big girl bed

Samantha - posted on 03/26/2009

I gave Angelina a big girl bed at 20mo they have side rails on them so we have not had any issues with it.

Becky - posted on 03/24/2009

My daughter started crawling out of her crib about a month ago. We brought her new baby sister home and think this was her way of rebelling. We converted the crib to the toddler bed, and she did great! The first night she came out of her room 3 times, the second night twice, and hasn't done it since. We just do our same routine, didn't make a big deal out of the change that was made, and it was like she didn't even really notice or care. Good Luck!

Elizabeth - posted on 03/23/2009

I moved my daughter into her big girl bed before Christmas! I'm talking a regular twin sized bed, not a todler bed. For her own safety I had to. She kept trying to climb out! I had NO problems what so ever at all. I put her in her bed and she plays with her dollies untill she falls asleep. Even on nights she doesn't want to go to sleep she will not get out of bed. She sits there and yells "I want out of my room", but never gets out! My son was the same way. Maybe I'm just lucky! They both took to it no problem. She fell out of bed once, but I had placed the crib mattress on the floor beside her bed so she didn't get hurt!

Anna - posted on 03/15/2009

Isabella turned 2 in March but has been in her big girl bed since January.... Knock on wood she transitioned well. Her crib is a three in one and we skipped the toddler bed and went right for the big girl bed which turned out to be a full size bed.. (Not twin full size where 2 people can sleep) She LOVES it and doesn't climb out... If she wakes up in the middle of night she cries or calls for me or my husband. And when she goes to bed, she climbs up her little step and we read her books and then she off to sleep. Her bed is up against the wall and we have the guard rail on the open side... We were actually very lucky with her....
People had told me I was gonna regret this putting her in so early but I think we made the right decision and it worked or us... If you daughter is too big for her crib and the crib converts to a toddler bed she may be to big for that as well. You have to check to see how the crib converts or buy a different toddler bed or skip the toddler bed all together and go for the "actual" big girl bed... We had success so my advice is to just try it!!!! Good luck!!!!

Arielle - posted on 02/28/2009

My daughter is very tall for her age but I had to move her to a big girl bed when she lreaned to climed out of her crib. I didn't have a promblems getting her to say in her bed..she really liked it. when i went to get her up for the day she was always sleeping on the floor. She now she sleeps in her bed all night. When I change the sheets I let her picked the ones she whants on the bed..

Melinda - posted on 02/27/2009

My daughters crip was one that was recalled so instead of buying another crip I bought her a toddler bed.  She has been in her toddler bed for about a month and a half now.  I actually have int right up against my side of the bed.  She usually falls asleep with us and we put her into her bed; however she does often climb in bed with us. She did fall out a couple of times at first so I have put a couple of pillows on the side.  She loves her bed though and is proude of her big girl bed.

Danielle - posted on 02/27/2009

My daughter went into a big girl bed when she was about 18 months.... mainly because I broke the railing on her crib!!! Anyway, she does awesome and loves her bed.... when she gets out and comes into my room I just send her right back to her bed!! i was suprised at how well she took to it!!

Stephanie - posted on 02/26/2009

My daughter figured out how to climb out of her crib the Friday after Thanksgiving and kept doing it all that day during her nap time and all that night.  So we bought her sheets for her twin bed (my bed from when I was little, so it's not a toddler bed but a regular twin bed) and set her bed up Sunday morning.  We let her "help" set the bed up and put the sheets on and talked to her about it while we were doing it.  When we put her down for her nap that day she cried for about an hour and a half and then fell asleep on the floor.  But at bedtime that night she only cried for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep and she's been fine ever since.

Sometimes she cries because she doesn't want to go to bed but she never gets out of her bed, just lays there and cries herself to sleep.  And when she wakes up she just lays there talking to herself until we come to get her.  I think what helped us is that she transitioned to the toddler room at her daycare in September and they sleep on cots and that kind of broke her in for the whole big girl bed thing.  We did leave the crib in her room for a couple of weeks but she never paid any attention to it and when we did move it out, we didn't let her see so she doesn't miss it at all.

Hope this helps!

Kim - posted on 02/23/2009

My daughter will be 2 on March the 3rd, she climbed out of her crib about 3 weeks ago during nap, so that day we went and got a toddler bed from Toys R Us, the 1st night was hard, but ever since then she has done great.  BTW, I did not even realize that Toys R Us had toddler beds until we had gone to just about every furniture stor on our side of town and a salesman told me they had them there.  They had some really cute ones, hers looks like a real miniature Big people bed.  And very reasonably priced.

Rebecca - posted on 02/12/2009

My boy is still in his crib. He does fine and doesn't clunk around....not that we hear anyywas. He doesn't even try to climb out. I think we are going to wait a bit longer before we move into the big bed. Knowing my son it will be fun. Once he knows he can get out....he'll be out playing. There's also alot of changes going on anyways with him having to get ear tubes. It's hard to decide when to move them to the next stage, before they just did it on their own with walking and talking,,now we as parents get to make the next move with when to take away the soother, potty train and move to the big bed.

Andrada - posted on 02/11/2009

I suggest leaving her in her crib as long as you can. Even if she initially stays in her toddler bed she's likely to get out more as she gets older. My 4 year old still gets out of bed at least once a night. If you do need to put her in a bed make sure you have a rock solid bed time routine and she is sleeping through the night. Make sure you have a plan to keep her in bed. Baby gates or something. Then decide when she wakes up are you going to sit/lay with her till she falls asleep or put her in and leave. Whatever you decide having a plan makes it easier to deal with problems in the middle of the night.

for kids who climb out of cribs you can get a crib tent to keep them in.

Stephanie - posted on 02/11/2009

I just put my daughter into a big girl bed two weeks ago and the first time it took me almost an hour and a half before she finally fell asleep! By the second night she knew i ment business and she's been out like a light every night I don't even have to stay in there with her any more. I just sat at the side of the bed and as soon as she got down I picked her up put her back in bed and said it's night night time. then she decided it was fun to sit and play on her bed but she got tired layed down and fell asleep. I was so afraid she would wake up in the middle of the night and decide it was time to go play in the living room or something i got a baby gate for her door (I hate the idea of closing the door with her in there) but she hasn't once gotten out of bed in the middle of the night. good luck!

Amanda - posted on 02/11/2009

Hi, I put my son in a toddler bed at 18 months (the same age as his elder sister was when I put her in a toddler bed) and he loves it. Amazingly he has not fallen out of the bed and just calls for us when he wakes in the morning. I was worried with both of them when putting them into the toddler beds, but on both occasions my concerns have be unfounded.

Carrie - posted on 02/10/2009

If she is not trying to climb out of her crib, don't worry about it. I planned on keeping my son in  his crib as long as possible, but he ended up likeing the bed. I would have been happy if he didn't take to it. I don't want him to grow up : (

Bonnie - posted on 02/09/2009

Well, I wish I could say that it was an easy transition for my girl, but it wasn't. We made the mistake of keeping her crib set up in the room. We were thinking we would leave it just in case. She woke up all through the night asking for the other bed. It was back and forth all night. Then nap the next day didn't happen at all. She was not going to stay in the bed. We took it out. We are going to wait a couple weeks then try again... without the crib in the room to tempt her!

BRITTNAY - posted on 02/09/2009

i switched my daughter into a toddler bed 3weeks ago and it has been really hard for me, She has always been a sleeper she slept from 9pm to 9am at 3months old and now that weve switched shes up 5 times anight yelling, she likes to play in her new bed but not sleep in it. The only way i can get her to sleep is with me now

Meredith - posted on 02/06/2009

Hi - my daughter went into a bed in November. One day she tried climbing out of her cot, and I caught her dangling over the edge, and it scared me so much that I put her in my bed, and got her a bed asap. She loved her big girl bed from day one. For the first couple of weeks I sat with her till she fell asleep, but she very quickly got used to it. Now I just tuck her in and give her a kiss and she goes right off to sleep. she rarely gets out of bed at night, and if she does she comes straight in to see me.

It's a big step, more for us parents than the kids - our babies are no longer babies! But it's well worth doing. I find she sleeps much better in a bed than in a cot. I put a beanbag next to the bed in case she rolled out. I remember the first few nights she did fall out but as she got such a soft landing on the beanbag she barely even woke up. And after the first week she learned where the edge of the bed was and has never fallen out since.

good luck!

Sandra - posted on 02/06/2009

I put my youngest in a toddler bed this past October, We had issues at first with her getting out. I would have to stay in the room with her till she fell asleep or she would run right out of there. In November we bought her a Twin bed and have had no issues at all. I say "ok time for bed" and that is that. She shares a room with her big sister so maybe that is what makes her stay.

When I put my oldest in the toddler bed, she treated it like her crib and would call for me or my husband when she woke up but wouldn't get up till we got her. Each child is different. All I can say is when you say its bed time, stick to it. The more they can manipulate the more they will, well at least mine will LOL

Sarah - posted on 02/06/2009

I put my daughter in her big girl bed at about 21 months, about a month and a half ago, and she does great. it's not bad at all. the worst is the first few nights when they realized they don't need mom and dad to get them out. :)

Lisa - posted on 02/06/2009

I have found the most fantastic bedding set which i am sure will be very useful when I put Oliver in a toddler bed. It is called "grobag first bedding set" the duvet zips onto the bottom sheet to help stop them falling out of bed. It is available from bumpto3.com

Clare-maree - posted on 02/05/2009

I put off moving my youngest to a bed because i thought it would be difficult. My eldest never slept in his crib, so he co-slpet with us and then straight into his own bed. My youngest loved his crib so much i thought it's time to move him to a bed before he get's anymore attached to it. I put the rail on his bed to stop him rolling out, did the same bed routine and turned out the light and shut the door. Did not have a problem, i don't know what i was worried about. Occasionally i come in to check on him in the night and he'll be asleep on the floor, but i just put him back into bed and he get's up when he's ready to in the morning.

Kerrin - posted on 02/05/2009

Just make sure the bed is quite low to the ground so she can get in and out easily and won't hurt herself if she tumbles out, and that you have a safety rail beside where she does most of her sleeping (they tend to roll all over the place). She might fall out a few times initially but won't take long to adapt to the change.

Leanne - posted on 02/05/2009

My son climbed out of his crib at 14 months old. We then got him a little toddler bed and put a baby gate in the door way. He sleeps so much better at night since he didn't really like his crib to begin with.

Jayme - posted on 02/05/2009

My daughter Dustyn was climbing out of her crib, so about a month ago, I converted her crib to a toddler bed. She kept falling out of it at night, so I just put the crib mattress on the floor for her to sleep on. It's working very well for us. I also have a gate in the doorway to keep her in the bedroom. She shares a room with her 3 1/2 year old sister, so I had to empty the closet to keep them from pulling everything down. The only furniture in their room are their beds. I'm planning to buy her a twin bed for her birthday, since she loves to climb on her sisters bed. Another piece of advice...get some kind of privacy window stuff and ditch the blinds. My girls have destroyed their blinds by climbing in them! Isn't toddler-hood fun? lol

Lori - posted on 02/02/2009

I'm getting ready to get my dd Addison in a big girl bed...she knows how to climb out now.....

Bonnie - posted on 02/02/2009

well, my daughter can't open doors yet. my kids both sleep with their doors shut. keeping her in the room won't be the problem. i'm worried about her climbing on furniture, pulling all her clothes out or doing anything other than sleep! sounds like it will go better than i expect it to. we are giving it a try this weekend.

Katie - posted on 02/02/2009

My son went in a big bed for the first time on saturday night, i let him get into bed himself then sat with him for a while he tried to get out few times but i just kept telling him it was bed time and time for him to go to sleep once he stopped trying to get out of bed i left the room and he stayed in bed all night. his room is pitch black at night so maybe he didn't want to get out of bed! we were expecting the worst, last night grandma put him to be and she stayed next to him in semi darkness until he settled himself and went to sleep then he slept through again. i am sure there will be nights in the future where er are up and down. my tip from the first 2 nights!! would be don't let them even get out of bed (be as you mean to go on, don't let them get away with anythig) sit with them either in silence not letting them get out of bed or reapting the same phrase over and over again until they settle down. will post again tomorrow if anything changes. any ideas for keeping him in his room when he wakes up he has all his toys?

Katie - posted on 02/02/2009

My son went in a big bed for the first time on saturday night, i let him get into bed himself then sat with him for a while he tried to get out few times but i just kept telling him it was bed time and time for him to go to sleep once he stopped trying to get out of bed i left the room and he stayed in bed all night. his room is pitch black at night so maybe he didn't want to get out of bed! we were expecting the worst, last night grandma put him to be and she stayed next to him in semi darkness until he settled himself and went to sleep then he slept through again. i am sure there will be nights in the future where er are up and down. my tip from the first 2 nights!! would be don't let them even get out of bed (be as you mean to go on, don't let them get away with anythig) sit with them either in silence not letting them get out of bed or reapting the same phrase over and over again until they settle down. will post again tomorrow if anything changes. any ideas for keeping him in his room when he wakes up he has all his toys?

Kristine - posted on 02/01/2009

i just recently converted my crib to a daybed for my daught. she took to it right away. it has been over a week and she only was found sleeping on the floor the first night. I think she likes the freedom.But I do find all her cloths on the floor most mornings

Kristine - posted on 02/01/2009

i just recently converted my crib to a daybed for my daught. she took to it right away. it has been over a week and she only was found sleeping on the floor the first night. I think she likes the freedom.But I do find all her cloths on the floor most mornings

Bonnie - posted on 02/01/2009

sounds like i should give it a try! i hate the idea of her being cramped at night. thanks for sharing your stories!

Heidi - posted on 02/01/2009

i put my girl in a big bed when as i needed the crib for the litlle one, she's so proud of her bed and she deffenitly stays in her bed untill i wake up in the morning , she plays and takes of her pj's but she won't get out even though she's more than welcome to

Carrie - posted on 02/01/2009

That's so funny that you say that, I hear the clunking too. My friend gave me a toddler bed a few day ago, so I figured why not try it out. My son has slept in it 3 nights in a row now. I still have his crib up for naps, or if he decides to start giving me trouble. But you should try it. I think you will be suprised to see how easy it is. I know I was. Or at least set it up and let her play on it during the day. I think my son thinks it is so cool to have his own litlle bed. He loves it!

Nanell - posted on 01/27/2009

I moved my daughter to a toddler bed almost a month ago.  And was worried about her not staying in it.  But she stays in it fine.  But she wants to be like her big brother so stays in.  goes to sleep at night and sleeps thru the night.  And then lets herself out in the morning when she wakes up. 

For our son we moved him to a toddler bed at  13 months.  He hated the crib and we co-slept.  So his own bed was nice. He also stayed in his bed.  The first week was hard.  I had to hold the door shut or put up the baby gate so he could not leave his room.  But I just kept putting him back in bed and then after a week he was fine. 

Each kid is different so what works for one may not work for the next.  Sounds like she is ready for a big gril bed. 

Lisa - posted on 01/27/2009

My son does the same thing. All night I hear him banging up against the sides of his crib. I thought it was just that he moves around a lot at night but maybe he is just getting too big for it! I have a six month old who currently sleeps in a portable crib - I am planning to move him into the bigger crib when Aidan transitions to a big boy bed. Maybe this will happen sooner than I thought. I'm interested to hear what others' opinions are...