Moving from cribs to beds

So, regarding the transition from cribs to beds, I am curious what you guys did and if it worked or if you would change something. I know every situation is different but I’d really appreciate your feedback.

Mandi is showing some interest in climbing out of her crib. She’s starting to try to swing that leg over. At their 2yr visit, the pedi suggested waiting until the new baby (due Thanksgiving Day) was about 6mos (sleeping through the night basically) before moving them to beds. He said that the new baby would wake them during the night and then I’d be trying to get two 2.5yr olds AND a newborn back to bed. The baby will sleep in our room until s/he is sleeping through but our room is right beside the girls’ room. So we put the idea of beds out of our mind until Mandi started this leg thing. Now we’re just not sure what to do. Do we wait until they are three? Do we do this transition in the next month or so? I’ve started the second trimester so I would want to get this done before the third trimester I would think.

What was your experience?

Also, at the age of about 27mos, would you go to twin beds or toddler beds? We are thinking toddler beds because their room is sort of small for 2 twin beds. I thought we’d keep them in the toddler beds until they are ready for bunk beds?? Any thoughts on this? I read age 6 is when they can move to bunk beds? Do you agree? Can you keep a kid in a toddler bed until they are 6?? :unsure:

I think I’ve been fearing this year of their lives more than anything between moving to beds and potty training. Lots of anxiety over it all. Add that to all of our anxieties about a new baby and you have one stressed out Momma (and Daddy) these days. :wacko:

 

I am interested to everyone's response because we are considering the big move also. Mine have been climbing out of the crib for awhile now so we just leave the sides down. That way it isn't so high up, if they were to fall.

 

We switched two weeks ago, and so far it has been a very successful experience. Mine have always typically liked their cribs and sleeping and so I was worried that the switch would disrupt that. Mine are also in separate rooms, which I am sure has helped. And we opted for twin beds so that we would not have to buy new beds again in a couple years.

The only thing we did to prepare them was to go look at the beds (we did that 5 days before we bought them) and then talk about them all week. Ben seemed clueless and Hannah had the idea. We put them together on a Sat morning and they were in them for naps that day. We got them involved in taking apart their cribs and putting their beds together. They also helped wash all their new sheets and bedding before putting them on the bed.

I really have no advice...it was just a really easy switch for us. I think of all that time I spent dreading it, and it was just a waste.

The ONLY thing that we have had SOME issues with is early wakings. They used to get up around 7am and now we are all up around 6:30. BUT, they do this from time to time (even when they were in cribs), and it could just be a temporary thing.

 

It sounds like you really aren't ready for the transition. I would suggest getting a crib tent and waiting until later. We also skipped toddler beds and went right to twins. I really don't think you can make them last in a toddler bed until 6, but there are bunkbeds you can get that split up into 2 twin beds--so you can do that until they are old enough to bunk.

Good luck.

 

With a new baby coming, there's no way I'd do it. In your situation here's what I'd do....instead of spending money on toddler beds now, get the crib tents for both of them. That way you save a bit of money and you know there will be no falling/climbing out accidents while you are dealing with the baby. Once you've got the baby on a good routine and sleeping well, you can get twin beds for them and do the switch. We had to move Aaron back in March (well before I wanted to!) because one of the three cribs broke. He did well but you better believe the twins are staying in for a while longer! Shortly after Aaron's move to the toddler bed, Erick climbed out so we got him a crib tent. That was great until Thurs when Kayci climbed out! It had been a while so instead of buying a second one we moved the tent to Kayci's crib. So far so good. Erick understands much better than Kayci at this point so he hasn't climbed out again. Not sure why I typed all that out :huh: but there ya go! Good luck with the decision!

 

Interesting. We moved both Matt and Mila out of a crib into a twin bed before the new baby/babies arrived. I did not want them to feel like the baby took their crib. So, we moved them just at the beginning of the third trimester so they had three months to be "bonded" to their new bed and then by the time we actually used the crib for the new sibling, they were over the crib. They remembered it, but it wasn't theirs anymore. I should mention that Matt was 15 months and we had not one issue with it at all. Mila was 20 months and again, no issues with the move.

We moved Zach and Hannah at 16 and 17 months respectively. We did it one at a time as they share rooms with their older same sex sibling not with eachother. But, we really didn't have any issues to speak of at the time. We are havign some issues with Zach the past couple of months getting out of bed and bugging his big brother at bed time. But, all in all it has been pain free for us.

I would advise completely different than others, even your pedi. I would move them now. If the new baby is going to wake them up, they will be awake in a crib or a bed. I don't find that it is any harder to get my kids back to sleep if they are woken up by something in a twin bed. Besides they are going to have enough to deal with adding a sibling to the mix, possibly potty training AND moving to a new bed if you wait until after the new baby is born and sleeping through the night.

Let them help you pick out their new sheets or something of that nature and get them really excited about being BIG GIRLS. If you are really planning on using bunk beds, then I would look into used toddler beds otherwise, you will be buying two twin beds and then a second set of beds for the bunk beds. I am not sure if you can find these any more, but if you can find twin beds that are also bunk beds (my brothers had these) that might be one solution for that. My girls have a small room and are in twin beds. There is not a ton of space, but we have rearranged things so that it is doable. I have all of their clothes so we only have one dresser in the room for jammies, underwear, socks, etc.

Good luck. It isn't always scarry.

 

Now I only have experience with my singleton, so I will share that. We moved her to a full size mattress on the ground when she was 25 months. She was terrified to get out of her bed for about 2 weeks. Then she realized she could and it didn't take her long to come to our bed in the middle of the night! The twins came when she was 26 months old and things were fine. They only woke her up twice during the middle of the night. She was really good about staying in her own bed.
Good luck!

 

I don't have another on the way but I am wanting to switch. E&E are almost 25months. I think Emma would be the trouble maker though. THey are both throwing their legs over and trying to get out. Ethan can almost climb into his crib too.

 

We moved ours to beds right around 26 months. We had planned on just moving H, but C got really upset that he didn't get a bed so we did him too. We decided to go with toddler beds just because beds don't last forever and we didn't want to buy twin beds now and have them wear out before they are grown up and out of the house. LOL

Heather took to her bed much better than Connor. She has never fallen out and she stays in all night. Connor did ok for a month, but we did get a rail for his because he fell out a lot. We have trouble keeping him in bed right now, but that's a whole other story. It's a pain, but there's no turning back now.

No advice on the bunk beds here.... Good luck with your decision.

 

We made the switch shortly before N & G's first birthday. While I was completely stressed out about it, it went MUCH smoother than I anticipated. Oliver was 4+ months and DH really wanted him to have his own crib (he was co-sleeping some nights and sleeping in a PNP other nights), so he gave me a choice - buy a third crib or get toddler beds. For some reason, I really didn't want a third crib... no logical reason that I can put my finger on. So, after debating that for several more days, we went out and bought toddler beds. Nighttime has been completely fine. They chatter and play for 15-30 minutes before falling asleep, but they did that in cribs too. Naptime is hit or miss. Some days they play for a few minutes and then nap well. Some days they play for an hour or more and then nap for a short period of time. I think it all varies from situation to situation but, for us, it really was not bad at all. Knowing what I know now, I would agree with those PP's that said to make the switch now.

-Catherine

 

You might want to try crib tents if you want to wait a little longer, my girls had them and loved them then you can wait until the new baby is older and when you are ready to do it.

I transitioned my girls to twin beds at about 27/28mths we went straight to twin beds. Their room is very small and you could only fit two twin beds and an armoire in their room nothing else would fit. I didn't want to waste money on toddler beds for a short time. It took about a week for them to stay in their beds for at night and longer for naps. We actually lost naps for a while during this transition. You have to be very consistent. We did our normal routine and just kept telling them it was bed time and put them in bed told them they couldn't get out and if they needed anything to call for us. If they got out we would take away one of the stuffed animals or blankets that they took to bed with them. They would get it back if they were quiet and goodor if they lost another item they wouldn't get back the first one taken away until the next day. We also made sure the room was dark so no lights or anything where on so they couldn't play either just talk (which we let them for a certain amount of time, then we told them ok no more talking time to go to sleep, but this is when they got a little older and were talking better). When we had rough spots also with them getting out of bed we would just put them back to bed without talking to them and were very consistent (they would go through phases of getting out of bed and then they were good for a while and then they would do it again for a couple of days).

 

We switched our girls from cribs to toddler beds about a month and a half ago -- 22 or 23 months old. I was worried about the transition, but it has been wonderful for us. First, we converted their cribs into "toddler beds" but their cribs do not have a rail on the side so they kept falling out of bed. So, after about 2 weeks, we bought toddler beds. I also bought sheets and quilts so their beds are really like big beds now. They love their beds. There was about a 2 week transition time when we had to go in and keep telling them to go back to bed. Now, they go right to sleep and usually sleep all night. My girls actually sleep better in their beds than they did in cribs. They sleep later in the morning and they do not wake up crying. Instead, they usually wake up and play in their room for awhile before they come and wake us up, so we are getting to sleep later in the morning. Occasionally, they get up in the middle of the night and come in our room, but they easily go back to bed.

 

QUOTE(rosie19 @ May 21 2007, 04:36 AM) [snapback]262753[/snapback]
We made the switch shortly before N & G's first birthday.


Catherine, I think you mean second birthday

 

I moved Gabe into a Toddler bed shortly after the girls came home, he was barely 2 at the time. I set up the toddler bed in his room and gave him a choice for about a week on where he wanted to sleep. at first he'd want the toddler bed, then quickly change his mind. I let him go back and forth for a week. Then the next week, if he wanted in the big boy bed, that's where he had to stay. Then the following week, we took the crib down.

He did have a week or so of getting out of bed and running into the living room, but then I put a baby gate into his doorway as a boundary line. I could hear him if he went over it. Not really any major problems. I can only pray that when it comes time to switch the girls that it'll go that smoothly~!

best of luck!

 

We switched the girls when they were 30 months. I switched them because they were not sleeping well in their cribs anymore. It was not easy. Reagan would not stay in bed for anything in the world. finally I resorted to laying down with them until they fell asleep. This usually ended up with me sleeping with one of them all night, because i kept falling asleep. I finally broke them of the habit of me sleeping with them at night abount a month or so ago. And That actually was easier to do than i thought it would be. But I still have to lay with them to take decent naps. If I don't they never get into a good sleep,and they're up in 30 minutes.

If you are not ready to move them, then I say don't do it. Take your time and do it when all of you are ready. Maybe you can find crib tents on craigs list or in the shopping section here on TS if climbing out of the cribs becomes an issue.

 

QUOTE(sharongl @ May 21 2007, 01:31 PM) [snapback]263242[/snapback]
Catherine, I think you mean second birthday


Oy! You are definitely right Sharon... second birthday! It's been a long day over here :crazy:

 

My guys sleep in a queen size bed together, with rails on each side. They love sleeping together, and it works for all of us.

 

I have to switch real soon because James keeps climbing out of his crib. He doesn't leave the room but will grab all the toys to give to his sister or climbs into her crib. I bought the crib tent tonight but it ripped while we were putting it together.AAARRRGGHH. I decided to put the gate in the door way of their room to keep him in. By the time I got the gate in place he was in his sister's crib saying "I sleep with Stacy" I tried that this afternoon but they never napped and I'm afraid he will stand her head (he has done this in the past). So now we will be looking for twin beds that turn into bunk beds.

 

I am in the same boat, well, not with the new baby coming, but with trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to fit two twin beds in their room. It's tiny -- I think it's about 8x11!! I live in an older house (built in the 40s) and the rooms are all small. I have also wondered about the probability of being able to keep them in toddler beds until we can switch them to bunks later on.

I've also thought about maybe a trundle bed or just getting a double, which would be easier to fit than two twins. I am totally in denial about it, though. La la la...

About when to swithc them, I say wait until you're ready. Though honestly I don't see the doctor's point about waiting untl the baby is sleeping through because the crying will wake the girls? My guess is that, if they're anything like my girls, they'll sleep right through the crying. They're twins; they're conditioned to sleeping through a crying baby, LOL! Really, though, I vacuum, run the washing machine (in the room right off their bedroom and also very loud b/c it drains into the utility sink, again, old house...), they sleep through anything.

 

One of our boys climbed out when they were 18 months old (we didn't hear a thing on the monitor!), and we switched both to the toddler beds (we have convertible cribs). We have had a dickens of a time keeping them in their bed for night-time. Nap time still works OK, they go right down without even talking, but night time is different. The minute we leave the room and say good-night, they're both out tearing the room up. We've tried putting them back in, taking toys, nothing works. I've taken to sleeping on the floor in their room for an hour. I don't know if it's because they are in the same room?

Oh and sorry, first-time poster, long-time viewer

My fraternal boys are going to be two on Saturday!