Toddler Bed Questions?

Samantha - posted on 01/09/2010

We started having our 20 month old lil' girl in a toddler bed when she turned 16 months. We did it then because our youngest son was 2 months, & because at 12 months she was climbing out of playpen. With her in the toddler bed, it took about 2 weeks for her to stay in bed & realize that when morning came, she could get up alone & wake Mommy or Daddy up. Telling you all of this, I have just two questions for you. Do you think your little one is ready for a toddler bed? Are you ready to let him take the next milestone?

Stacey - posted on 01/09/2010

if your crib converts to a toddller bed then try switching him to that first and show him it during the day and have him climb in and out. I put and other small matress on the floor below my daughter in case she forgets that she has to crawl backwards and not just walk off. once he gets used to that then you can move him to a true toddler bed. hope that helps

Cheryl - posted on 01/09/2010

Maeve was born May 22, 2008 and we are considering the full move to a toddler bed soon, as we are expecting in June and want the transition to be sooner than later. Right now we read to her in the bed, and she naps there in the afternoon, but sleeps in the crib at night. I worry about her getting up in the middle of the night and wandering around, but the gate at the door idea sounds perfect, because she hates the door being closed.

Clair - posted on 01/08/2010

Taylia was born May 29 2008, we started by taking the side completely off the cot at around 15-16 months... at the start she was really good, but the last week or so has been a real nightmare with up and down for 3-4 hours when we put her down for the night... but slowly getting back to normal... we're just waiting on her mattress to arrive and then her big girl bed is getting set up.

Karen - posted on 01/08/2010

1. We are starting to transition him now, our older 4 kids went into big beds at around 1 year and we had no trouble with the change but this child is such a bad sleeper he has been more of a challenge. We have had the toddler bed in his room for awhile now and some days he will nap in there but he won't sleep in it at night. The few times we have tried he has screamed until he vomits, so we have just put him back in the cot. I would really like to have him in the bed full time soon as he is so active that I am worried about him falling out while trying to climb out, we have tiled floors with rugs so it wouldn't be a safe thing to fall on. I've tried the usual, sitting on the floor next to him, reading quietly with soft music, complete darkness with no music, nightlight, etc etc.
2. time out for an under 2. never heard of that before, how long is he there for?

Crystal - posted on 01/08/2010

We switched our son to a toddler bed a couple of days ago - wednesday I think. We took him wtih us to the help pick it out, and we let him help us put it together. He was very excited. The first night we left the crib up with the bed next to it and he never woke up during the night. we removed the crib thursday and he's delighted at having his own bed. He's showed it to us over and over (like we didn't know it was there, lol!) and he'll run to his room to check and make sure it's still there.

We switched him b/c he was starting to want to climb out and because he's a jumper - before we realized it, he'd busted some of the supports on the wire mattress support (he had one of those cribs that turns into a toddler daybed). We were disappointed but now he's got a regular toddler bed he adores. He goes to bed around 8:30 and gets up between 8:30 and 9 am. We have a gate up across his door (for some reason, he will NOT climb it. He wants that gate up at night, or even if I'm just in the room next to his folding laundry. He'll even try to help put it up) but so far, he's not even getting out of bed at night.

Funny story: When I was little, my mom finally got me off the bottles by telling me that the mommy monster needed bottles for her baby, and if I would give up the bottles, then the baby monster would have milk. I said ok, and stopped fighting her about it (she'd only been trying for months!)

I used the same trick with my son! He was refuisng to leave bottles alone, but since the monsters need bottles for their baby, he's fine with a bottle when he first gets up and during story time before he gets his teeth brushed for bed.

Did the same thing with his bed! I told him the monsters had a little bitty baby, and since he wasn't a little bitty baby anymore - he was a big boy - the monsters needed his crib for their baby. And he'd have a big boy's bed and the baby monster could sleep safe. He looked at me really serious then said , "Yeah, ok!" And he's been delighted by his bed ever since.

Stephanie - posted on 01/08/2010

our daughter was born on 14th May 2008 and she is our fourth child and she still likes her crib so there she will stay, We have always moved the kids to a twin bed or toddler bed after they climb out of their crib the first time. Which has always been around 22months or so. She is a climber and has been climbing since before she could walk, but she is very happy in her crib. But definetly some type of safety rail is a must for a while.

Suzanne - posted on 01/08/2010

I put Neriah in a toddler bed when she was 15 months. It's been good. The bed has railings and it's low to the ground.I The only scary part was when she got out of bed by herself and started playing in the middle of the night..

Christina - posted on 01/08/2010

We moved our daughter to her toddler bed at 15 months because she liked to play alone in the mornings but not in her crib. She fell out about 3 times over the next couple months. Then at the beginning of December we put her in a full size bed with no box springs (plywood instead) because she kept getting into our bed and just hanging out there. Now that she's in the full size be she sleeps better than ever and hasn't fallen out once.
As for time out you may want to get a special chair or something like that. We use the glider that's in her room.

Carlita - posted on 01/08/2010

My daughter was born May 21 08. I wasn't going to put my daughter in a toddler bed yet but reading everyone's replies has changed my mind! Especially with a baby boy due on May 2nd! Might as well deal with it now rather than later.. Thanks everyone!

Amy - posted on 01/08/2010

My daughter is a May 2008 Baby; born May 12....She is also a preemie. I moved her to a Toddler Bed @ 17months. She wasn't climbing out of her crib or anything like that. I was afriad of her tipping it over because she like to shake it all teh time. It was the BEST move her her, she loves her Toddler Bed...I do have the Convertible Toddler BEd Rails on each side of her bed, when she gets up, she sits there and plays and wakes me up.

Darla - posted on 01/08/2010

my little guy has been in a toddler bed for about 2 months, the reason that we had to switch him was because we had another baby and she needed to get out of the craddle and into the crib. We did not want to make it to tramatizing for him so we just made a really bid deal about getting him a bed and we all acted very excited for him. When family would come over we always made a big deal about him showing them his big bed. We ended up getting him the cars toddler bed and he loves it.

Tiffany - posted on 01/08/2010

My daughter who is 19 months moved into a toddler bed about 2 months ago. It took a couple of nights of me sleeping next to her on the floor for her to get use to it. But since she sleeps thru the night it is not really an issue of her getting up. My older son was 2.5 before i got him a toddler bed and he never liked it he would not sleep in his own bed until i got him a twin. So basically what I am saying is it just depends on the kid. Might not have been much help but like everything else every kid is different

Melanie - posted on 01/08/2010

1. Paxton was probably 11 - 12 months when I swithed him.. because he kept putting his foot on the rail. - but he didn't move to as toddler bed, I bought bunk beds and he now sleeps with his 5yr old brother or comes and finds me.
2. alot of cribs will lower closer to the floor - not sure if yours does? and at this height they can't get out. but you have to remember. in a crib they cry until you come and get them. in a bed they get up and find you

Aubrey - posted on 01/08/2010

My first Daughter, I waited until she was potting training to put into a toddler bed. She was about 20 mths. I couldn't potty train her at night (to get up and go) if she couldn't get out of bed! LOL My Second daughter, born 14 May 08, is still in her crib. She is a climber of EVERYTHING, but NOT her crib for some reason. She isn't anywhere near potty training, she's scared to death of the potty, so until I have a good reason to take her out of her crib, I won't. She's good with it, so I'm good with it. ;-)

Candice - posted on 01/08/2010

When my son was 19 months, we put him in a toddler bed, and then a twin size. We had some issues for awhile, but he's over that finally! My daughter, I feel is totally not ready. If you feel that you are ready, you could try the toddler bed or just a regular bed, and maybe put a baby gate up at the door of his room. If he ends up getting up out of bed a lot, it just takes consistency of making him get his little behind back in that bed.
Since he's not climbing out, it's something that could be completely your choice right now! that's hopefully a little nice to know!

Danielle - posted on 01/08/2010

My daughter was born May 28th. I moved her to her toddler bed at 16 months. She never tried to crawl out I just wanted her to learn sooner rather than later.

Amy - posted on 01/08/2010

RE Michelle - Yeah I can't reply that easily either!

It's very scary! He even managed to open the gate down the stairs once and fell down (We THINK he just bumped down on his butt because he had no bruises and didn't cry). Since then He's been SO obsessed with them. I'm really glad he's finally gotten much better at going up and down himself. He's not scared of anything yet, its good but scary at the same time!

I think that if your son doesn't play that much at night to begin with, that once he gets used to it, he may go back to normal. Even if he does play at night, as long as he wakes up the same old happy baby it really isn't that big of a deal. We just make sure the loud toys are out of his room, and have trained him to stay in there (unless he needed something like when he's sick).

Jennifer - posted on 01/08/2010

i put both mine in at 12 months, both for different reasons. all you can do is put them back in when they climb out. with my boy, born 14 may 08, i was getting a sore back from lifting him out and in as he is a big heavy boy.

Rachel - posted on 01/08/2010

My twins were born end of May 2008 and both are still in their cribs. Neither has tried to escape as yet so we´re sticking with the cribs for now. I have cribs that can be adapted to beds.

Melinda - posted on 01/07/2010

Sam went into a trundler bed because he was getting to big for his cot. Baby gate stops him getting out of his bedroom but if he is not ready to go to sleep he will pull his bedroom apart then eventually get back into bed and go to sleep. But he has always been a good sleeper so most of the time it is easy. The trick is if he gets out and screams or play just go back in and dont say anything just put him back to bed. He will eventually get the message

Letitia - posted on 01/07/2010

Hi Michelle,


My 19 month old daughter is now sleeping in a bed because she used to wake up and panic being trapped in a cot. She sleeps really well now and often climbs into bed to sleep before its bed time. The first few nights she did get up and I would all her toys going, about four times a night. This only lasted a few nights and I would just keep putting her back in bed and making sure she was calm. I found that if she got too wound up about being put back in bed she would not stay there. Try it when you have a few days off work because any change of routine can upset there sleeping at night for a day or 2.

Michelle - posted on 01/07/2010

(I can't do reply with quote for some reason)
RE Amy
I don't do time out in bed, I was just associating time out with staying in bed for some reason. Your son falling like that-- you must have been so scared!!! I'm too chicken to let him be that adventurous lol, He already puts his feet up on the rail and launches backwards onto the mattress b/c he thinks it's funny so I'm getting nervous that the next step is trying to launch FORWARD and... *shudder*... I'm just concerned about him not sleeping well and getting up and playing with stuff.

Belinda - posted on 01/07/2010

Hi there. My son was born on the 16th May 2008 and I put him in a toddler bed about a month ago because he started to resist being put to sleep in the cot and woke up a lot more in the night. We tried everything to figure out what was wrong. Our last resort was to buy him a small toddler bed, low to the ground with some safety rails alongside the head end and since then we have had no problems. He likes to climb into the bed just to have a little lie on it when he's not due a sleep. I think he didn't like being caged into a cot bed anymore and I think we averted the next step which would have been him trying to escape. He definitely likes that he can get in and out himself. He sleeps really well now and so far he has not fallen off the toddler bed yet (although he shifts around alot when he sleeps). So I would recommend a toddler bed for this age. Although safety rails of some sort are definitely a must.

Casey - posted on 01/07/2010

i put my daughter in her toddler bed when she was 17months old. i figured that if she could sleep on a cot at daycare for 2-3hours for nap time that she can sleep in a toddler bed. i kept having to lower her bed as she got taller. she is not a climber and never figured out how to climb out. but she was getting heavy and i was having trouble putting her over the crib bar and all the way down to her bed if she fell asleep before i put her to bed. her toys are in the living room so i can better watch her so i tell her it is time for nite, nite and put her to bed. i close the door till she is asleep and she is fine.

Amy - posted on 01/07/2010

1) around 15 months, he had a close call to climbing to the very top and falling flat on his head. He's a climber and can climb everything and anything, except maybe scaling the wall, lol.

2) Time out in there bed may not be the best idea because then they can get a negative feeling about the bed. It may be best to start associating a Time out with something he doesn't use a lot. Also, is your son climbing at all? If he's doing good in the crib and not showing signs of climbing then you should be ok.I have heard of some parents keeping there kids in a crib until 2 or 3 because they simply just didn't climb much.

Our son does get in and out of bed for nap time and bedtime a lot, but he's never been a good sleeper. Our son also gets out of bed and plays with his toys in the middle of the night. As long as he stays in his room we really don't care.

When you switch over, it could take a week for him to fully get back to normal. The first two or three nights our son spent the entire night going in and out of his bed. He can't climb out of the pack n play our in-laws have (because of the mesh) so when we put him for a nap in there I don't' think I'd ever seen him sleep that well. After a week he was back to normal though. If your kid is a good sleeper then it may be an easier transition.

Shannon - posted on 01/07/2010

We switched quite a while ago because my daughter can climb out of her crib and she doesn't like to be confined. I put a babygate up in her room so when she wakes up..she has to yell for one of us. So I think it is a personal choice. You can always keep the crib up and just try it?

Rachel - posted on 01/07/2010

my son was born 19 may 2008 i start bout 3 months ago putting him in a bed from a cot at first i was scared but now he doesnt fall out and sleeps bout 10 hours

Jodie - posted on 01/07/2010

my daughter was born on the 23 of may o8 and i have started to thing about moving her into a bedbut have not done it yet, she can climb in and out of her bed and i was worred about her falling to so i but the sid of my cot down and put a foot stool there and she uses it as a step and because the side of the cot dosen't go all the way down she cant roll out, its is very exsorsting becaue you have to get up and down put him back in the bed. i recomend that you start by putting him in of a day time and when he is comfy move onto night. good luck and i hope i have helped