Toddler bed or 2nd crib

sherbear1322 · December 2012

My boys will be about 16.5 moths apart when born and I plan to keep the new baby in the bassinet for about 3 months again. By the time the new baby needs a crib besides naps my oldest will be almost 20 months. I can not decide if we should get another crib or switch my son to a toddler bed. I hesitate to switch him for a few reasons. For one, I can see him just wanting to run around his room if he can get out of bed. Also, will he even be easy for a bed yet I know each kid is different, but it's a thought I'm having? Will it be too much transition for him at once to take his crib away and give to his brother, and last but least important, I don't want to "wait and see," I want the nursery and my sons room all set by spring. When did you switch your oldest to a toddler/twin bed? Regrets, things I'm overlooking? For what it's worth, the current crib converts to a toddler bed so that's always an option for when our oldest is ready for a bed if we get another crib.

2u2wow · December 2012

DS is 19 months and baby comes soon and i don't think we're ready to put him in a toddler bed yet. he has only climbed out of his crib once but i can't see him staying in a bed for naps and when he gets up he'll just run around.

what i'm wondering is if that's even a bad thing...

we just bought a second hand crib for DS 1 and using the one we had for DS2. both are convertables so we'll use them as toddler beds when they're ready.

we might try a couple days on the crib mattress just on the floor and see how we do...

smerka · December 2012

Both of my kids climbed out of their cribs right around their second birthdays. We have two Ikea Gullivers so we just took the sides off to make a toddler bed. My older son then started pushing his bed around his room and using it to climb on things. So we took it away and he has slept on his crib mattress on the floor since then even though we have a twin mattress in his room.

My younger son still wants the security of a crib so I turned it around so the open side faces the wall and the crib bars face toward the door. He can get out and roam. Both kids have locks on their doors and monitors in their rooms.

The transition sucks (or at least it did for us) so I would get the second crib and hope they stay in it for a long time.

SarahRae85 · December 2012

I switched both my girls at 13-14 months and had almost no issues. We did have one moment when my oldest got out of bed and attempted to crawl under it and got stuck. And then around 18 months my second realized she could get out of bed and kept coming to her door to ask for me, but 2 weeks of sitting by her door stopped that. We transitioned our oldest when our youngest was only a month old and moved her sister into her crib shortly after that. It worked well for us.

jesselayne8 · December 2012

No experience yet but I have decided to get a second crib and hope DD1 stays in hers until 2-2.5yrs.

ZooCrewMom · December 2012

We've already moved our 15 mo into a his toddler bed, we did it around 13 mo. I wanted him to have time to adjust to his new room and bed before his brother arrived. So far, so good! He only had a hard time the first few nights. He can get out of his bed, but that has only happened after nap time - not at night. He's a climber and is super active and was trying to get out of his crib and banging his teeth jumping by 13 months, so this worked for us.

We bought the Ikea Gulliver toddler bed, because we only had to worry about him on one side. With the included rail there isn't much space for him to get out.

meredith anastasia · December 2012

My older boys are 19.5 months apart and I went for a second crib. We got a $99 one from IKEA so it wasn't a big expense, and I didn't want to mess with DS1's sleep when DS2 was born so we kept him in his crib. He moved to a twin bed at 29 months when he was ready and I'm glad I didn't push it earlier.

kagl08 · December 2012

We have 2 cribs over here. My 2yr old is still in a crib. My theory is to keep them contained as long as humanity possible. At the rate she will probably be in kindergarten before we transition.

juliane2004 · December 2012

2nd crib. Mine were 14 m apart, we got a 2nd crib. DD1 didn't move to a bed until 24 months.

AmyRI · December 2012

We moved DS to a toddler bed at 18 months. He had never climbed out of his crib. Transition was pretty smooth - we do have to go put him back in his bed a couple times before he falls asleep for good, but when he was in a crib he would stand up and cry just the same and we'd have to go in just as much. Now he just walks over to the baby gate in the doorway instead of standing up. He has yet to wake up and start playing on his own, he always wants one of us to get him when he wakes.

We moved him at 18 months so he'd have at least a month in his new room and new bed before a new baby came home and took over his old room. It's worked out really well. He knows which room is his now and doesn't head to the nursery anymore unless the humidifier is on and he wants to play with it... but that is another issue altogether

sherbear1322 · December 2012

Thanks for all of the input ladies. He will be 13 months next week and he is definitely not ready for a bed yet. I think I'm leaning toward two cribs since his converts to a toddler bed anyway. That way, if he's ready to transition to the bed by the time the new baby is in his crib...great, if not, then we can keep him in the crib. It's more expensive, but I've found some reasonably priced cribs that would work.

Qmommy · December 2012

I transitioned DD1 at 16 months to a twin and had no problems. She didn't show any signs of being ready, we just did it and it worked great.

MrsKatieW · December 2012

My first two are 13 months a part. We did the second crib because DS1 was for sure not ready to switch. In fact he just climbed out of the crib for the first time a couple days ago and he's 21 months. We've converted it to a toddler and haven't had any issues yet.
We will be moving him to a "big boy" bed a couple months before LO 3 is due.

Baby Bouchard · December 2012

We transitioned our daughter to a toddler bed (modified crib) at around 13-14 months old, we knew we were expecting a second and figured the change would be better accepted prior to his arrival rather than taking away the crib and new brother in the same day. She did so well that when we moved when I was 8 months preggers we put her into a regular twin with bed rails and moved the crib into the nursery. She is doing great and likes that she has a "big girl" bed and little brother has a "baby bed".

ajswart · December 2012

if i was you i would wait to buy the crib right until you are ready for your second to use it, your oldest could decide to crawl out in the few months your youngest doesn't need it. and I wouldn't transitino your oldest unless he is crawling out of his crib. if you need a second crib search craigslist for a cheap one or ask friends and just buy the new mattress.

diana.filipi · December 2012

My DD moved into a bed at 21 months. DS will be 16 months when the new baby arrives. My intention is to keep him in the crib for the 3-4 months the baby is in our room then have DS move into a bed in DDs room. They will share until we sell our house and buy a bigger one.

VABride2008 · December 2012

We bought two cribs. My DD is still in a crib at 2+.

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