one rail off the crib and used the half rail but he moved around too much and ended up falling out of it, where it was open, so we just went right to the full sized bed. I bought this bed rail at Target. We put a little step stool at the end of his bed so he could climb in easier by himself.

sistrkate · March 2011

As tall as your boy is, I'd skip the toddler bed. That's what we did with Justin. Between his pillow and all of the stuffed animals, not to mention the contortions he still gets into when sleeping, I didn't think the toddler bed stage was necessary at all. I don't think Logan would be in the toddler bed comfortably that much longer -- crib mattresses are only 52 inches long, so if you figure he's probably close to 40 inches (if not a little more), he's only got 12 inches left. That isn't much if you figure he's only got that far to wiggle. It could very well just be uncomfortable.

JLPT830 · March 2011

We moved Caleb at 2.5 because of the baby. We moved him straight to a full size bed. It has side rails on both sides and he does really well.

teacherjess · March 2011

I'm also in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp. Leah's still in a crib and I have no plans to move her anytime soon. She's still such a peanut that she'll fit in there for a long time, but my thinking is that I'll transition her at 3.5 if she's still not out. Just wanted to let you know you're not the most delayed on transitioning!

little-peanut · March 2011

We transitioned Griffin in January. We decided to convert the crib to the toddler bed since it is easy for him to get in and out of. Once we need the crib again for LO #2, we will put Grif in a full size bed. I actually would have no problem leaving him the toddler bed for a year or so, but I am hoping we need to use the crib again in the future!

I too was perfectly fine with leaving him in the crib since he never tried to climb out and was content in there (plus contained!). The transition went so smoothly and he usually stays in the bed in the mornings and just calls for me to come get him.

andailey · March 2011

We transitioned DD to her toddler bed right after Christmas this year (she will be 3 at the end of this month), and like you, she has no problems staying or sleeping in her crib. We moved her because of her new sibling that is to arrive soon. We wanted her to have a smooth transition no matter what, so we did it earlier than later.

We chose a toddler bed from IKEA because DD is super tiny - only about 33 inches. She looked so tiny in the twin beds, and I was nervous to start out with a full bed altogether. We are so happy with our decision, and DD LOVES her 'big girl' bed! She STTN in her new bed from night 1 and has never looked back. I was shocked at how well she did! She never wanders or gets out of bed. It's amazing.

If her little sister wasn't on her way, she'd still probably be in her crib. So good luck with your decision!

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