Feeling pressured by the "singletons". . .

What age did you transition to big boy/girl beds? And I would love ideas on how you made the transition. . .

 

By big boy/big girl beds do you mean the transition from a crib to a bed? Or do you mean out of the toddler beds into regular sized beds?

My girls moved out of their cribs to toddler beds at 18 months. But they are 3.5 and are still in their toddler beds.

 

Yep, crib to toddler bed. . .

 

The boys had a twin bed already in their rooms cause I didn't have any other place to put them. We had just downsized and the twin beds were from a guest room in the previous house. So, the boys were very interested in sleeping in them. Around 22 months, they went from cribs, to toddler beds for just 2 weeks, then to twin sized big boy beds. I just put bed rails on the beds until they started to take them off themselves. They only fell out of the beds once or twice and did not hurt themselves. I just put the mattress and the foundation bedspring on the floor. It worked really well. They are now in their beds in their bed frames. They have to climb in to their beds now via a chair that sits next to the head board. They love to climb so it works out.

 

On their 3rd birthday they got Buzz Lightyear beds and the cribs went away. We were going through months of them having a difficult time taking naps and bedtime. No matter what time I put them down for a nap, it would take them up to 1 1/2 hours to fall asleep which then resulted in very late bedtimes.

I finally came to the conclusion that naps were over with and that is when I decided to convert to toddler beds. To be honest, I waited this long because I did not want to deal with the struggles with having them stay in bed at naptime knowing how long it was taking them to fall asleep. They never tried to climb out of their cribs so I would put them down for a nap and leave them in there for the entire time. If they fell asleep great, but if not, I knew they were not going to go anywhere.

Now with no naps, they go to sleep within 10 minutes of going to bed and are getting 12 1/2 hours of sleep at night which is right on target for what 3 year olds needs per day.

As for the transition, I talked about the beds A LOT for the weeks leading up to it. They were at the house when the beds were delivered so they got to see them. I did a countdown with them and on their 3rd birthday I told them when they came home from school, they would have a big suprise in the room. I took everything off the walls and made it into a Toy Story room which at the time was their favorite movie.

Their room is just a "bedroom" with a nightstand. None of their toys are in there. If they were, I'm guessing the would be sleeping a lot less.

The first night they were so exhusted they fell right asleep. My one DS has been very good with staying in bed but my other DS likes to get out of bed and try to open the door (I had a toddler lock on it so they could not roam around the house). It's been almost 5 months and the fun has finally worn off and he usually stays in bed until morning.

 

Go ahead and throw things at me :tomato:, but my boys (3 years 5 months) are still in their cribs. They love them, they don't climb out of them, they are staying where they are for now!

 

At 2 1/2. We got some snide comments from friends' whose little girl is the same age as our girls. They transitioned her before she was 2, because they had another baby on the way and needed the crib. I didn't feel pressured by them, but we used this to help our girls transition ("do you girls want a big bed like E?!"). Then we let them help put the beds together and we talked it up for a couple days about what big girls they are now. They did great with the transition.

 

We transitioned to toddler beds ( our cribs converted), one night when the girls were about 3.5 yrs. They were not climbing out of their cribs, we had the side rails, and one night at bedtime, Naomi said, I want to sleep in a bed, not a crib and was rather upset. So, that night, we transitioned and it was no big deal because it was at their time not ours!

 

I put 3 but we were 3 weeks short... they climbed out so we didn't want to risk it. We skipped toddler beds and moved straight to twins though (just mattresses).

 

I voted 2 but they were a little between 2 and 2.5 They didn't do so well at 2 so we just turned the beds around (converted crib into toddler) so it looked like a crib again. They did well when we tried a couple months later

 

I didn't transition my son until he turned 3 and had absolutely no trouble with him, so I did the same with my girls. 2 weeks before their 3rd birthday I made the switch from cribs to toddler beds and we had no issues. I never had to stand or sit outside their room, I did not have to take everything out of their room because they wouldn't stay in bed, I didn't have to fight with them to stay in their beds, it was really stress-free and I strongly feel it was because we waited until they were closer to 3. All kids are different, but for us, waiting this long worked out for all three of our kids. I had many friends who as soon as their child turned 2 switched their kid and heard nightmare stories about how hard it was for them, I really think waiting that extra year worked wonders for us.

We also talked about it for weeks before we switched them. I actually used beds as a reward for peeing in the potty. They had a sticker chart with a picture of toddler beds taped above it and when they filled their pee chart, they were getting toddler beds. They were so excited to be big girls. They filled up their chart around Christmas, so on Christmas day they got their beds. They never wanted to be in cribs again, so it was just worked out great for us.

 

They transitioned before they turned two, we ended up moving and didn't want to take the cribs with us.

 

3y8m still in cribs. They can get in and out if they want to, but never do. I've BEGGED them to get in their big beds (which are also in the room) and they refuse. They keep telling me the beds don't have bars and they "need" those! LOL. So.. college it is!

 

We are just about to transition them next week (They are almost 2 1/2)...but believe me I was hoping to keep them in there until they were 5!!!! Ha Ha! The only reason I am is that they are climbing out all the time anyway and I'm afraid someone might get hurt. We also had to pull the changing table from their room recently because they kept climbing on that. One of my twins is very athletic and one is really clumsy so it needed to go to protect the clumsy one. Although maybe I could have just removed the cribs and had them use the changing table as a bunkbed......... (see photo)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2083545013485&set=a.1058805795645.2010801.1390902383&type=1&theater

Shannon

 

My son transitioned at about 2 years old. We were getting ready for the twins and wanted the crib in their room. We just switched him one night... didn't have any problems with it.

 

My twins were out of their cribs and in toddler beds before they were 2. I think it was when I was 4 or 5 months along when the OB said I could not lift them any longer so we got them toddler beds. We put up a baby gate to keep them from either getting out of their room when we wanted them to stay in or out of other rooms like the bathroom or off the stairs.

They transitioned well.

We put the triplets in toddler beds by age two. We kept the triplets in a room together with all three beds against each other. They slept all over each other.

 

I voted 3 yrs, b/c we did finally get my son in a toddler bed just before 3 yrs... but my dd is still in her crib... she is very agile and does climb in and out at will... UGH! we have a tent on the top and it helps to be able to zip her in when I need them to nap. we probably should have just put them in separate rooms, but I really hope in a month or so they'll all settle in and go to sleep a lot more easily. Right now it just seems like some days they are WIRED and egg each other on... yesterday no nap, but bed by 7:20p!! today 3 hr nap and not in bed until 9p...

good luck!

I did read in Parenting mag tonight that the new regulations on cribs are coming soon/or just out and that they are going to start recommending NO crib tents due to strangulations (I can kinda see that..) and getting out of cribs when 35 inches tall. I would say that I have totally used the cribs as the easy way out, probably should have just pushed through and made the change to toddler beds earlier... but it was rough for us when we tried at 24 mo. and for my dd still kinda rough...

 

This is great! I have one that is climbing out but I took everything out so he can't have a grand ole' time while everyone else is asleep. . . no lost limbs yet ;o) I just feel glad to know that I don't have to rush to put them into the toddler bed. . . I'm not sure they're emotionally mature for that just yet.

 

I read this article too. . . my two measure 35 and 36. . . I'm not quite sure why the height makes a difference. . . their feet aren't hitting the ends yet ;o)

 

The height makes a difference because they can fall over the crib rail easier the taller they are

I switched all 4 of my kids around the age of 2. My older 2 singletons were a piece of cake, the room was black, there was no-one to play with....no problems at all. The twins haven't been quite as simple, but I suspect it's because they are ready to give up their naps, but mommy isn't ready for that yet They sleep 11-12 hrs at night, and if they do nap it's 1-1.5 hrs. If they nap, they take forever to settle down and go to sleep at night. Today, no nap, they were asleep in mins, didn't get out of bed once. So, I have a decision to make soon, whether to continue the bedtime battle and keep naps, or cut out naps so there is no bedtime battle. I have no idea what to do..... :crazy:

 

I wanted to add that I plan on keeping my son in there for as long as I can! We took the girls out at 18 months b/c they were jumping out of their cribs and could get hurt. I'll never forget the day when they were down for a nap in their cribs, and when I got out of the shower and went to change clothes my baby was standing there in my closet! :shok: Scared the you-know-what out of me! But it got really difficult to get them to nap and go to bed at night after we moved them.

 

We transition just before they turned 2.5 because DS learned to climb out. If I had it to do over again, I would have gone to crib tents and waited until they were 3. Our transition with DS was horrible! DD was a piece of cake.

 

I voted 2 1/2, really Alyssa and Bryony were 2 1/4 but Naomi and Luke were 2 1/2. They all did really well. We had some problems with A & B keeping each other awake chatting (they had been in separate rooms in cribs so they were getting used to sharing a room again as well) and a little bit of getting up to play, but nothing too bad. We didn't loose naps or anything.

I think that if you and they are happy with cribs you shouldn't feel pressured into switching by what others choose to do.

 

We did it just after Christmas so they were almost 2.5. They were climbing out multiple times a night and it was becoming a safety issue. We started with their crib mattresses on the floor for about 4 months and just recently bought them twin beds. I would have left them longer if they weren't climbing out.

 

Mine transitioned at different times even though they share a room. Karina was scared of her crib for some reason last June. She would have been 2 1/2 then. We moved her to the crib mattress on the floor then. Annelise didn't want to stop using her crib. We moved her to the mattress on the floor shortly after her 3rd birthday. They are 3 1/2 now and still sleeping on mattresses on the floor. We need to buy twin beds, but we just haven't gotten around to it. Maybe when school is out and I have more time...

 

We moved L&L at just over 2, but we didn't use toddler beds, they went straight to twin beds.

 

3y3m here (I voted age 3). We started using crib tents when they were 2, though they actually never showed that much interest in climbing out. They loved their tents and loved their cribs -- the only reason we moved when we did was that they were using the cribs as trampolines and I was afraid they'd break them and get hurt. (Also, I was ready to buy new furniture. :ibiggrin: )

We had no problems -- just talked it up a lot, let them "help" (mostly watch) set up the beds, showed them their new sheets, etc., and explained the rules. Not only did they stay in the room, I think they stayed in bed most of the time at that age. (Now is a different story....)