When is the right age to transfer your child to a toddler bed?

Laquita - posted on 04/18/2010

My first question to you Hannah would be does you son sleep throughout the entire night? If not I would not suggest a toddler bed right now because of the curiosity they have at his age. Also another thing I would suggest to you is before purchasing the bed moniter his sleeping habits during the day if he sleeps alot during the day then more than likely he won't sleep at night greatening the chances of him wandering around. My son is now 9 years old and I remember not putting him in a toddler bed until he was well over 24 months. I chose to do it at that time because he was able to climb out of the crib on his own. I hope i was able to help in some way, have a great day!

Julie - posted on 04/18/2010

i put my oldest in a toodler bed about the same age and she LOVED it.. and as for her getting up i used the baby gate and now thats shes almost 3. she just automatically comes to get me when she wakes up.. id just try it and see if he is ready for a night or 2. and see how it goes..

Luka - posted on 04/18/2010

my daughter was a little over 2 when i did it because i read that if you wait to long that they will get attached to their crib and wont want to sleep in a toddler bed. They say to wait until they can climb out, but we didn't and she doesn't get out of her bed at night and we just put a baby gate in front of her door way so she can't leave her room in the night or in the morning.

Luka - posted on 04/18/2010

my daughter was a little over 2 when i did it because i read that if you wait to long that they will get attached to their crib and wont want to sleep in a toddler bed. They say to wait until they can climb out, but we didn't and she doesn't get out of her bed at night and we just put a baby gate in front of her door way so she can't leave her room in the night or in the morning.

Beckie - posted on 04/18/2010

i put my son in a normal size single bed and he was really good occassionally got up but i just put him straight back in his bed also i have a stair gate on his door and a monitor still, in the morning he gets up and plays with his toys! hope this helps

Emily - posted on 04/18/2010

Vanessa, I so wanted my baby to sleep with me but he didn't sleep well if he could smell me! I was so sad! he won't sleep in our bed now, he just wants to play! My son loves his own bed, it's got Nemo on it, and he's got a bunch of soft toys he keeps in bed with him. If I move them he puts them back, not different ones, the exact same ones.
I read a story about transitioning co-sleepers: The lady spent a lot of money on a co-sleeper bed, a bed the exact same height to go next to Mum and Dad's bed, for bub (a 3 yr old in this case) to get used to her own space before separating the beds, and then moving it toher own room. The day they got the bed, bub jumped up and down and onto it and said 'my bed! i sleep in my room now.'

Emily - posted on 04/18/2010

I had a friend offer me a second hand toddler bed, and I was told to use it when they start learning to climb out of the cot. So I put him in straight away at about 15 months. I am lucky and have also worked hard with him and he is a great sleeper. He won't sleep if he can see people and he will wander out if the door is open. But he has slept with it shut since he was about 4 weeks old. I sort out bottle, nappy, blankie, tell him to lie down, kiss him say 'goodnight, I love you, I'll see you in the morning' and close the door. He may whinge for a few seconds but he knows it's sleeptime and he gives up and goes to sleep straight away.
When I switched him to the bed, he watched us move the cot out, move the bed in, put the cot mattress on it, set it up in the same spot, and he very clearly understood it was for sleeping. He was fine at night time... but the next day at nap time, I made sure he had everything, and as soon as I closed the door he ran across the room and cried and called out to me. I left him. I sat out in the living area listening to him cry. The cry did not change, he did not stop, he did not tone it down at all, it was awful. 40 minutes later it stopped. a little while after that i heard him again, briefly, and heard him move and stop again. He napped normally and was fine from then on. I think he fell asleep by the door and then woke and put himself into bed.
If he wakes early, he plays and entertains himself until I get up.He only fell out once, within the first week, and I only have two problems: he goes through phases of putting all his clothes on the floor, and if I leave wipes on the changetablehe climbs it and pulls them all out. So I keep them in the kitchen. :-)

Vanessa - posted on 04/18/2010

We are starting to think about transitioning our little 18 month old girl into her own bed -- a twin - in her room. She has slept primarily in our bed up to this point and occassionally in the crib. Any of you have tips for making the transition particularly out of Mom's bed into their own bed? My Mom said to make the twin as inviting as possible. She hung paper kites from the ceiling above my bed as a child that were in the shape of butterflies. She likes white noise (rain). Maybe I should try leaving a CD player on????? Can you tell I'm nervous about my little baby sleeping away from me? = )

Kirsten - posted on 04/18/2010

My daughter is 21 months old and I don't think she is ready yet. She goes to sleep without any arguments, but she is a bit of a trouble maker. I think I will transfer her when she starts showing interest in potty training. I'll do the transfer then start potty training a little after. Once she needs to get out of bed to avoid accidents is when she will definitly need to be in a toddler bed.

Dusty - posted on 04/18/2010

my son will be two in june, and he isnt ready for a toddler bed yet, but my daughter got her toddler bed when she was 16 months and she loved it. i neve had a problem with her getting up in the night.

Tempest - posted on 04/18/2010

my son got his bed right befre is 2nd birthday. He was excited bc it was cars decoration! everything went smooth!!!

Hannah - posted on 04/18/2010

my son crawled out of his crib at 16 months and 18 months. We were not ready to switch to a big boy bed (since he's still a baby). He is 21 months and still in crib. He has not tried to climb out in months (he's pretty content with his crib). When he turns 2 we will switch him. 16 months is too early to put a child in a toddler bed. they dont understand enough to listen to you when you say "dont do this,you'll get hurt".

Christina - posted on 04/18/2010

I put mine in a toddler bed when they started climbing out of their cribs. My daughter it was around 18 months, my son was about two years old. My son is now 4 and my daughter is now 3 and they are both in regular twin beds.

Mhairi - posted on 04/18/2010

We tried our daughter in a big girl bed at 18months and she didn't sleep, she would wake up in fits, wouldn't go to bed and her behaviour was weird. So we took the bed out and put her crib back in. But we took of the guard rail, so it was like a bed. By the time she was 21/2 she was fine and is now in her bed. It really depends on your wee one.

Amber - posted on 04/18/2010

I moved my daughter to a toddler bed when she outgrew her crib. Also because she was able to climb out of her crib it made more sense to me to not have her off the ground in a bed so she could fall out. She adjusted quite well although there were several nights of her crawling into bed with me. She does just fine now although she likes to play hide and seek in the bedroom when it's bed time. If it's not one thing it's something else lol

Nicole - posted on 04/18/2010

When they can climb out of the crib they need to be trasfered to a toddler bed.. It can be dangerous otherwise.. I was so nervous with my first child when I trasfered him that I stuck a plethera of pillows and blankets on the floor next to the bed... just incase he fell out of bed while he was sleeping..lol He was a roller and twister in his sleep..

Sara - posted on 04/18/2010

My little one is almost 16 months old and he's been in a toddler bed for a little over a month, he loves it... sleeps in his bed through the night we got a safety rail, so he doesnt fall out. Everything has worked out fine with it so far. =]

Amanda - posted on 04/18/2010

I would say about between the ages of 2-3. My oldest wasnt sleeping in one til recently and she is 3. But i didnt want to force the issue. But now i think it makes her feel like a big sister. And a big girl

Nicki - posted on 04/18/2010

My daughter is 15 months. I decided to make the change as she is a ver resltless sleeper and he arms and legs would get stuck durin the night. I have started with the cot bed with the bed side on it and a stair gate on her door just in case.

Rachel - posted on 04/18/2010

my son is almost 21 months old. he will not sleep in his crib..hasnt for the past 6 months. he wanted to sleep on the floor!! so we put his mattress on the floor and he loved it!! we took him to get a big boy bed and he sleeps in it for naps and bedtime. he likes that he can crawl into it himself. the bedrooms are all together in my house so i close the bathroom door and put a baby gate in the hallway to the living room so he cant get out. if he wakes he comes to my room and i put him back to sleep.. but it is up to the child. when they are ready..good luck!!

Diana - posted on 04/18/2010

I transfered my daughter at about 14 months. She slept pretty well in it, but we just moved to Korea and our stuff hasn't arrived yet. So we have her in a twin bed that was free for us. And she sleeps even better now at just over 2!

April - posted on 04/18/2010

my youngest daughter is 16 months and we just moved her to a toddler bed. we just started her in the toddler bed about 4-5 nights ago and so far its going well... she cuddles up ext to me and her daddy and she goes to bed then we moved her to her bed and she sleeps the whole night. once she is comfortable with the new bed it will be time to start working on getting her to fall asleep their instead of with us hehe..

Lisa - posted on 04/18/2010

i put my little girl in at 16 months best thing i ever did,i thought i wouldnt hear put i did she even started sleeping straight through in her own room when i put her in a toddler bd

Candice - posted on 04/18/2010

My 15 month old has a toddler bed.
He never falls out, it doesn't bother him one bit.
The first night he slept in it I was worried he would have a hard time but he fell right asleep like he has always had that bed.
I think it depends on the kid.
Some are ready when others are not

Jamie-lee - posted on 04/17/2010

I had to transfer my daughter at 13 months.....as i was pregnant with my second and didnt want to put lucy into the bed as ryan (my son) was born....as i was worried she would feel she is being kicked out of her cot and being replaced. Lucy did great and for a month she wouldnt get out of bed cos she was so young and not old enough to realise hey i can get outta this bed, so she would sit in bed and yell out to me to come and get her out of bed as she thought she was still caged in her cot. Then when she did realise i made the room kid safe (power points and climbing on things) so she would be ok if she did get outta bed and we didnt hear her, and when she was old enough to know i would go and tell her off and tell her to get back to bed. She is now 19 months old and havent had a problem since. She loves her big girl bed and i really havent had a problem since she has been in it!

Amber - posted on 04/17/2010

I transfered my son about a mont ago at 15 months. its very low to the ground, got a safety rail on it and I have a gate outside his room so he dont wander. He seems to love it because he can get up and down from it. it just depends on how much our son trys to get out of the crib. my son didnt like being confined in the crib. you can probably just try one when you think hes ready. I left my sons crib up for a week just to make sure he was ok with the new bed.

Amanda - posted on 04/17/2010

i put my son in his toodler bed when he was 18 months, but tht was only after i got him to where when i would but him down for bed and would go to sleep without getting up. when i transfered him to the toddler bed he did great and if he does get up in the night he either cries for us to come get him or he walks to our room. i think it only depends on if the child is ready and if not he will let you know. hope this helps

Emilie - posted on 04/17/2010

We put our daughter into a toddler bed when she was about 18 months old. We were moving out of our one bedroom house (where we lived rent free and she slept in the living room) into a 2 bedroom apartment and it just made sense to us to also make the transition to a toddler bed at that point in time as well. She adjusted to it wonderfully and slept in it every night up until we moved to Korea and had to put it in storage. She now sleeps in a full sized bed because it was provided for free with the apartment. Haha

Krystal - posted on 04/17/2010

We actually switched my daughter to a toddler bed between 4 and 5 months. She could climb before she could walk and would fling herself from over the crib rail. I was so afraid she would break her neck that we switched to a little toddler bed with rails. It is so very low to the ground anyway, I never worried and we never had any problems with it at all. She loves her bed! She lays in there and reads her books. It just depends on the child. Whenever you feel is the right time!

Jenni+shane - posted on 04/17/2010

i guess when my lttile girl is a bit older and starts to climb now or stands up in bed alot and seems unhappy i try putting her in toddler bed. my little girl is only nine months so dont have worry yet. we found car bed at op shop for only five dollars so brought that and we going to paint it pick and make it a princess bed and even put a photo of her on the front of the bed we think she love it when she older

Shannon - posted on 04/16/2010

I switched my son to a toddler bed around 19 months. He had learned to climb out of his crib and I figured if he was getting out anyhow I would rather it be out of a bed only a foot off the ground instead of a crib. I have always closed his bedroom door at night and continue to do so. He goes straight to bed at night without problems and will even occasionally put himself to bed if he is especially tired. In the morning he will get up and play with his toys. He does know how to open his door and when he is ready he comes and wakes me up though his door squeaks so I hear him anyhow. I have only had a couple isolated issues with him getting up in the middle of the night. Switching to his toddler bed has gone very well for us. I wish you luck in the transition!!

Darliss - posted on 04/16/2010

I put my daughter in her toddler bed at about a year and a half. I would have to sit with her until she fell asleep but never really had any other problems! If your baby is ready then I say go ahead!

Stephanie - posted on 04/16/2010

We bought our son a toddler bed for his 1st birthday (I didn't know until I read comments on here that people typically moved kids later). I thought it was "normal" at the time so just did it before our son even thought about climbing out. If you think your son would do great then I say go for it. For safety reasons we did put one of those plastic things that go around the doorknob on his door. He knew how to unlock our front door and frankly I didn't want to worry about his "escaping" in the night.

Hannah - posted on 04/16/2010

I think that I am going to try it then since there are many success stories on here!

Medic - posted on 04/16/2010

My son was 15 months and I never had any problems with him getting up and wandering.

Danielle - posted on 04/16/2010

I plan on switching my son to a toddler bed either when he's around 2 years old or when he begins to attempt to climb out of his crib. I plan on baby gating his door.

Hannah - posted on 04/16/2010

I think that putting him just for nap wold be a good idea too just until he gets use to it!

Hannah - posted on 04/16/2010

Thank you all for your comments...I hae been thinking about this for awhile. My son knows how to clib out of the crib and I do not want him to get hurt and I know the many things to keep him safe like the gate, alarm and monitors I just didn't know if many people had good luck at such a young age!

Megan - posted on 04/16/2010

Not too long after my son turned 2 we put him in his own bed. It worked out fine, the only thing that bothered me was waking up in the middle of the night to a little boy staring at me!! Little scary sometimes, as i wasnt used to someone standing by my bed while I was asleep lol!

Jessi - posted on 04/16/2010

good thing you asked this because i was just wondering myself. my son is 14mos & like me, he seems to toss & turn a lot while he sleeps. i have my twin bed for him with bed rails but am hesitant to put him in it at bed time even though i have a baby monitor.



would it be a good idea to put him in it just for nap time until he gets used to it?

Theresa - posted on 04/16/2010

I bought my daughter a toddler bed for her 2nd birthday.

Melissa - posted on 04/16/2010

A friend of mine transferred at about 14 months. But he was a trouble sleeper, still is. Although, for him she said it has helped. He was walking at 11 months and very unhappy in his crib. They had a 3-in-1 so just took off the one rail to make it a day bed. They do not keep toys in his room. Being that he was a problematic sleeper, they didn't promote play in his room so he would only associate it with sleep time. When he wakes up, he cries or bangs on the door. They also have a monitor though. It is really up to you. Some do well earlier while others will do better in a crib. I think the earlier the transition it will probably be easier though.

Lorraine - posted on 04/16/2010

i could use help to, my duaghter in 22 months and i have put her in her own bed about a month now, she loves her bed but these past few nites she is really hard to get to sleep, she get outs the bed n walks up the hall, so i sat at the door se stil gets out n comes n sits on my knee, i have put on a night light n closed the door, she can now open the handle and get out, so i hold the handle so she cnt get out but this just ends up in the crying and geting so worked u she will not settle then, is my next option a stair gate at the door?? please help!

Melissa - posted on 04/16/2010

My son was 18 months and never got out of bed until it was morning. That's probably not the norm but he never tried to get out of his toddler bed until he woke up in the morning.

Krista - posted on 04/16/2010

My son was about 2 years old. He started climbing out of the crib, which is dangerous, so we bought him a winnie the pooh toddler bed from walmart (89$). For about a month I had to sit at his bedroom door so he could see me. If he didnt see me sitting there he would get up and play. Each night I sat at his door for HOURS. Finally he caught on and started staying in bed.

If you are worried about him getting out of bed in the middle of the night (which he will), you can go to the dollar store and buy an alarm. You put it inside of his door (piece on door and piece of wall beside alarm). When he falls asleep, shut the door and turn on alarm. IF he gets up and opens the door, LOUD alarm will go off and you will awake.
That helped me alot, especially living alone with him.

Stormy - posted on 04/16/2010

i switched my kids to toddler beds when they were getting to restless in the mornings while in their cribs. when my boys would stand and shake the side of the crib and one tried to climb out i switched them to a toddler bed. just be careful it can make going to bed a whole new routine because they are not confined

Priscilla - posted on 04/16/2010

My husband and I moved our son to a "big boy bed" when he was 2 years old. We actually moved him to a different bed room that had a spiderman theme. (I know some people do not have extra bed rooms) We gave it to him as a birthday gift and placed a monitor in his room. We have a two story house, so I understand your concern. We gave him a nightlight, played music, and gave him a few books to look at after we went down stairs. When he woke he would remain in bed and call my name, it was not until he turned 4 that we started having problems with him getting out of bed... hope it helps.

Lisa - posted on 04/16/2010

I got my son his toddler bed when he was about the same age. He did great. As for him getting up, I put a baby gate in front of the hall way so that if he did get up the only place he could go was his room and my room. But I heard him most of the time

Misty - posted on 04/16/2010

Around two yr .

Larissa - posted on 04/16/2010

it usually happens between 2 and 3 years old , but really it happens when they are ready.

my oldest was ready at 2 and she loved it, my youngest is 2.5 and does not want to leave her crib, each kid is different.

if u are worried about him getting up, put a baby gate at his door. and never do it if he will be unsafe :)