STM+ Crib Transition ?

ohiodoxiemama08 · December 2014

Currently DD is still in a crib. It converts into a toddler bed and a full sized bed--so she'll continue to use her bed and we'll get a new crib for baby. Originally we had planned on switching her out around her 2nd birthday (next month). But now I'm not so sure. A bunch of moms that I have talked to have said if she doesn't climb out of it then to just leave her in the crib. But I'm wondering when I should transition her.

With a baby coming there will be a lot of changes this summer, and I don't know if switching beds then will be too overwhelming. Not to mention I'm afraid of sleep disturbances. A newborn will be exhausting enough--DD's a good night sleeper and I'm counting on that. So part of me wonders if I should get the difficult transition over with now?

What have other STMs done/plan to do? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

elbowpasta · December 2014

I'm a FTM, so take this with a grain of salt, I don't have any direct experience... But, that said, if she's making a transition to big sister, no longer an only child, AND no longer sleeping in a crib, that's a lot. Maybe it would help to break up the "changes" a little.

If you move to a toddler bed, now, she might not be SO overwhelmed when baby comes with all the new changes. Doing it on her 2nd birthday will solidify her growing up, and will help her transition to a big girl bed. Then later, she can graduate to big sister. Doing it separately will (maybe) avoid her feeling put out/replaced by baby.

Bednarova · December 2014

We waited until DS climbed out of the crib at 2.5. I was very surprised at how long it him to climb out. The twin bed he moved to had been in his room since before he was born, so we'd played on it and slept on it with him when he was sick as a toddler.
The challenge then became keeping him in his room. We ended up putting a childproof door knob cover on the inside of his door.

Other than having to stay with him while he fell asleep for awhile, no hitches in his sleep at all.

eta: If you do transition her, I would do it well in advance of the baby's arrival, just so there isn't so much change at once.

LadySif · December 2014

Pretty much word-for-word what bednarova said. We're just going through it now, he turned two in October and crawled out of his crib last week. We immediately replaced the crib with the twin bed, put on special sheets and made a big deal out of it and it has been going okay. Nap time is hardest because he keeps popping out but I just sit in the hall on a stool outside his door with my back to him and if he gets out, I silently put him back in and he eventually stays. Nights are fine, he woke up twice the first night but otherwise has slept through no problems. You can probably give it a little more time, but I would transition at least a few months before baby starts to disrupt your DD's sleep. Enjoy the lack of climbing while it lasts!

jfelicio · December 2014

I moved my daughter into a toddler bed with a rail at her second birthday. She did just fine with the toddler rail. Maybe this would make your child feel like a big kid and the older sibling. Like something special since the new baby is going to be in a crib. I'm going thru something similar with my DD. We are moving her room and having the baby take her room that she is in now. We told her why and that she gets to paint it what ever color she wants and now she is pumped to "move " lol

ksimo6 · December 2014

My girlfriend told me that the biggest mistake she made was moving her 2 year old into a bed to make way for the new baby in the crib. She was a great sleeper and now she wanders the house at night! I am heeding her warning and we are getting a second crib. When DD starts to climb out of her crib, we will transition to a bed.

willowprincess · December 2014

I got a second crib. Wasn't worth messing with her sleep. Plus we had a crap ton of changes in her first 3 years, so we wanted to spread some things out.

Also, my kids all learned to climb out by 9 months and no way was I transitioning to a toddler bed then.(they only napped in them anyway)

honeybunches101 · December 2014

C has been able to climb in and out of his crib for almost a year but we don't plan to convert it to a toddler bed any time soon. At least the rails are a deterrent and he sleeps great in it, so why change? I think whatever you decide will work out fine, but I am not going to do anything to mess with his sleep unless I absolutely have to. When he gets too big for the crib, we'll put him in a twin or double bed I guess. Maybe when he's 5

angielayne926 · December 2014

I have a DS that turned two in November. He has never tried to climb out, so we are leaving him in his crib for a bit. We do have a toddler bed already, though, in case he tries to climb out, we don't have to rush around to get a bed for him.

blu-eyedwife · December 2014

I agree with your mom friends. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

We waited until our son crawled out of his crib, and he never did. Over the summer, when was almost 3, he started waking up at night asking to pee. It was kind of a pain to lift him in and out of the crib at night, so we converted it to a toddler bed at that point, and because we had waited so long, there was no "transition." He just started sleeping in the toddler bed. Never got out, never wandered around the house. He treats it just like a crib.

We're getting him a "Big Boy" bed any day now (we've been saying this since September when he had a couple nights where he was flipping out screaming in the middle of the night to take off the rails.) Coincidently we've been reading "Berenstein Bears and the New Baby" a lot lately, so he's really excited to get a big bed like Small Bear.

DolphinLover2002 · December 2014

Our DS turned 2 years old in September. We still have him in his crib as well. He has never tried to climb out of it. We do have a toddler bed for him and he has napped in it. But we aren't going to convert him for a little while yet.

My 1.5 year old nephew already got moved into his toddler bed. He was a super good sleeper. He never attempted to climb out of his crib either. Now he wakes up at least 3 to 4 times each night crying.

tiffbot1985 · December 2014

Interesting to read these. DS is 17 months now, and 23 at due date. Still a little undecided how we will do things. I've heard pros and cons to both! I think come the new year we'll just have to see what we are comfortable with. I coslept with DS for awhile so if that ends up happening with #2 again it will buy us more time.

walshbunnie · December 2014

My son is 2 and he is staying in a crib until we have to move him. I'm buying a new one for this baby anyways because we bought an inexpensive crib and my son chewed on the rails. As previous posters said, I'm a big believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Cuij · December 2014

I moved my son at 18 months to a double bed. It really helped us for all of the travelling we did as he was too big for a play pen.

pghctwife · December 2014

DS1 climbed out at 2y4m, fell badly, sent us to children's. He was fine but ugh so scary. It was tough having him out of the crib, I missed it!!!!! He needed to be contained haha. But overall the transition wasn't really bad. DS2 we moved at a year bc he hated his crib so much he vomited immediately. He is a terrible sleeper still but his being in a bed hasn't been an issue.

Ladymouse · December 2014

DS never slept a full night in his crib - he'd sprawl and wake the second he touched the side. He started sleeping much better when I put him in a full bed.

KikiCohen · December 2014

DS will be 2 when this baby is born. Our plan is to keep him in the crib as long as possible. This baby will sleep in our room in the bassinet part of the PNP for about 6 months, then we'll decide whether to buy a second crib or upgrade DS to a toddler bed. We actually already have one that we were given by a family member, so really we can switch whenever he's ready.

housewifebecomesher · December 2014

Lots of good advice here! DD will be 17 months when LO is born so we have been thinking about this too. I thought about just letting LO stay in the rock and play the first couple of months while DD is still in her crib but now I feel like maybe we need 2 cribs. The transition from RNP to crib was so hard for her! I know some say not to let them sleep in the RNP overnight too, but it was all that worked for us.

Lots to consider...good luck OP!

veggiemo · December 2014

For those worried about climbers, I have my 2 year old in the crib and in a thick sleep sack. With the cold winters here, it keeps him cozy and the bonus is that he can't climb out with it on. Something to consider if you want to prolong the crib usage.

As to the original question, I have no idea what my plan is yet! Baby will be sleeping in our room for the first few months so I figure I can just decide during that time how to proceed.

willowprincess · December 2014

veggiemo said:

For those worried about climbers, I have my 2 year old in the crib and in a thick sleep sack. With the cold winters here, it keeps him cozy and the bonus is that he can't climb out with it on. Something to consider if you want to prolong the crib usage. As to the original question, I have no idea what my plan is yet! Baby will be sleeping in our room for the first few months so I figure I can just decide during that time how to proceed.

I wish this would work for my kids. lol

My 2 year old has to wear a brace at night. It has a small bar that attaches his feet together. He still climbs out super easily. My youngest climbs out no problem and can't even stand on his own. I keep hoping at least one of my kids won't be a climber, but no luck so far.

KikiCohen · December 2014

Something else I'm considering is buying a second PNP. We have one that's currently in our living room and we use it for naps and for when I need to "put" DS somewhere safe while I shower. It's just a tiny bit too wide to move into our bedroom, so I think we'll get another one so that we have one in the bedroom for the baby to sleep at night and keep this one in the living room for naps. Graco has a few PNPs that are much cheaper than bassinets and co-sleepers.

veggiemo · December 2014

willowprincess said:

veggiemo said:

For those worried about climbers, I have my 2 year old in the crib and in a thick sleep sack. With the cold winters here, it keeps him cozy and the bonus is that he can't climb out with it on. Something to consider if you want to prolong the crib usage. As to the original question, I have no idea what my plan is yet! Baby will be sleeping in our room for the first few months so I figure I can just decide during that time how to proceed.

I wish this would work for my kids. lol
My 2 year old has to wear a brace at night. It has a small bar that attaches his feet together. He still climbs out super easily. My youngest climbs out no problem and can't even stand on his own. I keep hoping at least one of my kids won't be a climber, but no luck so far.

Looks like you have some adventurous kids! Mine just doesn't even try with the sleep sack on. Guess he picked up on some of those laziness qualties his mother possess

khaze · December 2014

I think every kid is going to be different in this area. We transitioned my son from his crib to his toddler bed 2 months ago. He wasn't climbing out, but there were some other sleep issues we were hoping the transition would solve (it didn't). Anyways, he ended up LOVING his new bed and he goes to sleep much better in it. He has only gotten out of it during the night maybe twice. We keep the stairs gated off and the doors shut to the other rooms upstairs, so the only place he can get to in the night is his room and my room. I would recommend doing the transition now as opposed to later though. We're going to get DS a new toddler bed so the new baby can use his crib and I will be buying that probably in February to start getting him detached from his crib and used to the new bed.

apeschka · December 2014

I waited until mine climbed out of his crib. He was 20 months so that was super fun. Frankly I wish he wasn't smart enough to have figured that out because he is a horrible sleeper and runs in our room at least once a night to get put back down and in the crib he would get himself back to sleep.

willowprincess · December 2014

veggiemo said:

willowprincess said:

veggiemo said:

For those worried about climbers, I have my 2 year old in the crib and in a thick sleep sack. With the cold winters here, it keeps him cozy and the bonus is that he can't climb out with it on. Something to consider if you want to prolong the crib usage. As to the original question, I have no idea what my plan is yet! Baby will be sleeping in our room for the first few months so I figure I can just decide during that time how to proceed.

I wish this would work for my kids. lol
My 2 year old has to wear a brace at night. It has a small bar that attaches his feet together. He still climbs out super easily. My youngest climbs out no problem and can't even stand on his own. I keep hoping at least one of my kids won't be a climber, but no luck so far.

Looks like you have some adventurous kids! Mine just doesn't even try with the sleep sack on. Guess he picked up on some of those laziness qualties his mother possess

lol, you have no idea!

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