the switch to the "big kid bed" ?

Jenny - posted on 04/30/2012

when my son got older like 4 it took lots longer and no talking was the best thing to do thats all i heard tell them once its time for bed read story and turn out the lights i even had to take out the bulb lol he would say look lights on time to play and hear me walk down and turn it off and yell LIGHTS OUT BED TIME HAHA and id stop and go back to living room hed go LIGHTS ON TIME TO WAKE UP HAHAHAHA i remember that just mmmmm i went in took his bulb and said nothing he looked at me like i just killed his best friend lol held his head in shame and said in a low voice lights gone we gonna die walks to his bed and slowly covers him self up good night mommy i love you lol i didnt know what to do laugh or cry a mom of a 9 year old son

Jenny - posted on 04/30/2012

my son hated to sleep in his crib about age 2 he learned how to through his blanky out crawl out of his crib and he would go and steal my pillow and go back in his room and lay on the ground ,, and stay asleep until 9am we were so shocked the first few times and scared so we just made his crib into a daybed and told him this is like mommys and daddys bed took about two days for him to stay in his room but not in that bed he just loved to sleep on that floor never fell out of bed until we got him a twin and he fell out once said that hurts and has not done it since Well if hes sick i mean really sick he dose lol

Julie - posted on 03/25/2012

Mattress on the floor! No box spring even. With soft carpet for easy landing. Yes, he may get up and/or jump around for a bit, but eventually he will put himself to sleep as usual. Make it routine with a bed/nap time story, then kisses nigh-night and lights out. Even if he cries.

I would routinely set my timer for 20 minutes, and if he was still upset or active I'd go in to check on him and say it again, but guess what...9 times outta 10 he would be asleep in that time. LONGEST 20 minutes of my life. Sometimes I'd have to call my husband to "talk me off the ledge". But a baby book I read told me that was the length it could take, and it was spot on for me. Good Luck!

Stephanie - posted on 08/10/2010

With my first son it was fairly easy. I would watch from the hallway and just put him back every time without looking or talking to him. It only took a couple times. He is an eager to please child. However, my 2 year old is a whole nother story. He is stubborn as all get out. He's been in his bed for about 2.5 months only it seems like much longer. The first 2 days were fine. After that I tried the same approach on him as my first. That didn't work. We tried to put up a gate but he quickly learned how to get it off and shortly after did one better by climbing over it so that when we checked we thought he was still in the room. We've tried praising his stuffed animals for staying in bed and have given him toys to play with in bed like his brother. During all of this, with the exception of the gate, continued to put him in bed. We can't have him roam upstairs b/c he will play with outlets (he knows how to take the safety plugs out). He also falls asleep at the very top of the stairs and I'm afraid he'll fall. So what works for one child may not work for another but maybe some of these ideas that didn't work on my second may work on yours.

Tarra - posted on 08/05/2010

my daghter is now 26mths and has been in a single bed since she was 12mths, my 10 mth old son went to his big single bed yesterday, and thought it was so funny he could get out, it has a removable rain so he cant fall out whils sleeping and i have his cot mattress on the floor at the base of the bed in case he crawls out. he is 80cm or 32" tall and was trying to climb out of the cot. He slept brilliantly last night but didn't go for his nap at the same time yesterday as it was to much fun... give him a few weeks and we will be back to normal with a bit of persistance..

Corrina - posted on 07/14/2010

My daughter still sleeps in crib, we read two books then right to bed w/ np, reading these stories are very encouraging! I think it will go very good.

Nikki - posted on 07/12/2010

well lets just start i have a 3 and 2 yr old i turned my 3yr old bed from a crib into a toddler bed she didnt like the toddler bed so we changed it into a full size bed they both had those convertible cribs so anyways my 2 yr old decided that she wanted to start sleeping in sissy bed so we changed her bed into a full size bed also we have one of those gaurd things on the bed so she doesnt roll off and i want so say she loves it .....as far as the jumping its gona happen they love jumping on each others bed if would be different if the were older and doing it but they are small and i dont think they are going to break the bed....as far as naps i cut out both of there naps around 18mths they wake up in the morn. btw 7 and 8 no nap and they go to bed at 730 at night... but when you lay him down for bed i tell my girls its time for bed you lay down no playing its time to go to sleep. if he gets out of bed take him right bck lay him back down and tell him again its time for bed if you do that for about 5 to 7 days he should get the point but all kids are different.

Amy - posted on 07/12/2010

Our son was moved to a toddler bed at 15 months, and a full size bed at 23 months. He just LOVED it. Try to limit the number of toys in the room. Put a gate up so your child can't leave the room. And if your child keeps getting out of bed either ignore if you can, or if you can't keep putting back into bed with out talking or anything.

The first few days or week might be a little rough, as your child might not sleep much, but after that little hump they typically get over it. The first 2-3 nights our son spent the entire night walking up and down his step stool.

Veronica - posted on 07/10/2010

I just moved my daughter to her big girl bed about a month ago and for the first week or so, it will be a slight challenge. She used to get out of bed and play with her toys and books in her room. I found it easier with the transition is that I lay in her bed with her and read her 2 books before bed (I skipped the toddler bed and went right to a twin, i didn't want to do a 2nd bed transition) and it seems to work very well. I let her pick out her books and we read together for about 20 minutes (also helps with her wind down time). There are times where I have to play the bad parent role and check in every 10 minutes or so and put her back in bed. You just need to stay consistent and keep on them that it is a privilege to sleep in a big kid bed (works for my daughter, she loves being told good girl, and if we say bad girl for something, she tries to fix it as quickly as possible.) I hope this helps, just have to stay consistent with him. Oh btw we put her in her big girl bed at 25 months old.

Melissa - posted on 07/06/2010

I moved Jaycen to a bed at about 17 months. It just takes some time telling them to get back into bed and teaching them that its not playtime. We put a gate in the doorway so that he wouldn't come out of his room. If he's up I just put him back in bed. It also takes some time with nap time. Sometimes I just have to grab a book and sit in the room so he'll stay in bed and go to sleep. It usually only takes about 20 min.

Renee - posted on 07/02/2010

We switched my son over about a month ago now. He was refusing to sleep in his crib and would sleep on the floor. I was afraid to put him in a big boy bed quite yet as I didn't trust him to not tear apart his room when he was supposed to be sleeping.
The first few nights he did really good sleeping in his big boy bed then he refused to stay in it. So for about a week at nap time I would put him in his crib to sleep because he refused to sleep during nap time and was a very cranky boy. Since going to his big boy bed, he is not sleeping as long as he used to. I think that being confined to his crib when he would wake up he would just go back to sleep, but now he plays instead. I have a gate across his bedroom door so he can't get out in the middle of the night. Most of the time he will stay in bed, but a few times we have to tell him to get back in bed and you can hear him scamper back into bed.