STM - buy another crib or a toddler bed?

knottie3c0525a8a3c64eaa · August 2013

My son will be 2 when baby arrives and I am debating buying another crib or a toddler bed. I heard I should keep him in his crib as long as possible but I feel like by then, he will be climbin out already (he tries hard now but can't reach it).
Any advice?

litzo27 · August 2013

Both mine were able to climb out before they were two. Not that uncommon (although they are part monkey it seems). I will actually be getting a regular small bed (twin?) for DS2 when he is 2 years and 4 months or so. Same as DS1 has (got at 3). You can put side guards on it.

ccip82 · August 2013

Personally, we are not going to be buying another crib. Our plan is to switch DD into a twin bed before the baby arrives. She will be two in December. Hopefully by the time LO is here, DD is almost fully transitioned.

Just a thought- If you plan to use a bassinet, PNP, RNP, or something of the like for the first couple months, then perhaps your DS can stay in the crib a little longer if he is not climbing out of it by then.

juliasmama2010 · August 2013

I'm in a slightly different situation as DD will be three in October. She has been in a twin bed since about June. I refused to buy another crib so this is how we dealt with that. But we also took the front crib rail off when she was about 20 months old so she transitioned to a twin bed like a champ!

moosebaby2011 · August 2013

We're on the fence about this. DS will also be 2 in September, and as of now has no interest in climbing out of his crib. Obviously a lot can change in a few months, though. We are leaning towards buying a second crib, but not 100% sure.

erika_sue · August 2013

This is what we did. DS was in our room in a PNP for 6 months. Then he moved to the crib and DD moved to a twin bed. He is now in the converted toddler bed from the crib, but will move to a twin as well when this baby comes.

2BWEDN2007 · August 2013

All of my kids were in a toddler bed by 2. The newest baby slept in the PNP for the first 6 months (give or take) and when they were ready to move to the crib we moved the older child(ren) to a bed. Just a suggestion, my MIL offered to buy my kids a toddler bed so we let her, but they were literally in it for a year before we needed to get them a twin bed. I'd say skip the toddler bed and go right to twin and just use a bed rail. It will save you a step and $100.

1017Shannon · August 2013

My son will be 2 in November. We just purchased a new crib for the second baby because my sons crib is a 3 in one. Whenever he is ready for it to covert we are set. But I am not going to transition until he starts climbing out or gets to big for the crib!

CassieD · August 2013

Don't waste your money on a toddler bed, and don't waste your money buying another crib that will only be used for 6 months or a year at the most. I would just move to a twin bed.

mrsjenni · August 2013

I think it really depends on your kid. Carter was 22m when Brynn was born, and never even attempted to climb out. He LOVED his crib so we decided to buy a second nursery for Brynn. That way we could keep him trapped, er... I mean, in the crib a little longer. He stayed in until 3-3.5

ETA: It's really working out for us now, having a surprise 4th 16m after having our third

Best. Decision. Ever. ha!

kilbs · August 2013

DD is 2.5 and her crib is turned into a toddler bed right now. We plan on keeping the baby in our room at first and then buying either another toddler bed or twin bed for her then turning the crib back into a crib for this LO.

PocketofSunshine09 · August 2013

We just transitioned our 28 month old son to a toddler bed. We wanted to do it now so that we had a good 5 months of getting him use to the change. We bought a toddler bed, and will use his old crib for the new baby.

chelle_chelle5487@hotmail.com · August 2013

We are going to do the toddler bed for one reason- it will be one less thing I have to lift DD into after my Csection. My original thought was why waste our money on a toddler bed but when I realized they were lower I went with that. I'm still throwing around the idea if a twin bed with a step stool. DD is not a climber at all. I do not want to buy another crib so she will transition her to a bed before baby arrives.

echo136 · August 2013

Ds will be 20 months when lo arrives. We plan to have lo sleep in our room in a pnp for at least 3 months so we have some time. I have no intention on buying a second crib. If ds decides to climb out before we will move him sooner otherwise I'm waiting till after this one arrives. We're also just giving him the spare bed which is a queen - lucky bugger!

ac1259 · August 2013

Anybody do the transition before 2? My DD will be 15 months when this baby is born and I'm trying to decide whether to just make her a "big girl" room and keep the nursery a nursery...But I'm a little scared of giving a 15 month old free reign in her room. Any thoughts on doing this that young?

btw...we only lasted like 4 weeks with the newborn in our room because the nursery is directly across the hall and I sleep so light that I woke up every time my DD grunted..and she was a very grunty sleeper!

shortstuff15 · August 2013

We skip toddler beds and go right to twin beds. It makes for one less transition. And I would say that by two he would be ready for a non-crib bed.

shortstuff15 · August 2013

ac1259 said:
Anybody do the transition before 2? My DD will be 15 months when this baby is born and I'm trying to decide whether to just make her a "big girl" room and keep the nursery a nursery...But I'm a little scared of giving a 15 month old free reign in her room. Any thoughts on doing this that young?

btw...we only lasted like 4 weeks with the newborn in our room because the nursery is directly across the hall and I sleep so light that I woke up every time my DD grunted..and she was a very grunty sleeper!

We swiched #1 at 18 months and #2 at 15 months. Both were fine.

nbbride06 · August 2013

We are in the same boat and seriously asked all of our friends/family who have been through it. We have decided to get DD a "big girl room" for Christmas/Hanukkah (we celebrate both) a little early. So she will completely move rooms and the nursery will be "closed" for a month or so until it is this LO's.

I am too afraid to plan on keeping this LO in our room for longer than a month or so because DD was so noisy at night I couldn't get any sleep and she ended up in her room (literally next door - no monitor necessary) pretty quickly.

ETA: We will go straight to a twin bed with a railing or directly on the floor - no toddler bed.

Lena122 · August 2013

DS will be just turning 2 when this one arrives. Right now he can't climb out but I imagine he'll be able to before this one is born. Even after he is able to climb out we will keep him in his crib. So we'll be buying another crib for this LO. DS's crib converts to a toddler and full bed anyway so we'd be buying another crib anyway.

Deblondie1 · August 2013

I would go to a twin bed. If you are worried about rolling, they have rails you can install. You will get more for your money if you skip the toddler bed.

bookkitten · August 2013

My son will be 2-1/2 when the new baby arrives. We planned to transition him to a twin bed a few months before that but about a week after his second birthday, he decided he was done with the crib. He never climbed out, just started crying every time we put him in it, but sleeps great in his new twin bed. IMO, toddler beds aren't worth the money, but to each her own.

SweetPeaKate · August 2013

DS will be 2 when LO arrives and he's been in a toddler bed for a few weeks now. I refused to buy a second crib, or even have a second crib in the house if I didn't need to have one. My thoughts were we will try the bed now and if it fails miserably, we will try again in a few months. Turns out he did great after the first few days of reinforcement (putting him back in).

I never planned on using a toddler bed except that my in laws had one sitting in their basement. Otherwise I would have gone ahead and bought a twin bed for him.

folkfemme · August 2013

My guy will be 2.5 when the baby arrives, and he's really not ready to give up his crib. I've been trying to get him interested in his toddler bed, but he cries and ask to please sleep in his crib. I don't want to take away that secure feeling right before introducing a new baby, so I think I'm just going to let him stay in it as long as he'd like.

I don't need to buy a second crib though, we co sleep for at least a year.

FSUNole31 · August 2013

We were going to buy a toddler bed, but a coworker sold us her very gently used crib so we can have two now. I feel a lot better about it because DS will only be 16 months when the new one shows up.

jessicat2283 · August 2013

We had a horrible experience with #1 going from crib to toddler bed. This time around getting another crib that converts to toddler & full bed. If your oldest is ok in their crib & isn't trying to get out get another crib

ach298 · August 2013

Our current plan is to set up DS' big boy room with a twin mattress on the floor and let him play in there and get comfortable but not stress about moving him into his room until he is ready. Baby will sleep in our room in a PnP bassinet for the first few months at least. If DS isn't ready to move out of the crib by the time the little one is ready to move into the nursery, then we will discuss getting a cheap crib from Ikea. The baby might just sleep in the PnP in the nursery too though. DS did that from 8mo to almost 13 months when we had to live with the inlaws while we were moving to the area and trying to find a new house.

knottie3c0525a8a3c64eaa · August 2013

Thanks ladies! His crib does convert, but it's a really nice pottery barn kids crib I got from my parents as a shower gift. I know I won't be able to spend that much money on a new one so that's why I was talking about getting a toddler bed.
I guess I will wait until we get closer to see if he is climbing out. If he is, I will get a twin bed like most of you guys are suggesting and skip the toddler bed . If he isn't, I will keep him in his crib and buy a cheaper crib to baby 2.

Thanks again ladies!

LexGator · August 2013

We moved in June, right when DD turned 2, and we transitioned her to a bed then. Now, we have coslept a lot with her because she didn't love the crib, so I think we probably had an easier transition because of that. She's in a queen bed with bumpers (we had one, so I figured I'd try that before investing in a twin), and it has worked out really well. So, the crib goes to this baby.

Like others, I'd go straight to a twin or full instead of a toddler bed ... it's a better long-term investment.

luvdelilah · August 2013

We just bought X's "big boy bed" yesterday - a twin over full bunk, with the idea that he'll stay in the bottom bed until this next baby is old enough to transition. Plus, with our two bedroom townhouse, it offers more sleeping options when we have guests. New baby will stay in our room for a few months before transitioning to the crib, so we have time to get X used to bigger bed.

rowanthefrog · August 2013

I switched DS1 into a twin bed with railings around 21 months. We did go through a stage where we had to lay down with him until he fell asleep. Eventually that changed into us sitting in a chair in his room for 10 min, then 5, then 2. I do think we moved him a little too early.

DS2 is still in the crib (he's just over two) but we will be moving him into a twin bed with railings in the next month or two since I need the crib for the new baby. Hoping with him being a little older we will be able to convince him to stay in his bed, but if we have to lay down with him through the transition then so be it.

I say skip the toddler bed altogether and get some rails and they can be in the twin bed until they are teenagers.

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