changing to toddlers beds

Hi ladies,
my ds is about to climb out of his crib. We already turned them around (the crib's back was taller) but he could
totally climb out of the side if it "clicked"...he is a climber.
My questions are...
1- should I change him now before he tries (covertible crib)..or wait until he climbs out/falls (I was
thinking about putting the pack and play mattress on the sides just in case.
2- should I change dd at the same time (they share a room)but she is not a climber
3- How do you get them to stay in their beds for naptime/bedtime/waking up at 5:30 am??????!!!! (they go
to bed on their own after reading a book, but are usually up for a while..I don't know what will
happend if they have the freedom to get out...same thing in the morning.f I was thinking I would
put a gate in the door...but I am predicting a lot of screaming wanting to come out...

 

Honestly, we had one night of issues, but after a night of sleeping, they're fine. On the weekends we have to separate them for naps, but that's just because they really don't want to take a nap and don't need to take a nap but *I* need them to.

I have a child proof lock on the inside of their door and books and toys to keep them occupied if they do wake up, but for the most part, my two don't want to get up during the week.

 

instead of converting the crib you could get a crib tent - it will help keep him in safely...

 

All of my babes were in twin beds by 2yrs of age - my dd was the oldest at 20mths, my 2nd child was 17mths (we needed the crib for his brother) and my 3rd was 14mths - he was so big when he jumped you could hear it crack.

We always put a baby gate up in the doorway with the door closed and there was usually a night or two of having to sit with them til they settled but it never lasted long. I dont' remember any major tears or frustration with the process.

 

1-I think that is your call. I would probably wait until he climbed out because it might buy you another month or two, but you should do what you feel most comfortable with.
2-As long as your daughter is not really upset by her brother getting a bed without having one herself then I would only move the child you have to. Why double your workload if your daughter's still happy in her crib. Also your son may find it less fun to get out of bed if he doesn't have a playmate.
3-Depends on the child. We just moved Eleanor to a toddler bed 2 weeks ago and, so far, she's been really good about staying in bed (she's a little older than your twins and in a room on her own though). With the twins what I did when we switched to beds was to sit in the room while they fell asleep for the first couple of weeks. I didn't speak to or look at them while I was sitting but if they started sitting up in bed or chatting I'd tell them to lie down/be quiet. Over the two weeks I gradually moved the place I sat closer to the door until I was sitting just outside it, listening to make sure they were staying quietly in bed. After a week of waiting outside the door I knew they would just go to sleep. (They were also about 2 1/2 when we switched).
This method doesn't work for everyone but it worked really well for us. If I wasn't in the room they would chat and play, if I was they would just lie in bed and fall asleep in a normal amount of time (under 15 minutes, and usually under 10) so it was worth it to me to spend that time.
If they have their door open (or can open the door themselves) then a gate to keep them in the room is probably a good idea. At least then you don't have to worry about them getting up and wandering the house while you sleep.

Good luck with your decision.

 

I had a climber and then two climbers and we attempted toddler beds... It was a totally disaster and attempted Crib Tents. The very best investment I have ever made. They kept/keep them safe and they are still sleeping soundly in cribs :laughing:
Good luck!

 

to buy yourself a little time you can stick your ds in a sleep sack, we eventuallly had to put the sleepsacks on backwards so they couldn't take them off... but basically to begin with the sleep sack helped it so that they couldn't hike one leg up over the crib rail... it bought me about 6+ months. We did get the crib tents. then a bit before vacation I thought we should try toddler beds, it was a disaster for us too. I kept with it for over a month. I finally got dh to switch back the week after vacation. life is so much more peaceful now.

#1 issue is getting them to fall asleep... for me it took a long time, for them to fall asleep, and I got frustrated. my dh and my nanny had much better luck.

what my nanny's technique was - was to say "night night go to sleep" and put them back in bed for 3 times. then after that she said you just put them back in bed without speaking or making eye contact. what I found difficult was that seriously my two were out of bed before the other was out... I couldn't figure out if it was better to pull both cribs next to each other so that I could have a hand on each crib or if I should not have them so close...

anyway issue #2 was early wakings. ours immediatey started waking at least an hour before they were supposed to and their naps were horrific.

anyway, life is so much better for us with crib tents. but now I'm debating on trying the beds again since we're potty training and I wonder if they would actually get out of bed and go potty in the night if they needed... the whole thing is exhausting to think about good luck with yours!

 

I had climbers, but one trip out of the bed and onto the floor changed that. Once Sarah fell out of the bed, she never tried to climb out again. I was also going to suggest crib tents as an alternative. I waited until I absolutely had to change them (at 3) and they were begging for big girl beds.

 

At a month shy of 2 1/2 yrs old and three weeks into our toddler bed transition, here's how it played out in our house:

My ds was our only real climber, which he first did back before their 2nd birthday. He was unharmed, but I just felt that they weren't ready for the freedom of toddler beds (nor was I ready for the loss of naps <_< ) and wanted to "buy" some time. I bought a video monitor (best investment so far) and employed mild scare tactics and surprise pop-ins when I would see a leg pop over the rail. Being kind of dramatic "ouch, you'll fall, oh my, etc." worked well and my dh never tried anything but threats of a leg over. But, this worked for my guys. I needed that extra time in cribs to establish good sleep habits and our bedtime "rituals."

I made a big fuss over their transition to big kid beds with new (homemade) wall decor and bed sheets. They are doing really well so far, but I know it's because we all had that extra time to grow and get used to the idea of their impending freedom.

Baby steps...

If you do change to toddler beds now, I would do both. Otherwise you will have a kid that climbs up and over into the crib!

Good luck and hope it goes smooth!

 

1- should I change him now before he tries (covertible crib)..or wait until he climbs out/falls (I was
thinking about putting the pack and play mattress on the sides just in case.
Thomas never fell. He was perfect at it. Within a few weeks or watching Thomas, Charlize decided she could do the same and did.

2- should I change dd at the same time (they share a room)but she is not a climber
She got a little jealous when I switched his to the toddler bed adn she wanted to be in his all the time, so I just switched hers too.


3- How do you get them to stay in their beds for naptime/bedtime/waking up at 5:30 am??????!!!! (they go
to bed on their own after reading a book, but are usually up for a while..I don't know what will
happend if they have the freedom to get out...same thing in the morning.f I was thinking I would
put a gate in the door...but I am predicting a lot of screaming wanting to come out..
We had a hard time getting them to go to sleep for about 2 weeks. I had to get a chair and sit in the rooms, or by the door and play sentinal so they would stay put long enough to fall asleep. I slowly moved it further out of the room and eventually just kept checking in every few minutes. Eventually they got it. I did find a babe sleeping on the floor in the livingroom one night randomly, but I then put up a gate to keep them from wandering when I wa asleep...

Good Luck!!