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Toddler bed transition

jwthoms1jwthoms1 member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+

Well, it seems my boy is growing up overnight.  Yesterday I asked about potty training and I think we will start in a few weeks.  Now my husband said that he's been trying to climb out of the crib and he's caught him twice. (why he didn't tell me this before, I don't know)  So I think we have to transition to the toddler bed.

What's the best way to make this smooth and not traumatic for any of us.  Do we change the bed around and then show it to him or do we let him be a part of the changing of the bed?  Should we start with nap or bedtime?  Should I go ahead and clear his room of toys to keep distractions to a minimum or just take them out if it becomes a problem?  Should I get him special toddler bedding or keep the same blankets and loveys he's used to for a while?

Wow! I didn't know there was so much to consider with this transition!

Also, how much sleep am I going to lose while we do this???? I'm loving my great sleeper and I don't want to mess this up. 

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Re: Toddler bed transition

  • avblissavbliss member
    I would make a big deal about him being a big boy and getting a big boy bed. I don't think you need him to actually see his crib being changed into a big boy bed, but I would stick to the same bedding. DD1 moved rooms completely, so it was a big deal that she was getting a big girl room, with a new bed. The first night she was scared and we ended up putting her back into her crib in the other room. The second and third nights we checked in on her a few hours after she went to sleep and found her on the floor, we just moved her back into bed. But by night four she stopped getting out of bed at bed time. Naps were another story. She rarely naps anymore, but she is in her room for 2h hours with the lights out and access to only stuffed animals and books. Good luck, and try not to over think it or be too anxious.
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  • MrsRonMrsRon

    I was really concerned about the transition with our two-year old as well.  We decided to leave the crib up, but let him be a part of putting the big boy bed (a firetruck one -- he's SUPER turned on to firetrucks right now) together.  Our plan was to let him sleep in the crib for another night or two and just get used to the idea of the new bed, but he insisted that he needed to take his nap in the new bed that same day.  We let him, and we've had 0 problems.  I have put a small basket of books and cars at the end of the bed.  He knows that when he wakes up, he can play with anything he wants out of the basket, but he's not supposed to get out of bed until I come get him.  Sometimes I go in and find a toy in his bed that I know I didn't put them, so I'm assuming he gets up and gets a different toy every now and then, but seriously he sleeps just as well as he ever did, if not better.

    DS is totally into books and really responds well to them.  A week or two before the transition, I found this gem at the library:  https://www.amazon.com/My-Big-Boy-Bed-ebook/dp/B003T0GB0G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335637730&sr=8-2.  He LOVED reading it, and mostly memorized it.  I think it helped a lot in making the transition easy and something for him to look forward to.  Climbing into bed the first night, he said, "Goodbye crib.  Now I have my big boy bed."  *melt*

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  • harloscharlosc
    We made a big deal out of it.  She got a new bedding stuff and was part of the process changing it from crib to toddler bed.  The first few nights we took most of the stuff out but we didn't really need to.  She has never really tried to play once we start the bed time routine (knock on wood).  I'm not sure if you guys close the door before he falls asleep or not but we most def. cannot.  She loves her bed but the door has to be open until she falls asleep.  Good luck!!!!
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  • alilovesmatt08alilovesmatt08 member
    We are thinking about transitioning DS too. Several months back he was "climbing" out of his crib, more or less he was hurling himself over and falling on his head. We took the spring out and put the mattress on the floor inside the crib. He can't get out anymore, so no more hurting himself. I am starting to wonder if we need to turn his crib into a toddler bed now. We'll see. I am nervous to make the change, although it will have to happen eventually! Let us know how it goes :)
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  • jwthoms1jwthoms1 member

    Well, last night went GREAT!  We let him be a part of the process changing the bed to a toddler bed and he enjoyed climbing in and out of of it and we kept calling it his big boy bed.  My late afternoon he had come down with a bug, threw up, and was generally feeling yucky.  So putting him to bed was easy.  He didn't get out once. It has a rail by his head and he doesn't move around a lot in his sleep so I don't think he even remembered he could get out. He was still in it this morning when he woke up, standing at the side waiting for my husband to get him like always.

    Today for nap he's gotten up once but did fine when I put him back in bed.  I think I hear him in there moving around now but he's quiet.  I'll go check in a minute.  

    I truly thought this would be a fight to keep him in bed.  ( I did put some of his toys in the closet, we'll see how it goes for a few days but if he does this good I'll bring them back out) 

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