DD will be 20 months when DS is born and they will be sharing a room.
Questions for you ladies:
1. How did you handle the big kid bed transition? Did you wait for signs from LO or just make the switch?
2. If you did make the switch, was LO jealous when new sibling took over his/her crib?
TIA!
Re: "Big kid bed" question
We switched over the summer (about 4 months before LO came) because I'm a teacher and figured if it was a difficult transition I'd be better able to deal with it over the summer. It turned out to be super easy. He "helped" us put his big kid bed together and at first he just napped in there and then we did nights in there. It went fine but we put him down asleep at that point (he's a terrible sleeper) so it wasn't like we were fighting to get him to stay in the bed. He's doing better with falling asleep alone finally but he's so used to his bed that the bed isn't really an issue.
We haven't put the little one in the crib yet so I'm not sure how it'll go, but we've left the crib set up the whole time and he's basically ignored it. I think sometime this week I'll start using it for her morning nap. I'm not ready to chance them napping together yet, but in the morning when he's awake I'd like to let her give it a try.
1. I made it a huge deal for DS. He was 18 months at the time. We bought him "big boy" sheets of the character from his fav shows, got him a special toy and really talked it up. The transition was so smooth.
2. DS bedshared with us and only slept in his crib for a few months, so he couldn't have cared less than DD sleeps in the crib.
DD1 was just shy of 19 months when DD2 was born. We waited about 4 months to move her out of the crib in the nursery to a toddler bed in her new room.
1. We set up her "big girl bed" in her new room and talked it up a lot. We intended to wait a few weeks after setting it up to move her, but about 4 or 5 days after we put it up she decided all on her own to nap there instead of her crib. After 3 successful days of naps we put her to bed in it and haven't looked back. It could not have been easier.
2. DD2 hasn't really slept in the crib yet. We've started trying to get her to nap in it and it doesn't seem to bother DD1 at all.
DD1 Feb 2010
DD2 Sept 2011