We're making the switch . . . to beds

We are planning to make the switch from cribs to beds this weekend. DD climbed/fell out of her crib on Monday and the beds are in their rooms so we figured it's time. My twins are in separate rooms; therefore, we won't have the issue of them keeping on another up. They currently nap from 12:30/1 to 3:30/4 and go to bed at 8pm with a wakeup time 7:30/8. Some mornings they don't call for me until 8:30.

1. My SIL suggested that I begin with naps. What do you think?

2. We're going to have them sleep on their trundle beds instead of putting rails on their regular beds. Did anyone else do this? Will they fall out? How many times will it happen per nap, night, etc?

3. How do I make the kids excited about sleeping in their beds? How do I keep them in there?

I'm sure I'll have so many more questions as we do this. However, I would appreciate any advice and help up front.

 

I think you should just go all at once. I would think it would be too confusing to explain why you would sleep in one place for a nap and another for night. We got them all excited saying "No More Cribs...Yeah!!!" over and over. They even called some special people that day to tell them. We started with bedtime. They also got to pick a new stuffed animal to sleep with them.

We don't have trundles and used the bedrails that came with their beds.

I told them they were not allowed to get out of their beds and should call if they needed me. I listened closely the first few days and caught my DS once. I rushed into the room, gave my meanest face, and used my sternest voice to say "Get back in that bed now! You are not to get out!" He hasn't tried again (6 months ago) and DD has never tried! I also should mention that I took everything out of the room, so nothing to play with even if they did get out!

Good luck! They're big kids now!! I still can't get over how different they look in beds vs. cribs!

 

I was scared to death to make the switch b/c I have one VERY spirited twink and another that likes to follow his lead. I just knew I was going to be in for a long road but they completely surprised me.

We started on a weekend too in case it was rough on us all. I started with a Saturday nap and it took me about 1.5 hrs to convince my non spirited on to stay put! He wanted to play but his brother stayed in the bed the entire time. That night I kept them up a little later than normal bedtime(about 1.5rs) b/c we had friends over and they wanted to stay up. To my amazement they went right to bed even with a house full w/o any issues.

I didn't jazz it up to much b/c I didn't want them to get too excited about it. I felt like if I got them jazzed up it might backfire. I did talk it up though and we let them be a part of taking the crib side off. We started with removing the crib side b/c I was scared it wouldn't work and if we had to we would put the side back up. About 2 weeks later we switched to Toddler beds. Maybe that was why our transisition was easy?

We do have issues with one falling out of the Toddler bed but amazingly he doesn't even know it half the time!

I just kept telling them "no out" without Mommy being in the room and they bought it. They will call me when they want me or upset and they don't get out. I'm still shocked by it b/c they sure don't listen to me any other time!

 

***UPDATE***

Well, we first made the switch on Saturday for naps. After having the kids help prepare their beds (trundle beds), I talked it up for an hour or so. DD went down easily and DS had to be put back into bed after getting up a couple of times. DD slept for 2.5 hours and DS for 1.5 hours . . . they normally sleep 2.5-3 hours. NOT TOO BAD! For bedtime, DD went down easily again and it took me 2 hours to get DS to sleep. I sat by his bed, sat in his rocker, and walked out of the room. He kept getting up when I left the room and he thought it was funny when he opened his door. My children have always slept with their doors closed (DH is a fire fighter and recommends this.). I finally installed a doorknob guard so he couldn't open the door. This upset him quite a bit. He eventually fell asleep while I sat in his rocker. He woke at 3 am and I put him back in his bed and sat on the floor until he was asleep. He woke for the day at 6:30 am which is 1+ hours earlier than normal. Naps today were pretty normal. DS cried some; however, not too long. The same for this evening. I am just hoping for a full nights sleep.

Just thought I would share our experience.