When did your boys grow out of their crib?

melaniedel · August 2012

I'm trying to decide if I should get another convertible crib or just give the crib to the new baby, and get DS a toddler bed. He would be about 18.5 months when LO is born. The baby will be our room for at least 3 months.

What are your experiences? I put boys, because he is much more of a climber than all of the little girls I know. He's already climbing onto toys to try and get on the couch, etc.

smerka · August 2012

My older son is a serious climber. I have no furniture in my dining room because he uses the chairs and now his sit-in-spin to climb on the table. And we had to get rid of the cat tower for the same reason. He climbed out of his crib around two. The key for him was being able to swing his leg high enough to get to the top of the rail. My younger son will be two in a couple weeks and is showing no signs of being able to get out, but he is also smaller in general.

I would try to keep him contained for as long as possible. Since you will be keeping the new baby in your room, you can just wait until you're about to transition the baby before you decide.

memali26 · August 2012

I have girls, but my oldest is a monkey. Climbing furniture, scaling walls, but never tried to climb out of the crib. We moved her to a toddler bed at 23 months, by her choice. DD2 was in our room for about 5.5 months, then moved to the crib about 4-5 weeks after her sister moved out of it.

morgs8384 · August 2012

Mine are closer in age.. So I opted to get a second crib. Looking back, I am so glad I did, there is no way DS would be ready this month, or in a couple months to go into a toddler bed.

kcisthebombdotcom · August 2012

A lot of it comes down to his height. At a certain height (anywhere between 32-35 inches depending on the crib) a child is "too tall" to be using the crib. If he's a climber and tall, I would most definitely make the switch sooner than later.

I never bought a second crib and I'm glad we didn't spend the money honestly.

HarrietNJMommy · August 2012

I wouldn't put an 18 month old in a bed, even if it is a toddler bed. Just my $0.02. I've done the transition twice with a newborn...........I NEED (and WANT) to keep my older child safe and more importantly CONTAINED with a newborn in the house.

My advice is to buy another crib and save yourself the headache of having to deal with a toddler that can get out of a bed and a newborn to worry about.

I have found that 3YO is a great age to transition into a bed - there are way less problems when you do it at that age.

GL!

Daisy22 · August 2012

It totally depends on your child. DS1 went into a twin bed at 13.5mths and DS2 was 18mths when we swtiched him to a twin bed plus rooming in with ds1. Neither boy had issues switching to the twin bed.

laura1 · August 2012

My DS moved into his bed the week before his 3rd birthday, and we had a very easy transition.

Are you planning on keeping the baby in your room? If so, I would wait to make the decision until the time you want to move the baby gets closer. If your DS is looking ready to move, then make the switch. If not, get another crib. They don't need the crib yet if you are keeping the baby in your room, so use the extra time you have now! We waited until DD was over 3 months, and DS was NO way ready to move, so we got the second crib. It was the best money I ever spent!

sweetpea2003 · August 2012

Mine are 16 months apart and we have two cribs.

I did this for a few reasons:

1. I thought 16 months was too little for a bed (and it would have really been 14 or 15 months old, because I wouldn't have transitioned her right when the new baby came home - I would have done it earlier)

2. I knew I was going to be up a lot with the newborn, the last thing I wanted to worry about was a young toddler wandering the halls. Having a crib made it so I knew she was safe and contained.

3. Having babies 16 months apart meant that DD wasn't the "baby" anymore. I felt like even though she would naturally take on some "big sister" roles anyway, I didn't want to rush things for the sake of 2u2 that I wouldn't have done otherwise. So a good question to ask yourself is "would I transition him at this age if it weren't for this new baby we are expecting?". If the anwer is no, I personally would wait. Your toddler really is still a baby and if he isn't ready for a bed, don't do things faster because of a new baby. That isn't fair to them IMO.

4. Again, containment. 2u2 can be a wild ride some days. There were times where both of them were in their cribs, contained, safe so that I could get something done. Be that vacuuming or showering or taking out the trash - whatever. But having a space for each of them was very helpful.

DD transitioned into a toddler bed when she was just shy of 2.5. That was the right time for HER. Her crib transitioned to a toddler bed so we are still technically using two cribs.

smerka · August 2012

My younger son just this morning showed me how he can climb out of his crib. He's just under two. I'm not sure if he's going to make a habit of it yet, so we'll see. But I see taking the side of the crib in my near future. Not looking forward to it.

BrandiGreen · August 2012

My little boy is a total climber! He is still in his crib and makes no effort to get out. He will be 2 Saturday. I'm glad I got a second crib for the new baby.

delg23 · August 2012

I got another crib. Both kids are still sleeping in a crib. But both cribs convert to a toddler bed.

kcisthebombdotcom · August 2012

j.d.gal:

DS and DD are 19 months apart and we moved DS to a twin bed at 17 months when we moved into our new house. DS is a climber - he was climbing up our stove weeks before we moved so I knew the time was coming and I presumed he would climb out of his crib the first night DD was home from the hospital.

I am sure this is rare, but in the 3.5 months he's been in his twin bed, DS has never climbed out of his bed on his own. Not during the night, during a nap, in the morning, or at the end of a nap. He waits for us, like he did in his crib. He can climb in and out on his own, but he doesn't except during his bedtime routine or if he is playing in his room. I wonder if moving him before he got the idea to climb out of his crib helped? Who knows.

Also, he slept even better in his twin bed than in his crib and he was sleeping pretty well in his crib. And no regressions once DD was born. I have zero regrets about moving him.

This was my experience too. My son has been in a twin bed since 20 months and a year later still calls me to his room when he wakes up in the morning.

Daisy22 · August 2012

j.d.gal:

DS and DD are 19 months apart and we moved DS to a twin bed at 17 months when we moved into our new house. DS is a climber - he was climbing up our stove weeks before we moved so I knew the time was coming and I presumed he would climb out of his crib the first night DD was home from the hospital.

I am sure this is rare, but in the 3.5 months he's been in his twin bed, DS has never climbed out of his bed on his own. Not during the night, during a nap, in the morning, or at the end of a nap. He waits for us, like he did in his crib. He can climb in and out on his own, but he doesn't except during his bedtime routine or if he is playing in his room. I wonder if moving him before he got the idea to climb out of his crib helped? Who knows.

Also, he slept even better in his twin bed than in his crib and he was sleeping pretty well in his crib. And no regressions once DD was born. I have zero regrets about moving him.

this was both my big ones. It's such a habit for ds1 that we've had to tell him over and over again it's okay to get out of bed if you have to go potty.

also we close all the bedroom doors at night. We do this for fire safety and so the dogs stay in our room. Both the bigs can open doors but they wait for us in the mornings to come get them. We also have a camera monitor in their room so I can see the whole room.

Nita2603 · August 2012

Mine are going to be closer in age, 11 months. We have two cribs, both convertible ones.

kfriscia · August 2012

My two oldest are 19 months apart. I got a 2nd crib and was very glad I did. DS1 never tried to climb out and he stayed in the crib until he was just about 2.5. Ds2 I moved out of the crib when he was 26 months. He never climbed out either but we had 3 on the way and I didn't want him to associate the crib being taken away with his new sister. At 19 months my oldest son was in no way ready for a crib.

ThatWasAHoot · August 2012

We were torn on this, too. Our DS will be 21 months when DD is born. He is small for his age and hasn't ever been much of a climber at all. So we decided that we will wait until he is a little older to switch him.

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