Transition to Toddler Bed - Warren,MI

Sounds like you are on the right track with the super cool race car bed! =0) With my kids, I did my best to make it really fun and exciting as well. We moved them from the crib straight to twin beds. My daughter was 2 and my son was only 18mths (he learned to climb!). I also did my best to keep the bed as similar to their crib as I could at first. For instance, my son had green crib sheets and many little stuffed "friends" in his crib. So, when I put moved him to his twin bed, I placed the bed in a corner and used a safety rail on the exposed side. I put a green sheet on the mattress, didn't use a pillow, used his exact same little blanket that he used in his crib, and even arranged all his little stuffed friends along the edges of his mattress just like they were in his crib. We had virtually NO transition at all because he felt so comfortable with all the similarities. Good luck and congrats on the big milestone!!! =0)

We moved our daughter right before she turned 2 into a big girl bed, she did great. We were VERY strict and told her she could not get out of bed, if she needed something she had to call for us. We didn't have any problems at all. Good Luck!

If you absolutely have to move him, have him help pick out the bedding and anything else that's needed for the room. Use a gate at the doorway. Baby proof the room with outlet covers, dresser supports in the back to stop tipping, lock closet doors. Get down on your hands and knees to see what you can find. Take out everything that is not needed in there. Use dark curtains or blinds, or blacken out the windows completely, so you control his nap and sleeping time. Use a faint nightlight so it's not bright enough for him to see easily and play all her wants. Tell him his rules for bed time, what he should and should not do. Anything with cords like lamps and such should be behind the dresser or taken out completely for safety. You can use small velcro straps and wrap up excess cord so it's not tempting. Maybe buy him some glow in the dark peel and stick decor for the wall or celiing like stars and planets.

K. B
mom to 5 inlcuding triplets

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I just wanted to say that it might be rough for a few days but when we put our daughter in her bed she was about 1 1/2 (i think way to young) but my husband insisted. She was excited about it untill it came to bed time, she ran to the living room and laid on the floor with her pillow and blanket. she was fine after 3 days. Just try and make it a big deal to be a big boy everything will be fine,

hi there we just did this for our 2 yr old amd we just repainted her room and made it fun and cute and she likes to go in to her new room and bed :P

I went through this a few months ago and called a trusted friend for some tips in advance. It worked for me - we had NO issues at all. The main tip: if he is crying at the door, simply go in and place him back in his bed with very few words, such as "it's ok, this is your new bed". If you have to do this a lot at first, progressively increase the duration of crying before you put him back in bed. Do not coddle, do not cuddle, and do NOT stay with him. If you do, it will encourage him to cry for you because you are giving him what he wants. The first night we told him all about his new bed before we lay him down, so there were no surprises. If your crib has a conversion rail, you could use that for a week or so, getting him used to the idea while keeping the familiarity of his crib, then switch to the toddler bed. I know every child is different, but I hope you have the same luck!

Have your son pick out his own cool big boy sheets and blanket and go from there. Make it fun!!!! My daughter was 20 months and I was due in 4 months when we did this. We got her a twin bed, let her pick out some princess sheets and she never wanted to sleep in the crib again

We moved our son at age 2 and really haven't had any problems. I suggest doing it on a weekend, when you and your spouse are both home. That gives them a bit more time to adjust.
Also, congratulations on your pregnancy! I'm due 03/18/2010 and I'm guessing you're close. So exciting!

We got our son to transition to his toddler bed by putting it in his room with his crib. To start out, we would read his bed time stories in the bed and then put him in the crib. In just a few days, he demanded to sleep in his toddler bed instead of his crib and he never looked back. Then we moved the toddler bed into his "big boy" room shortly after his baby brother came home from the hospital. I was worried that we should have done that before the baby arrived, but he had no problems.
Good luck!

The advice from our pediatrician was to keep them in the crib as long as possible (as long as they're not trying to crawl out, etc).

We were in the same situation when we had our 2nd. He was only 21 months at the time. We kept him in there until he was almost 2.5 when she needed to be in the crib (long story - medical necessity to keep her with us).

Since he got into his own room, in his own bed, he has not once stayed in it all night.

Maybe someone else will have better recommendations, but unless it's absolutely necessary to use the crib for the newborn, I'd say keep your toddler there as long as he's willing to be in there.

Good luck!

Allison is right on! New bedding, a new "big boy" pillow, etc. will make it cool for him. Do it now, because you don't want that headache+ a newborn.

We just transitioned our 38 month son into a twin bed last weekend. He was fine in the crib and never tried climbing out until last week so we thought why bother! Anyway, he was sooo excited. We did everything the other readers mentioned: bought exciting new blankets, kept everything the same as much as possible, and babyproofed like crazy. The first night he climbed out a few times, the second night I sat in his room and basically told him to stay in bed every time he climbed out. He hated that because he is not used to me being in there. That seemed to work along with the bribe of getting a special sucker the next day if he stayed in bed. We are on our fourth night and he did not get out yesterday or the day before. He will still call me if he needs anything though. I have not had the same luck with naps though :( Good luck to you!!!!!

if you can, put the bed in the room with the crib so he has a choice at first.. if you can take the crib slider side off so it is more like a toddler bed transition he will see the similarilty between the two and by doing that you already sort of took away the crib since it isnt complete! once he sees that he is not forced to give up his crib, rather he is a big boy deciding to sleep somewhere else, it might go easier on him. also if you can - put it together when he can see you doing it so he understands where it came from, you can tell him he is being a great grother letting baby have his crib or ask him which one he wants the baby to sleep in!

good luck