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Toddlers: 24 Months+
valeivegas
member
RP: Moving from crib to bed
valeivegas
member
RP from 12-24 mos:
DS climbed/fell out of his crib the other night. I almost had a heart attack. He's so long I knew by springtime we'd probably need a bed for him anyways - and with #2 coming early next summer, it's time.
I'm thinking we should just get a twin bed and a bed rail. What did you ladies do for the transition? A toddler bedframe/rail is kind of a waste b/c he's so long, he's going to outgrow the crib mattress soon anways.
Do we need a boxspring also, or do they make frames that are really close to the ground? Any tips on easing the transition? thanks!
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Re: RP: Moving from crib to bed
We moved DS right at age 2. He was moving into a "big boy room" with a "big boy bed" and we made a HUGE deal out of it. I was soooo nervous about the transition, expecting him to never stay in bed, but he did fabulous! We went straight to a twin bed. We didnt use the box spring at first so the mattress was pretty low to the ground. We just recently added the box spring. We used these bed rails from One Step Ahead and love them!!!! They arent as obtrusive as regular rails and travel easily.
https://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=537078
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My daughter turned 2 in july so she's just about 28 months old. We switched her to a toddler bed just about a month or two ago. I was VERY nervous about the switch because she used to go to sleep so well in her crib, but unlike your toddler she never even tried to crawl out of her crib. But I knew we had to move her especially since I wanted to try to put the baby in the crib.
So we just did it. We got a toddler bed for free with big rails on it and she loves it. The first night she didn't want to sleep in it, but after that, it was perfect. AND she never tries to get out of the bed at night. It has just gone really well. Good luck!
http://balletandbabies.blogspot.com
we just did a twin bed right away with a bed rail....we don't use the box spring..just the mattress..otherwise if he DOES fall out of bed it's not so far to the ground lol he did great with it and loved it right away! we got him some new bedding to go with it so he was excited about it.
We switched DD1 at 21 months and she did great. We set up the bed early in the day showed it to her and explained that it was her new bed. She was excited and we let her explore it and we read some books on it. That night we did our normal routine and she went right to sleep.
We chose a toddler bed because our girls share a small room and I couldn't fit the rocker in the room if we did a twin bed. We found a toddler bed frame on Craigslist for $30 that matched the Jenny Lind style of the crib and bought a new crib mattress with a 20% off coupon. I didn't do any sort of rail. She fell out of the bed once and never fell again.
my read shelf:
We moved DD1 to a twin bed with a rail when she was 22 months. We just put the mattress on a bed frame. You should be able to walk into any furniture store and ask for a basic metal bed frame. For a twin size it should only cost about $40. We took the rail out after a few weeks because she was climbing on it. She fell out a few times (only about 12-18 inches to the floor so she was never hurt...just startled). Now we put a pool noodle under the fitted sheet. Works perfect so far.
As far as the transition. We set up the bed in her room and let her get used to it for a few day. Read books on it, talked about it, etc. Then we just picked a night and made a big deal about her first night in her big girl bed.
DS was moved to a twin bed (with a box spring on a frame) with a bed rail on one side and against the wall on the other at 17 months. He slept in the crib that day for nap and then we put him in the bed at night (the crib was still set up in the same room). There were no issues with the transition. Even though he knew how to climb out of bed at the time he transitioned, he was almost 3 by the time he started getting out on his own when he would wake up.
We just transitioned DD to a full size bed (again, with a box spring on a frame) a few weeks ago (20 months). Just like DS, she had napped in the crib in the afternoon and then slept in the bed at night. We have had very few issues with her transition. She got out of bed one day during nap time and ended up sleeping on the floor. She hasn't gotten out of bed since.
We didn't make a big deal out of the transition with either kid and I don't think it could have gone much smoother with either one.
click the pic (blog)