Toddler beds, potty training, trips, oh my! Opinions needed!

OK - long back story but really need opinions/advice! I just found out we are very possibly making the trip back home in July for a visit!! This will be the first time our family/friends will even meet Ryder! I'm beyond excited. NOW for decisions. LOL I'm trying to decide on when to time potty training and toddler beds. First off - my husband will be out of town the first 2 weeks of April. Then for 6 weeks around June he'll be gone during the week and home on the weekends. After we get back he'll be gone for 4-5 weeks so even after our trip it is going to be crazy. Keeping all of that in mind and the fact my littlest one will be turning 1 on April 3rd - trying to decide if and when I should do potty training and transition to toddler beds. Honestly I'm pretty happy with the twins in cribs. They climb in but not out. They sleep great. I JUST started being able to sleep through the night myself so I'm not overly anxious to change that. LOL However when we go back home we realistically can only bring one pack and play for Ryder. Besides that I think the twins have pretty much outgrown those. SO we'll have to put them in beds/blankets on the floor when we're traveling. I really don't want to just go up and hope for the best with them staying in one spot. We are really hoping to have a night or 2 out with grandparents keeping an eye on them also so we really want them to behave and stay in one spot. LOL SO I'm thinking to prepare properly we're going to have to transition them. As for the potty training I got the 3 Day Potty Training Ebook and started reading that. I told the hubby the next 4 day weekend he has that he'll have to keep an eye on Ryder so I can focus on potty training them. The lazy scared half of me says it'd be easier to just leave them in diapers until after the trip. LOL The realistic wanting to save money FOR the trip says get them out of diapers!! LOL I don't know what to do. I am not horribly excited about dealing with potty training and bed transitioning with my hubby being gone so much coming up but I gotta do it sometime right? LOL I guess I'm looking for any opinions or suggestions on when and how to do this. I need some help and motivation from my TS Mommies!! Oh and the twins are 27 1/2 months now.

 

On the beds...my boys were in cribs until they were 2 months shy of 3 yo. Why? Because there was no reason to move them. When we traveled, they did great sleeping in whatever situation (in a big queen bed sharing, on the floor on mats, etc), but still did great sleeping in their cribs. So as far as transitioning them for ease of sleeping elsewhere, I don't see the need myself, but you're in the best position to make that call. My daughter was leaping out of her crib so we just transitioned her in January and it's been awful...she is up ALL the time. My boys have only now gotten to the point when they get up in the morning and come in our room or go to the bathroom. I think partly personality, and partly because we kept them in cribs so they now think they have to wait for us. Good luck with this decision.

Potty training...first question...are they ready??? Have they shown interest, etc? If not, I wouldn't really even bother. If so, then I say go for it, but I did not do the 3 day PTing and in our house that would have been a big fail. I started the boys at about 2.5 and on our their 3rd birthday we talked about being big boys and big boy underwear and they were trained as of that day. Of course, every child is different. My youngest is about 90% pee trained already and we are working on poop training. Plus remember, in early potty training or when they have trained early on, you have to be prepared to go immediately when they say so for traveling, I may still recommend using pull ups. Just a thought.

 

I agree with this. If you feel your two are ready for it now, then it can't hurt to try but there is also no harm until waiting after your trip as well. I did not do the 3 day method with my DD and it was the only thing that worked for my DS but he was closer to three when I did it with him (about 32 months) and it took about 4 days for him to really catch on.

As for the switch to toddler beds, that is really up to you. If you feel more comfortable with them being in a toddler bed before you go away, then I'd say go for it. I switched my DD at 18-19 months because she was climbing out and did not switch my DS until he was a month shy of 3. When we went on vacation last summer, the twins were 2.5 and both of them slept well in their PNP's. DD was okay not being in a bed and did not try to climb out. Good luck with your decisions!

 

For potty training I guess it depends on your kids though but mine are 3 and still not ready for it... and I can't even imagine traveling with two little ones that need to pee every hour, so I'd wait!

About toddler beds, at Christmas my two slept in pack'n plays (34 months). They could get in and out though so we had to stay with them until they fell asleep, and we had to baby proof the room. Now we're in twin beds but I can guarantee you that if we stayed at someone else's we would have to do the same thing, because they WILL get out of bed to explore. So I really wouldn't change a thing right now at home if it's working out for you. The trip will be tough whatever you do, no need to make it worse at home too.

 

I wouldn't change your life for a trip... I tried to do the whole toddler bed thing last summer before our 2wk trip... never should have stressed myself out doing it. The kids never settled into it, and it got on my nerves which I'm sure didn't help me on the vacation... anyway, a week after we got back, the cribs got put back up and peace once again fell over our little family! anyway, now almost 1 yr later I think we're about ready for a bed for my ds, not sure on my dd... I'm realizing that they don't have to do things at the same time...

some seem to get the toddler bed thing to work... didn't work for us.

good luck.

as for potty training... if you do try it, i'd definitely do pull ups or diapers on the trip... they will get back into the swing of things after the trip. it is so hard for little ones to get the whole connection thing with timing... and that would be a big stressor for you I think.

 

SO glad I came to you guys. I think I'll definitely wait on the beds and see if maybe I can borrow 2 pack and plays from someone back home so we only have to bring one with us (we have one for each but bringing 3 would take up a LOT of space). That would definitely help my peace of mind being able to go out with the hubby in the evening time here and there. And my mother in laws as well I'm sure. LOL Potty training - I'm thinking I'll read over the 3 day potty training thing some more and decide if I want to just wait until after the trip. YES the money saved in diapers would help go towards the trip but if it will make the trip more stressful then what is that worth. LOL I guess we'll wait and see on that one but I won't make any major changes because of the trip. Thanks guys!

 

Whatever you do in the end...good luck!!! My boys turned two a month ago and we will be facing these same challenges very soon. I have already tried to speculate when we'll be ready to transition to toddler beds and start potty training. We want to take a trip to Disney World at the end of the year and I just can't imagine the fun it would be trying to keep up a new potty training routine in Disney :wacko: The toddler bed issue seems more imminent for us than potty training. Mine have already figured out how to swing their legs over the end of the cribs, yet they won't try to jump down. But when we put them in sleep sacks at night, the trying to climb stops. Thankfully they can't figure out how to swing those sleep sacks over the rails yet...Thank heaven for sleep sacks

As far as potty training goes, I have a feeling mine will be closer to three before we even consider it. They're nowhere near ready. I know that preemies technically are supposed to be developmentally caught up by the time they turn two, but I think there are some things that can still lag behind with like potty training. From everything that I've found out from folks that have fairly successful potty training ventures, the kids have to be mentally ready for it. I wouldn't push anything at this point. It may seem like you're delaying things to fit around your schedule, but the setbacks you could encounter with trips and long periods of time when your husband is gone just isn't worth trying to force anything until the setting seems right. Good luck!!!

 

I would not mess with the potty training right now. They are very young still -- some kids do train that early, but pushing them (especially with a deadline in mind) is just going to stress everyone out. It is MUCH easier (IMO) to travel with kids in diapers than to travel with newly PT'd toddlers!

I would also not try to transition them to toddler beds if you're not otherwise ready. I made two trips with my girls when they were still in cribs at home but they slept on a mattress on the floor at my parents' house. They did roll off a few times each night, but I just padded the area all around with blankets and extra pillows. They never even woke up. I was in the room with them and would just wake up every couple of hours (because I always do) and pull them back onto the mattress. It worked fine for a couple of nights.

 

p.s. toddler beds? I posted before that we tried them last summer around 2 yrs old... well, we just transitioned my ds this weekend, and he's done AWESOME! I think the extra matureness (is that a word?) really helped. my dd is actually also doing better, we're leaving the crib tent open and she's staying in. I hope to have her in a bed soon too!

 

We face a similar dilemna, a 4 day drive from SC to Canada this summer. Hauling 2 pnp's in and out of hotels at night is a huge pain, and this year we're staying in our pop up camper, which has NO room for pnp's. I needed to know the twins would be able to go to sleep on a regular bed. So, we did the toddler bed transition shortly after christmas, and it's been fantastic. They did GREAT for 2 weeks, then we hit a rough spot for a week, with them not staying in bed. I simply set up a pnp and everytime they got out of bed, I took their paci's and their stuffies away and put them in the pnp with nothing but their jammies on. I put the paci's and stuffies in their bed and told them if they wanted them, they had to stay in bed. I took my dd about 2 nights to figure out she wanted her "guys", and my stubborn ds took 3-4 nights. After another week I took the pnp down and now, they might get up once or twice after we put them to bed, or they might go straight to sleep, but it's really not a big deal.

As for pt'ing, i do agree with others that if they aren't showing any signs, you might not want to stress yourself out about it yet. My oldest 2 were 3, and 3.5 before they pt'd, so I'm in no rush with the twins just turning 2. I'd rather deal with diapers than stopping every 5 mins when we have a 4 day drive ahead of us!

Oh, for the hotels we bought these Regalo Travel bed, small, lightweight, fold up....I'm planning to set them up a couple weeks before we leave and let them sleep in them at home, I have to buy sleeping bags for them yet

 

Love this advice!! We are transitioning out of the cribs this summer and already I am thinking of ways to keep them in their beds if we have problems. My oldest ds had no problems staying in bed but this time around, I am dealing with 2 boys!! Do you mind if I steal this idea?!!!


OP: I would definitely hold off on the potty training. You dd might do ok, but your ds, being a boy, would take a lot longer. Boys tend to hold off on potty training till much older. Less headache for you and your ds if you wait till he is ready. Your trip will go easier too if you don't have to find a rest stop like RIGHT NOW if someone needs to go. Thankfully with boys, we just find a side road get out of the van and let them pee on the tire! My oldest ds gets a kick out of that!

As for the beds, could you try letting them take naps on a blanket on the floor to see how they would do? Maybe you could have them take naps that way and then on your trip they would be used to it. Just make sure you baby proof the room. I am not wanting to transition my twins from the pnp when we are at my inlaws or my parents just for the fact the room they stay in, isn't exactly kid friendly.

Good luck on your trip, have fun and enjoy time with your family! Where is home?