Crib use, including w/ toddler rail - How long did you use yours?

I am hoping to get some advice from you all on a furniture decision our family is facing. Our twins, our first, will be 2 in a matter of days. Their little brother will arrive in July. Right now, the girls still sleep in their crib without a toddler guard rail (although we have already purchased the rails). We are trying to decide, do we buy a third crib for Mr. Man and keep the girls in the cribs as long as possible (including time when we will use the cribs with the toddler guard rail)? Or do we bite the bullet and buy the girls BIG GIRL beds because the "life span" of kids in cribs, including time used with toddler guard rails, is really limited.

The biggest factors in our decision right now are:
1) Our cribs don't convert to twin beds, so the toddler guard rail will only buy us so much time
2) The girls stay in their cribs and don't climb out. We have stressed this rule and they know climing is for other structures... like the kitchen cabinets (sigh - can't win them all).
3) the girls are nearly 3 feet tall already and come from tall parents.
4) We're not sure Twin B would stay in a BIG girl bed unless we duct taped her to the mattress. (Kidding)
5) The girls still REALLY move around at night.

Thanks for any insight you could provide.

 

We moved 1,000 miles away before they turned 2, so we just bought beds at Ikea instead of unassembling and reassembling the cribs. The beds we bought went from toddler to twin and were $99 for the frame and like $30 for the slats. They were also low to the ground. We put their crib mattresses in them for two years and just recently bought twin size mattresses and expanded the bed the rest of the way.

 

We kept my kids in cribs until they climbed out, 3 weeks before they turned 3. We switched to twin mattresses only, because, like yours, they moved all over the crib, I only found mixed reviews on bed rails, and I wasn't comfortable converting their cribs because they were too high off the floor. Over a year later the mattresses are still on the floor but they've learned to stay in bed, I'm still very glad we didn't invest in boxsprings or beds because jumping on the beds is their favorite passtime, and I'm sure they would have got hurt eventually... The plan is to buy them a bedding set when they decide that they want their own room, whenever that is... and we'll get new mattresses too (those were hand me down).

In your case, I'd buy a cheap crib. I know you can find some for $100ish at Ikea or other stores. I'd keep the twins in their crib until they climb out, then just switch to twin beds (either with rails, or just mattresses on the floor like we did). I can't comment on how easy it is to switch 2yo out of cribs, but the transition wasn't that easy for us. We had to totally empty their room, they just played for one hour or more for over a week, emptying their dressers etc, and it took them 2 weeks to take naps again... the only reason it wasn't that bad is because they can't get out of their room. We still find them asleep on the floor at times. They've broken their closet door as well, we're just lucky they were not under it when it fell. At least in cribs the damage they could do (to the room and themselves) was limited. They're over 4 now and all they have in their room is stuffed animals still.

 

My boys are freakishly active so I got a 3rd crib. But something to keep in mind is little babies don't like to lay flat- Miss A hasn't really slept in her crib (happily) yet. If you have a PNP maybe that's a cheaper option until your girls are a good 3?

 

They all climbed out of their cribs early. I knew they would figure out the crib tent, so we put the mattress on the floor first then moved to beds after that. My oldest was about 2 1/2, but all the others were well before 2. All did just fine. I just didn't find the need to keep them in cribs. My oldest 2 are just shy of two years apart, so we bought a second crib. Turns out we should have never bought another.

 

My boys climbed out of their cribs around 2 I think. They went through a period of new found freedom where they got out of the crib every 4 seconds, this went on for a couple weeks and then it was over. I switched to regular twin beds just before their third birthday, I just felt they were too old for cribs. Because we had gone through the freedom issues already, transition to the beds was a snap. I bought a set of bunk beds that could also be single beds. It came with two rails for the top bunk so I put both beds against a wall and a rail on the outside of the bed. Never had any problems with them falling out (that I know of!).

If it were me, I would buy the twins beds and use a crib for the baby. My almost 5 month old is still sleeping in our room in a pack n play so you still have plenty of time before you really need to buy a crib.

 

I did not vote in the poll because I have two different experiences with my twins.
My DD was a climber and climbed out of her crib at 19 months. Her crib did convert and the toddler bed had a rail with it, so that is what we did at 19 months. Because DD was also pretty rough with her crib and liked to stand and shake it, jump on the bed when she was told not to, her toddler bed was not very sturdy. When she was a couple of months shy of 4, we got her a twin bed. She is much more cautious and careful with it. We have no rail on the bed for her, she does stay in it. Though sometimes she likes to build herself a nest on the floor and sleep in it.
My DS, however, was not a climber. He was happy in his crib and the only reason why we switched him out of it was when he was 3 and he was potty trained and we got him a Toy Story toddler bed (his crib did not convert), which he still does use. I think he would do great with a twin bed and we are hoping to do it either later this year or early next year.

In your situation, with another baby, I would get the twins beds and if you are unsure if they are ready for that step, you can see how they do with mattresses on the floor and then go with the beds.

 

My four year olds are still in converted cribs (which in our case meant taking the entire front panel off so it looks like a toddler day bed). I have no problem putting them in beds now. We just haven't. They are fine.

 

You only have 3 months til the new baby comes. I'd keep the twins in their cribs (that they are comfortable in) instead of adding the newness/upheaval of new sleeping situations followed quickly by a new sibling. When the new baby comes, you'll appreciate being able to put the twins in their safe places and not have worry about them staying in bed or having a party. You will definitely enjoy that little bit of down time. Once everyone is settled in with the new baby (read-the baby is sleeping through the night and napping well), you can work on moving the twins to beds.

All of mine transitioned first to a toddler bed, some stayed in it for years, others moved out quickly due to size.

 

I am moving my daughter (2 years, 1 month) out of her crib in the next week or two so that we can use her crib for one of the twins that are on the way. My daughter has not climbed out of the crib yet but our crib railing is very high off the ground and if she got adventurous, a fall would probably be pretty bad. Luckily, a member of my local MoM club was selling her twins' toddler beds. I got the Disney Princess toddler bed for about $25. Now I do know that we haven't actually tried to switch my daughter out of her crib yet and I may be back on these boards in a month frustrated that I can't get her to stay in bed but I think her personality is well suited to it. Basically what it boils down to for us is that I can't keep getting her in and out of the crib at this point in the pregnancy and her personality seems well suited to the change right now.

 

We moved from co-sleeping to cribs with toddler rails. They were already climbing at that age so transitioning them into cribs in their room would not have worked. So we never used the cribs as cribs except for the one they shared for the newborn phase.

I would not have bought cribs for 2 year-olds but they were there, handed down from friends, so we still use them (at 34 months) and see no need to change in the foreseeable future. They will be big enough for quite a while. As co-sleepers they were used to the freedom that they could get out of bed, but luckily co-sleeping also taught the habit of staying in bed. But mine move a lot during the night and either need crib-rails or could only sleep on a mattress on the floor, they would otherwise be falling out of bed constantly (as they do when we travel).

 

I should have picked other deciding factors, but that wasn't the only reason we moved them over when we did. They were able to climb in to the cribs. If they could climb in, they could climb out, and I was afraid of them trying that. I put the guard rail on and they stayed in their cribs. I rarely ever had to put them back in. They each had a twin bed in their rooms, because when we moved, we had no where else to put the beds so we just put them in each room with the cribs. I let Kiefer stay in his big boy bed one night because he asked me to let him. I would sometimes find him napping in the bed anyhow. He stayed. Then it was time to remove his crib. Cameron saw how Kiefer got to sleep in his big boy bed and he wanted to sleep in his. I just said go ahead, got them the safety rails for twin beds and there you have it. Cameron did fall out of his bed a couple of times before I put the rails on. He has fallen out maybe once since I removed the rails. The bed are high up, but he was fine. Kiefer fell out once the entire time. He stays put when he sleeps.

Their cribs only had the guard rails on for about a week or 2 before Kiefer convinced me he was able to stay in his big boy bed. Cameron was in his crib with the guard rails for maybe 3 weeks before he decided he too wanted his big boy bed. They were moved to their big boy beds just before they turned 2 years old.

 

Mine are 3y3m and so far are still doing great in cribs! Within the next few months we'll convert their cribs to toddler beds, and move them to twin beds when they outgrow the toddler beds.

 

Thanks so much for everyone's insight. It gave us a lot to think about. We have finally decided that we're going to bite the bullet and buy a third crib. Right now, when the girls get frustrated, they will say "sleepy tired" and ask to be put in their cribs to cool off. Since it is a place of security for them now, maybe it can be a refuge when their world is upended in July after little man arrives.

So, shopping I will go.

 

I stopped at 18 months. It was a Friday night and those little monkies learned how to climb into their crib. They woke up with identical bruises the next morning on their inner thighs, and we figured if they can climb into their cribs, they can climb out of them. We went to the furniture store on Saturday and bought twin sized beds. We just threw the mattresses on the floors w/out the frames and let them sleep like that for quite a while until I felt they were ready to handle the higher beds from adding the frames.

With being in just mattresses, they were able to freely explore their rooms at bedtime, so expect a trashed room. What we did there was put a baby-gate in their doorway to at least keep them in their room and not running around the house. I would go to bed and find a boy sleeping in front of the baby-gate, but at least in his room.

 

So am I the only one that uses crib tents. My girls arent quite 2 yet but are climbing in out. I bought crib tents to stop that. There is no way I'm allowing free reign to their room. They still need naps too and before we had the tents there was a week of no naps. Miserable for all!!!!

 

Nope- I love our tents so much that my little Houdini who has bored a hole through his first one will soon be getting a 2nd.

 

We don't use crib tents since our boys haven't tried to climb out, but I have a number of MoM friends who have used them and love them.