Before second baby comes....

jaimedennis · July 2012

Should I move my 21 month old into a toddler bed?

Right now she sleeps amazingly and doesn't try to climb out of the crib. I rally wouldn't have moved her had another baby not been coming. I just think maybe the transition will be easier now then when the baby is here (nov)....do you agree?

BUT I do have access to a second crib if I just want to leave her and do it on her terms when she is ready. hELP

Temp994124375009771 · July 2012

My DD is 21 months and baby #2 is due in November. We have been working on setting up her "big girl room" and her furniture is delivered tomorrow.

We are planning on playing it by ear. If she liked the new room/new bed and wants to try and sleep in there we are going to let her/encourage her. If she freaks out we will put her back in the crib and then borrow a crib from a friend/buy a cheap one to put in her new room until she is ready to make the switch.

She is an awesome sleeper and I don't want to mess with that!

MarSamWhitney · July 2012

I would probably just leave it alone if you have access to a new crib.

jrsmama2010 · July 2012

DS is 21 months and I am due in October. We are working on getting his room emptied and set up for him. He sleeps great in our room so I was a little scared. We went to the mattress store yesterday and we bought a twin. Its still in the living room and he took a nap on it and loves to play on it.

I would think if you can get her excited about a new bed she will do fine. Let her pick out her bedding and make sure her favorite things are around her and keep the routine you do and you should be fine. GL!!!

jc&cat · July 2012

MarSamWhitney:
I would probably just leave it alone if you have access to a new crib.

Yes, this. We moved DS before DD's arrival at 2 years and 6 months old. If your LO is happy and content, I say let it be!

drpayne · July 2012

The advice I've heard is that if they aren't potty trained and the crib isn't an issue (they aren't climbing out), leave it alone. Makes sense to me! I won't be dealing with this until January but I think the new baby will require enough adjustment as it is... I don't think I'll change much else until he's had some time to adapt to that. We have a pack n play that we can use in the beginning. I have no intention of getting a second crib! GL!

mrsjones06 · July 2012

I had a similar debate with DS1 at 2.5 yrs. He slept great in his crib & had no desire to get out but I didn't want him to feel kicked out when we needed the crib for DS2. When we started getting his big boy room ready he was beyond excited. I was going to wait for a long weekend to move him b/c I anticipated a long night, but DH asked if he wanted to sleep in his new big boy bed (a twin with safety rails). DS was jumping up & down to do it, slept all night & never looked back.

So it may be no big deal. I've found several things I stressed myself out about that DS took in stride. You could get her big girl room ready but leave the crib set up in the nursery just in case it doesn't go well.

daniella2727 · July 2012

I plan to keep DD in a crib for as long as possible, I mean like 3 years old. I don't want the whole other set of worries that come with no crib bars that she can get out from, wonder the house etc.

SuperThat1006 · July 2012

mrsjones06:
I had a similar debate with DS1 at 2.5 yrs. He slept great in his crib & had no desire to get out but I didn't want him to feel kicked out when we needed the crib for DS2. When we started getting his big boy room ready he was beyond excited. I was going to wait for a long weekend to move him b/c I anticipated a long night, but DH asked if he wanted to sleep in his new big boy bed (a twin with safety rails). DS was jumping up & down to do it, slept all night & never looked back.

So it may be no big deal. I've found several things I stressed myself out about that DS took in stride. You could get her big girl room ready but leave the crib set up in the nursery just in case it doesn't go well.

Same with us. We literally had zero transition - we got her a toddler bed, put Sesame Street sheets on it and she was hooked.

Because she loved being on our bed so much, we decided to try it. What I was going to do was leave it in her room for awhile to get her used to the idea and then transition her (it was no rush since we would have DS in the bassinet). She wanted to sleep in it from the first day.

ETA: she has always been a phenomenal nighttime sleeper and we had no crib issues when we made the switch.

Bemyselfandi · July 2012

It's completely up to you. But we switched DS around 16 months. He was sleeping fine in the crib but he just seemed like a "big boy" and in a crib it looked funny, and his transition was fine. I think because she's so close to 2, which is a typical age for people to transition anyways, you could do it.

NewFamily09 · July 2012

Our older son was around 21 months or so when we moved him, because little brother needed the crib. We held off as long as possible by having the 2nd baby sleep in the PNP for a few months. For us, the transition didn't go so well. He's fine now, but it took a long while of waking up in the middle of the night and crying. If you're expecting a baby soon, you probably don't want to deal with adjusting to a big bed at the same time. I would use the second crib that you have access to.

momofmanyinthemitten · July 2012

LO has no problem with her crib, so I hope to keep her there for as long as possible.

Mrs.Saxy · July 2012

if you have access to a 2nd crib, do that. You could try to move 21 mo into toddler bed if you have a few months before the new baby comes. I wouldn't change if you're a month from due date, though.

kabarbanel · July 2012

We moved DS to a toddler bed at 22 months, 2 months before DD was born. He wasn't trying to climb out of the crib or anything, but they kids share a room and due to space, we needed him in a toddler bed. We had 0 issues moving him.

kbradshaw9 · July 2012

DS is 21 months and we are due in September again. We transitioned to a big boy bed a few months ago. The only reason we did is because we didn't want to buy another crib. The only bit of advice that I have is if you decide to do it I would say the sooner the better. I didn't realize the transition would take so long. He still wakes at least once a night.

flyingsaucer · July 2012

No! Keep em in the crib as long as possible! When we had LO #2, we waited until DS turned 3 several months after DD was born before transitioning him to a bed

TheBuddha · July 2012

We bought a second crib. Z sleeps 11+ hours a night in his crib and there is no way I'm messing with that!!!!

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