When is a good time to transition to toddler bed?

jasminelorraine20 · December 2013

Right now DS is still in his crib, and he never tries to climb over or anything like that. He sleeps through the night and wakes up every morning at 6, and sometimes 7 or 8 on the weekends. His crib is a 2-in-1, so we can convert it to a toddler bed when we're ready. I'm just wondering when the time is right to transition him. He's 18 months old.

Irishsapphire · December 2013

We transitioned my son after he turned 2 years old. It was cold turkey. We put his little sister in the crib, and then we pointed to his toddler bed and told him that was his bed. Before that, we would go over and just sit on the toddler bed. He did not get it at first. He fell out of bed a couple of times and slept on the carpet. Just make sure that bed is lower to the floor in case your child falls out of the bed. He eventually got it. And he will occasionally want to sleep in the big bed with me if he wants to be comforted as well. He did better in the big bed when he was 3 years old. Before that, he would fall off the bed when he was 2 years old.

JENandJEH · December 2013

I don't think there is a right or a wrong time. For our family, we wait as long as possible. DS1 was 3y3m when we put him into a twin bed (skipped toddler bed because that's just one extra transition). He had never tried to climb out and was an excellent sleeper. I saw no reason to rock that boat. When he potty trained is when we moved him so that he could get to the bathroom if he needed. He never had any issues with the transition...no rails on the twin bed, he didn't get out of bed and try to come out of his room at nap and night.

With DS2, he is a complete wildman and I will keep him in the crib as long as possible because once he's out of the crib, he will wreak havoc on his room. I know some people like to move their kids earlier. I guess maybe it's my lazy way out but I prefer to wait until they're old enough to somewhat reason with so that we can explain the "rules" and hopefully avoid the back and forth battle of wills.

jasminelorraine20 · December 2013

Thanks for the feedback ladies. I think we're just going to wait until DS is at least two before transitioning. He's a great sleeper, but I have a feeling that he will also wreak havoc in his room if he doesn't have anything to stand in his way.

singingirl96 · December 2013

If it ain't broke....

Yeah, I wouldn't' transition him now. If he sleeps great and you have no reason to fear him climbing out of the crib... why rock the boat??? Enjoy the peace as long as you can

ashiscute · December 2013

Honestly, when you absolutely have to in my opinion. My DD will be 3 next month and we are going to transition her then. She did climb out of her crib once and was kind of like "eh" and hasn't done it again. She's not much of a climber. Hopefully, you can wait a bit longer.

Aurora_Borealis · December 2013

DD is 22 months old and we are starting to talk about transitioning her to a bed (her crib has a toddler rail, so we'll just do that - if it didn't we would get a regular bed). Last weekend she climbed out of a PnP twice at my ILs and this morning she was putting her leg on the top rail of the crib and trying to pull herself up.

If she was not exhibiting escape artist tendencies we would keep her in the crib as long as possible.

LSU628 · December 2013

I transitioned DD around 19 mo. In hindsight it was a dumb move. We did it b/c we were at my nephews and DD was loving crawling in and out of his toddler bed. Well, we made the switch and for the first few nights it was OK. Then she realized she could get out and it was all over. DS will stay in there as long as humanly possible b/c he is quite the wild child, but sleeps like a champ in his crib.

g8trkim · December 2013

As long as possible. We switched DS over when he was 2 because little sister was on the way and I refused to buy another crib. We just got him a twin bed instead.

JulesDiane · December 2013

18.

No really, I agree with what others have said. I would try to wait. We transitioned DD1 after the first time she made her great escape (thud). She was just past 2. It was a very painful process. I had friends who had kids who stayed in their cribs until past 3. Can we say jealous!? DD probably slept on the floor for over a year. Actually, I think she is asleep on the floor right now.

g8trkim · December 2013

g8trkim said:

As long as possible. We switched DS over when he was 2 because little sister was on the way and I refused to buy another crib. We just got him a twin bed instead.

Oh, and the transition was not fun either because he really wasn't quite ready. I had to lay with him every night for a couple months which isn't fun when you're as big as a house.

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