STM crib debate

buckleyk · June 2015

Heres the current debate in my house . . . We have an older son who will be 22 months when they new baby arrives. Obviously he's still sleeping in his crib and loves it (wakes up happy, plays with toys until we get him, isn't screaming to get out). He even asks to get in at night! He hasn't tried to climb out although I'm 100% sure he could if he tried.

The new baby will probably be in a bassinet until 4-6 months which is what we did for my son. So she doesn't need a crib ASAP but I'm starting to feel anxious about getting ready for her arrival.

My husband doesn't want to buy a new crib and wants to transition DS to a twin bed when we're readying to move the new baby to a crib or sooner.

I, on the other hand, think we shouldn't mess with a good thing and think we should leave DS in the crib as long as possible. Why create a problem where one doesn't exist? Right? Plus, if we weren't having a new baby, we wouldn't even be thinking about moving him.

Anyone in a similar situation? Thoughts? Advice?

kedbach · June 2015

FTM so no "informed decision" here, but what about buying new baby a second-hand crib and allow DS to continue using his for the time-being. When the time is right, purchase him a twin bed. Baby will still be in her crib (or transition to his) for some time.

stow2009 · June 2015

4-6 months is a long time (plus you aren't due for another month at least) and a lot could change in that time frame for your son as far as wanting to climb out of the crib/ being ready for a toddler bed. I would not make any hasty purchases just yet. He will be 2 and a half- It might be the perfect timing for you to explain to your son that now he gets a big boy bed and gets to pass along his crib to his little sibling.

jesselayne8 · June 2015

I would buy a cheaper crib. I got one from Target for $99 and it has held up beautifully. Not sure how big your bassinet is but the baby may not fit for 4/6 months.

KMBC2552 · June 2015

We were in a similar situation (DS#1 was 17m when DS#2 was born). We wound up buying a less expensive crib from Ikea. You don't necessarily need to decide right away though. You can see how he is in 6m and if you think he is ready for a twin bed, go that route, if you don't go buy a less expensive crib.

TGolay · June 2015

My older son will be 21 months when this baby is due and we are in the exact same situation. He does really well in his crib and I don't want to mess up the good thing we've got going there either! We bought a second crib from a friend for our oldest to use until he's ready for a "big boy" bed.

hclzmm14 · June 2015

Like PP, my DD will be 17 months when new baby arrives. We were going to transition to a real bed for her, but decided none of us were really ready for that! So we got her a $70 crib from Ikea for her big girl room instead. Bonus, I was able to get her a new dresser for $85 and some nice shelves too.

At the end of the day, think of the sleepless nights you'll have to endure when you transition your LO. That is what really made my decision lol

lvrunningirlie · June 2015

Lucky he's not trying to escape! My guy was out before 2. I'm kind of with your husband on this just for financial reasons. Why buy another crib when your oldest isn't going to be in his much longer and you're going to buy him a twin eventually anyways. Then you'll have paid for another crib unnecessarily.

We bought our toddler a twin bed and he loves it. We made sure to transition his to his new bed and new room way before his sister comes so he doesn't feel like he's getting kicked out, it was all about him and not her. So now she's going to have his crib and furniture and he doesn't care.

Like I said. I wouldn't buy another crib when the one we have isn't going to be used much longer

Startingagain2015 · June 2015

What I did is a month or 2 before baby was born I bought my son a car shaped toddler bed. He fell in love with it and firgot all about the crib.

love4yourlocks · June 2015

You have to transition eventually and it might be easier while he is younger. We put my DS in a toddler bed at a little over 1 and he did great! It was nice having him get used to the indepence. We did have a baby gate at his door though so he couldn't go wander around if he got up. It's really whatever works best for your family but for us the transition was smooth!

Thj417 · June 2015

Thank you! I am debating the same thing. DS will be 16 months when baby girl is born... His crib is a convertible one and figure I'd rather transition him to that before going to a big boy bed. Sooo baby girl will probably get her own crib before she is 6 months. A cheapo one for sure though. Can't afford to spend $$$ on another nice one!!

buckleyk · June 2015

Oh man! You guys were all supposed to take my side :P (obviously, I'm joking!)

I should also add my husband works nights so part of my desire to keep him in his crib as long as possible is that I'll be alone with 2 kids (under 2) at night. Not something I'm looking forward it! And I'll be going back to work between 6-8 weeks- it's stressing me out already.

And yes, definitely not looking to spend a lot of a new crib! We bought DS's pottery barn crib for $100 (only a year old) on Craigslist so I'm hoping to find another good deal.

lvrunningirlie · June 2015

We put a baby gate at his door so he couldn't wander around the house at night. Gave us peace of mind (especially after a few horror movie like experiences where I woke up and he was standing next to my bed lol)

lethanne · June 2015

I worried about this as well as our son he is now 25 months and was still doing just fine in a crib. We decided to purchase a toddler bed and make the transition. We didn't want him to feel like he was losing it to the baby after his arrival so decided that before was better than after. Honestly it's been an easy transition for the most part, no regrets and glad it's now done and I have the crib in the new nursery ready when we are. Good luck!

Miz_Liz · June 2015

For me, I would not buy another crib. You said he will be 22 months when the new baby gets here and then the new baby will be in your room 4-6 months, which means he will be close to 2.5 by the time you transition the baby, so really, how much use would you get out of a new crib before you need to buy him a bed anyway? I was TERRIFIED of moving DS to a "big boy bed" because he too was awesome in his crib and I hated to mess with a good thing, but we did it and have zero regrets. We did it already because we didn't want him thinking his sister was "stealing" his bed. First we talked about how exciting it would be and then took him bed shopping multiple times to let him see them in the stores and play on them. He was most excited for a night stand to put his water on. When we finally bought it, we expected a difficult transition but that boy never looked back! He LOVES his big boy bed and since he has been in it (few months now), he has only gotten out of it on his own once!! He still wakes up in the AM and calls for us (or in the middle of the night, ugh) instead of just getting up. Definitely not worth spending extra money to me, even if it is only $50, that is money that can go towards his new bed, which is inevitable.

PixelPosy · June 2015

I'm all for keeping toddlers captive at night as long as possible... If she was only 22 months, I'd have definitely gone with a second crib and converted the current crib to a toddler bed when we felt DD1 was ready. But she'll be nearing 3 when the baby arrives so we took the plunge and went with a full size, skipping the toddler bed altogether. Can't tell you if that was a mistake or not, as it's only been set up since Thursday and she's only slept one night in it. She did great that one night (Saturday!). We're letting it be her choice and the other nights she has wanted her crib. We think the key to Saturday was she was absolutely exhausted from running around all day. So that's our new plan is to try and run her ragged before bed and see if she allows herself to fall asleep in the big girl bed.

DD1 didn't sleep nights in her crib until 3 months when I returned to work... but I did like having her take naps there so it wasn't an unfamiliar space. So I'd prefer we get DD1 transitioned now, rather than after baby comes, so I can do the same with DD2.

Baby2HG · June 2015

I have a four year old and she sleeps in her crib that's converted into a toddler bed. She gets in and out whenever she wants. So we already have a toddler bed but its at my moms, that bed we will bring it soon so she can sleep on that one insted. I will then convert the toddler bed she's sleeping in now back into a crib. I get why spoil a good thing but the crib and toddler bed are there so why not transition her.

amylianne · June 2015

DS will be exactly 2 when DD comes. We moved him into a big boy bed with rails on all sides a few months ago. He wasn't climbing out, but he's getting so big that we knew it would need to happen sooner than later, and didn't want him to feel like the baby took his bed.
He did seat drops all night, and loves his bed!

jesselayne8 · June 2015

lvrunningirlie said:
We put a baby gate at his door so he couldn't wander around the house at night. Gave us peace of mind (especially after a few horror movie like experiences where I woke up and he was standing next to my bed lol)

I wish! My 24 month old would scale a baby gate in 1.3 seconds. He shows up at my bedside 1-3x a night.

Perfect Sonnet · June 2015

If he is staying in there, keep in it as long as you can. We transitioned our daughter's crib to a toddler bed when she was about 22 months even though she wasn't climbing out or anything. I totally regretted it. She was up all night. The next one is staying in her crib as long as she will allow it.

I would just keep your baby in the bassinet and see if you need a new crib or a twin bed in 4-6 months.

lvrunningirlie · June 2015

jesselayne8 said:

We put a baby gate at his door so he couldn't wander around the house at night. Gave us peace of mind (especially after a few horror movie like experiences where I woke up and he was standing next to my bed lol)
I wish! My 24 month old would scale a baby gate in 1.3 seconds. He shows up at my bedside 1-3x a night.

Yeah that was just in the beginning, now (he's almost 3.5) he stays in his bedroom almost all night and will only leave in the morning when he's up and "the suns up" so he knows he can get up.

Starynightsky24 · June 2015

We transitioned DS at 19mo old. He will be almost exactly 2 when DD arrives and like PP I didn't want him to feel like the baby took his bed. Like you, I almost just bought another bed to avoid the whole thing. It just started to seem ridiculous when I needed so many other things for the baby (double strollers are expensive!).

He did great. He actually sleeps MUCH better in his big boy bed. I'm glad I got it over with.

blovemama · June 2015

My mom has told me repeatedly that transitioning me from a crib at 2.5 to a bed so my cousin could have the crib was a huge mistake. Apparently, I liked my crib just fine but once they switched me to a bed, I tried to sleep in their room every night for years. I'm not sure why they didn't just reintroduce the crib. I'd say wait until you're ready to move from bassinet to crib with the new one to decide whether the older one is ready. You can always buy another crib that transitions to a toddler bed so it won't be a total waste of money.

jesicabrennan · June 2015

My kid is just shy of 3, still in his crib and we went ahead and bought a new one for new baby. Both cribs are convertible to toddler beds and then to twin beds so I saw no reason not to just get another crib as DS will still be using his as a toddler bed when that transition happens.

benmel31 · June 2015

DD will be 2 1/2 when this little one arrives.

She sleeps great in her crib and due to other circumstances, we decided to get another crib instead of trying to transition her to a toddler bed. I was afraid we were going to try to make too many changes close together (new sibling, potty training, most likely stopping daycare) that I did not want to mess with her sleep on top of it right now.

We got a bedroom set off of Craigslist that included a crib.

ambah · June 2015

My DD is 2 and the exact same! She loves her crib and is happy. I did not want to move her out of it just because baby 2 was coming and we didn't want to buy a new crib. My DD crib is a convertible one, so when she is ready for a toddler bed, we can flip it to that. So we went out and bought a second convertible crib for baby 2. Now we don't have to rush DD out of hers....plus it is re-assuring knowing she is safe in her crib while I will be busy with baby 2.

buckleyk · June 2015

@benmel31 I'm also worried about too many changes all at once too! New sibling, new daycare and I'll be going back to work after having the summer off. I don't want to throw too much at him all at once.

His crib converts to a toddler bed so I'd rather make that transition when he's ready rather than rush him into a twin bed just because we're having a new baby.

gossarmd · June 2015

We got convertible cribs for both kids. Hopefully they will last until the kids leave the house.

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