Toddler bed ready?

My boys are going to be 2 at the end of March. My husband and I are going back and forth on getting them toddler beds...

They are great in their cribs.. Ever since they were 3 months old, they knew that when they were put in their cribs, it was time to sleep. They never used their cribs for play time, never tried climbing out and are great sleepers! They nap from about 1230pm to between 3and 4, and go to sleep at 830pm and wake between 8 and 9am!!

We have been having a problem with one of our boys lately. Whenever we put him down for nap or bed, he stands and screams, no matter if a night light is on or not. After the third or fourth time going in and laying him back down, he stays down and goes to sleep. (Not sure if it's crib related, we can't figure out why he is upset)

Anyway. Seeing how good they do in their cribs, I figured they would transion well to toddler beds. But I have been hearing stories from other moms that are making me think otherwise! Are they not going to sleep as well once they are in beds? I say this because, sometimes they will wake an hour into nap or in the night. And if I just let them be, they will be back to sleep in 5-10 minutes. But in beds, will they just get up and start playing with their toys and not go back to sleep? Or take shorter naps and wake up earlier in the day, knowing they can get out of bed and play? Since they don't have a play room, and their toys are in their room, are they going to get out of their beds as soon as I leave the room at naptime or bedtime to play with their toys?

It seems more like I am trying to prepare myself and husband for this transion more then Aiden and Landon! LOL!!! I'm just nervous that I will lose my good sleepers and they will lose the direction that the bed is for sleep only!

Any words of advice, or pros and cons are very welcome!!!

 

If they are sleeping fine in their cribs, not climbing out etc, I would leave them. The freedom of a toddler bed, especially to a 2 yr old is immense! My oldest was in his crib till almost his 3rd birthday, and when I switched him, I had no issues. He didnt get up, I never had to sit outside his door to make sure he wasnt playing in his room etc. I plan on doing the same thing with the twins. They will be staying in their cribs for as long as possible. If it was me, I would leave them. As far as your little one screaming, it could be just a phase. THey are turning 2, and they seem to get another personality with that age. More willful etc.

 

Wow, your kids sleep a lot. I think it's normal for kids this age to sleep about 11 hours at night and 2 hours during the day. Maybe that's the problem? Maybe he doesn't want to sleep so much?

 

You think that's too much?? I only put them down when they are tired.. Stop playing.. lay around watching tv.. ask for a nap... cry on the drop of a dime.. (well I am sure we all know how to tell when one is tired.. ) And on average they will wake up sometime after 3pm.. Somedays they wake up at 2.. But when they wake up 30-45minutes after putting them down, that's when I leave them be and let them fall back to sleep.. They are only sleeping one hour more at night and during the day then what's 'normal'..

Maybe I will try a later nap, and see if that helps him at all!

 

We got our girls their toddler beds for their third Christmas, just a week shy of their third birthday. I would say if they are doing well in their cribs, don't rush. If the worse problem you are having is them standing up and crying for a little bit, don't do it! My girls only had one or two instances of crawling out of the crib, so we didn't rush. When they were three they were thrilled to get beds. They had been asking for them for a couple of weeks, so we were able to use it as a reward for pottying as well. We had very little bed trouble when we did switch because they were old enough to understand consequences. They never got out of bed at night, naps went well for the first couple of months, I didn't have to put a gate up in thier room, or baby proof their room anymore than it already was. It was really a stress-free time for us. A year really makes a difference in their maturity level, and I think it was better on them and us by waiting until they were 3.

 

I agree with Rachel, if they are doing well in their cribs, I wouldn't change just yet. I switched DD at 19 months because she is our climber and DS a month shy of three because I thought it would be better do it before the holiday rather then after. Both of them had an adjustment period but I can say the switch went smoother for DS then it did for DD. He had maybe 3 days of exploring the room and not napping (but sleeping well at night) where as she had 2 weeks of it and I had to sit in the room with her and keep putting her back to bed. I do use a latch lock outside of DS's room because he is wanderer and once he's awake for the day or from nap, he wants out. I just don't want him roaming around the house in the middle of the night.

 

I dont think they sleep a lot. My 3 yr old sleeps from 7pm-6am and naps from noon-3.

 

I don't think they sleep a lot either. Like Slipper, my 3 year old sleeps about 11 hours a night and naps about 3 hours.

I moved my singleton just before he turned 2. For us it solved all his sleep problems. He was still night waking before we moved him and the first night in his big boy bed he slept all night and hasn't looked back!!! We had two nights where we had to sit outside the door at bedtime and tell him he wasn't allowed to leave his room and since then he has never left in the middle of the night. Mind you there's only one of him...I have no idea what it's going to be like with 2 of them scheming in there, lol! I was VERY worried about the transition but for us it was incredibly smooth, but like I said there's only one of him .

 

Why don’t you try cribs that can be converted to toddler beds? If they don’t transition well, they can go back to the crib. However, I feel toddler beds are safe and good to change to. In fact my boys felt more comfortable in a toddler bed. Since their sleep time is good, you should not have any problem. Also, check the collection of toddler beds at aBaby.com.

 

If there's no reason to switch to toddler beds, I probably would wait a bit too.

That being said, we switched our twins about a month ago. We are going camping this summer and they need to be able to sleep on our folded down table in our popup. So we decided to just go ahead and try them in their converted cribs, knowing that if it failed, I'd put the crib rails back on and try again later this spring.

It went surprisingly well. Too well. :lol: They did fantastic for about 2 weeks, only getting up once or twice at bedtime. Then the other night my son decided to start playing at night. After 90 mins of putting him back to bed, I dug out a packnplay and set it up in their room. Everytime they got up, I took their paci's, their "guys" (stuffed toys) and put them in their beds, and then put the kids in the packnplay. I went back out and closed the door and left them in the packnplays until they started yelling. Then I'd go in and tell them if they wanted their suckies and their guys, they needed to get into bed. The first night it took another 30 mins before my ds went to sleep. But the last 2 nights we only had to put him in the pnp twice. We'll keep doing this until they start going right to sleep again

 

We changed right after they turned 2 when we moved out of state and it was a week or so of opening drawers and general mischeviousness, but all in all, it went pretty smoothly.

 

We moved our daughter into a regular twin bed when my twins were born (Reese was 20 months old at the time). Why? We needed her crib for the twins! She was a great sleeper both in the crib and in the regular bed. We had no problem whatsoever! We were surprised that she didn't even attempt to get out of her bed at night. Of course, that changed as she got older and she figured it out. (she's now 3)

 

IMO there is no reason to switch out of cribs until you have to. Amy also went through that "stand up and scream" phase around age 2 and it never occurred to me to take her out of her crib. We just persisted with our routine and eventually she gave up on the screaming, and went back to being a good napper until around age 3.

The longer you wait, the easier the switch will be.

 

I have always heard that toddlers struggle with night waking because of one of tow reasons. 1. They are learning so many new exciting things and they just don't want to quit. They are on overdrive and they don't want to miss anything. 2.) Separation anxiety can occur during this age too. He may just be wanting to make sure you are still there. As frustrating as it may be, I think you are doing the right thing. Go in and reassure him and lay him back down and walk out. He may persist for awhile but once he learns it doesn't work for him I bet he will stop soon. He is just testing his boundaries a little. Totally normal child development...but I know like you very frustrating and exhausting at times! Hoping for a happy sleeper for you in the near future.