When to start a big kid bed

Addy1227 · May 2014

Silly me bought a mini crib when we found out we were pregnant, it made sense at the time seeing as that we were moving into our first apartment and didn't know how much space we'd have. Well fast forward to now and my son is around the 90th percentile for both height and weight and will not fit in his crib much longer. He looks like a giant in it! I don't think he's ready for a big kid bed but I was just curious as to when this transition might start?

kjsmith9 · May 2014

I think the range on this varies a lot. I'm hoping to keep DD in her crib until we have another one - maybe when she's 3. She doesn't really stand up much in there, so hoping she doesn't try to be a climber in it any time soon.

SingleMom31 · May 2014

We're moving her into one this summer since we'll need the crib for DD2. I'm hoping it's not a disaster.

JessAnnJ · May 2014

We are keeping DD in it until we start to worry she will try to climb out. I don't see that happening anytime soon. We are having another baby in October buy we will buy a new crib for that baby.

jac409 · May 2014

No. 2 will be here in November and DD will be 2 at the end of December. We will probably have the new baby in our room for the first three months, which will be until sometime in early February. We actually have a queen bed for DD to move into already. My plan is to move her into the big bed, with bed rails, after her second birthday. That way, there will be a month or more between her getting the bigger bed and the new baby moving into the crib. I don't want her associate the new baby with taking her bed away from her, if that makes sense. Anyway, that's the plan. I do not want to but another crib. If it is disaster, we will just put the queen mattress on the floor for awhile until she gets used to that.

minervacullen · May 2014

I did it with DS a few months before he was 3, I'm hoping to do the same for Milla.

Addy1227 · May 2014

I was hoping to wait until after 2, like most of you but don't think the crib will be safe for him if he keeps growing like he is! Next LO, if there is another, we're going to have to buy a bigger crib.

jsoubel · May 2014

Sonja has been in her toddler bed since she turned one and she's doing great! It's up against the wall and we shoved a pool noodle under the fitted sheet on the outer edge, which keeps her from rolling out...mostly. She has rolled out maybe five times since December. This past weekend we gave her a "crib pillow" (super flat pillow from Ikea) and comforter. She was like, "What is this junk?!" and refuses to use either. LOL. Oh well. Before that, she was just in there with a blankie. Good luck! It's easier and works better than you would expect.

valeriegp · May 2014

For those of you who have your kids out of the crib already. This might sound like a stupid question, but do you worry about your LOs getting out and wandering around in the middle of the night? For various reasons we leave the doors to non-baby proofed rooms open at night (a bathroom and the office), and I worry about him getting out of bed and getting into all kinds of stuff while we are sleeping.

SingleMom31 · May 2014

I'm actually sort of looking forward to it. It's getting harder to lift DD into the crib as she's getting heavier and my tummy is getting bigger. When she's visited the 18 month class room at daycare, they've had her nap on a cot, which isn't wholly dissimiliar, and that's gone okay.

ExcitedAunt2b · May 2014

My sister had a daughter 10 months older than ours, and she's still in her crib. It's a regular sized one though, and she has a new baby due in October. Not sure if she's planning on moving her first to a regular bed or if she'll get another crib though.

kescalera · May 2014

DH and I decided to move Killian into a toddler bed in the next month or so. I was looking at designs online and DH said he'd rather make the bed for his son than buy one. He's also going to build a new bed frame for SS12 so both boys have Daddy-built beds.

We keep Killian's bedroom door closed at night so we'll just have to re-arrange a little bit for child-proofing but otherwise we made sure the entire top floor of our house is pretty safe. Now that he's figured out the stairs we could take the gate down but its a nice corral during the day.

JessAnnJ · May 2014

My reason for keeping DD in her crib is mostly I like knowing she is stuck in there and can't get out. She has been sleeping in a cot at daycare since around 1 and does just fine, but since she's also doing fine in her crib I don't see a reason to move her. I also do not want to change her routine before the new baby comes. If she were out growing her crib like your LO is then I would transition her earlier.

LittleFish1 · May 2014

At day care LO is in a pacnplay; she cosleeps at home. When ever I have tried putting her into her crib, she wakes up/gets so upset that we took the front off of it a month ago & now she'll climb into it on her own, or put a toy to bed. Am not comfirtable leaving her unsupervised in there yet & figure will try this summer to have her sleeping in it more often. She has to first learn not to stand in the bed though. Plus once we stop using the changing table & remove it, her room will be pretty much ready to go for being unsupervised.

jellyfish2010 · May 2014

When my daughter was born we moved her in to my son's old pack n'play. He had transitioned to his toddler bed only two months before her birth. He was 2 at the time. Our plan was to buy a second PNP but since he moved to toddler bed early we decided to save the money. Big mistake! When DS saw that our new sis was sleeping in his old crib he was not having it. We quickly moved the old crib back in his room, and used it as storage for his toys. Then, we drove to BRU promptly to buy a new PNP. In my defense, baby #2 was born 3 weeks early and this was not all planned out as well as we'd hoped. Wanted to share just in case this saves another mom the drama...

jsoubel · May 2014

valeriegp said:

For those of you who have your kids out of the crib already. This might sound like a stupid question, but do you worry about your LOs getting out and wandering around in the middle of the night? For various reasons we leave the doors to non-baby proofed rooms open at night (a bathroom and the office), and I worry about him getting out of bed and getting into all kinds of stuff while we are sleeping.

DD's room is baby proofed and we just shut her door, and she can't work door knobs yet. If you don't want to shut the door, maybe put a baby gate up? I can absolutely foresee wandering around if they can get out of their room.

valeriegp · May 2014

Duh! A baby gate. I didn't even think of that, because we don't have a single one in our small, older house! We just haven't had a need for one. Thanks, jsoubel. :-)

[Deleted User] · May 2014

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Jackiemxoxo · May 2014

DD has a crib that turns into a toddler bed. I think we will move her after 2 or if she starts to climb out of it. Her room isn't baby proofed yet though so we would do that first and then she'll have free reign.

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