Cribs to Toddler Beds

DS started climbing out of his crib this week so we are turning the cribs into toddler beds today. Last night we told him if he would stay in his crib/room until we got up (normally about 6a), he would get two m&m's. Well, I think he did the best he could and he stayed in there until 5:30 and came to our room asking for m&m's! It was pretty sweet, but he normally sleeps until almost 7. Once they are in toddler beds, how do we keep them in their room until it's time to come out in the morning? I'm going to put up our walk-through gate that we used for their room for a long time. They can't open that, but I don't want them to stand at that and scream in the wee hours of the morning when they can't get out. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

Do they normally sleep with the door closed? If so, put a doorknob cover on. For my oldest ds we had to actually turn the doorknob around and lock it from the outside. If they are used to the door open, use the gate and they'll get used to it after after a few nights. I'll be honest though, at only barely two yrs old I'd get crib tents and wait til they are closer to 3. Lots of people do it earlier, but for us waiting til they had better comprehension made the transition much easier.

 

We used crib tents then when we switched to twin beds I just taught my kids to stay in bed until we went in to get them, even now at 8yrs old my girls will stay in their room quietly until we go and open their door. We have also had them sleep with their doors closed. We never put locks or anything on their door. We just kept reinforcing that they stay in bed until we come in to get them. If they got up and came out of their room before the time they were supposed to get up we would put them back to bed and shut their door again. Even if it was just 10min before we were going to go in just so they didn't think it was ok to leave their room. So we would bring them back to bed and tell them that it was time to sleep and we would come in to get them when it was time to get up. Also we would let them have some stuffed animals and a toy in their bed (my girls didn't have toys in their room since they had a small room and only two beds and an armoir fit in it) so if they woke up they could play quietly until we went in to get them. For my girls we also got a clock for their room so when it turned a certain time they knew they could get up but that didn't work to well since they were always fooling around with it and changing the time (they were trying to play the radio on it), but we did that when they were older and in beds for a few years.

I think I also heard of a clock or something that when the alarm goes off it changes color. Maybe you could get something like that so when it changes color he knows he can come out of his room. I don't know if he is to young to understand that or not but it's just a thought.

 

I use latch locks on the outside of their doors. I don't have to use it for DD because she is not a wanderer but I do for my DS because I am afraid he will get up in the middle of the night and start wandering around the house.

 

Thanks for the great ideas. There's going to be a lot of change this year - moving this summer, me going back to work probably at the end of the year, my husband will be gone for several months after we move for training for his job, etc. Part of me wants to tackle this while we're here, in a house they know and DH is here to help with the transition. I'm probably over thinking it and it will just take them a few nights to adjust, but I've just heard so many horror stories about crib-to-toddler bed transition. We'll kick some of these ideas around today...thanks for your input!

 

If you don't have a side that drops down, you can give this a try. A little after my boys turned 2, they would try to lift their leg over the side but were never successful. A photographer of all people told me about this.

Remove the mattress spring and put the mattress directly on the floor with the crib still around it. I did and it gave us an extra 3" which prevented them from climbing out.

Here are some pictures of what it looked like:

Crib#1

Crib#2

We moved to toddler beds on their 3rd birthday. Two weeks later, my one son stays put, but the one other I still have to tell him to get in bed. We put a toddler lock on the door so they can't open it. We always closed their door at night so it was no big deal for them. It's takes about 15-30 minutes to get him to stay in his bed.

I also bought two of these and they get them only at bedtime. It has a 15 minute timer option or it can stay on all night. I usually go in there after they go to sleep and put them back in a drawer until the next night. Otherwise they would want to play with them all day long.

With my one son, I tell him after my 2nd warning if he gets out of bed, I take away his light. He's starting to understand and it's been taking less and less time for him to fall asleep.

 

you're lucky that worked with your crib. ours isn't as low to the ground and there was at least and inch or two gap so that didn't help.

I tried toddler beds at 2yrs and gave them up 6wks later and went back to the crib tents. I'm itching to do toddler beds again so the kids can get themselves up when they need to pee in the night... but I know it will take them forever to go to sleep so I'm resisting it too... good luck.