When did you switch to Toddler beds?

What age were they and how did you do it? Im scared!!!! Its about time though.. The kids are climbing out of their beds.


Thanks!!

 

I switched mine early as they were escape artists. My odlest dd at 13 months and most others at 15 months.

I loved that they could get up and play in their room at a young age and then come find me when they got hungry/bored.

We went cold turkey, but they all hated their cribs anyway.

 

I've seen a couple people make the switch during the SY, but my girls will stay in their cribs until later this summer (around 2 1/2) because I love that they are contained. I shudder to think of them just climbing out of bed in the middle of the night looking for me. GL with the switch though... (oh and I know some people have had very good success with crib tents for climbers... just another option if you aren't ready to move them out of cribs. GL!)

 

We made the switch at 20.5 months...just a little over a week ago. It is going really, really well. Our mini cribs converted into twin beds so we skipped toddler beds. They have a step stool to climb up into bed and the wall on one side/safety rail on other. Naps are still a bit of a struggle, but getting better and night time is JUST like when they were in the crib. They have always been really good about going to bed at night though. We didn't have to do CIO to get them to sleep, just to keep them asleep. We have a gate on their door so they can't close the door and we can still see it. Aimee recently made the switch too.

 

We haven't yet (3y3m). They are sleeping in big-boy beds for the first time next weekend in the camper's bunkhouse. They'll be doing a lot of that this summer and we plan to switch them at home at the summer's end, so they'll be 3.5-years old.

 

Each of my girls switched a month or so before or after they turned 2. I also liked that they could entertain themselves for a bit before getting me. I never had any problem with them getting out of bed when they weren't supposed to or getting into things. I know I got off easy!

 

I plan to keep them in their cribs with crib tents until they are at least 3. I like them being contained, they sleep great, so why mess with a good thing?

 

I tented when they started climbing out (15 months) because I knew they would be trouble. They transitioned when they did (38 months) because they somehow collapsed one of the tents shattering a fiberglass support pole in the process. I wish I could say it was smooth and easy transitioning at 3 but it's been far from it. The day I "set them free", they decided they no longer wanted me to know when they get up in the morning. They began to sneak out of their room and charge downstairs to do whatever before the sun was even up. DH has walked in on them cooking paper in the toaster. They scare the heck out of me. So, I put a door hanger with a bell on to serve as an alarm. They learned to open the door a crack and silence the bell with a hand before opening the door fully and setting off the alarm. I moved the bell much higher. So far, so good. They stay in bed pretty well at night but take longer to fall asleep, rise earlier, and fight naps.

Still in a hurry to switch? Really, I think you can guess by their personalities and maturity level whether they will do OK or not. I knew my boys weren't ready but there wasn't much choice.

 

2.7 years, but we skipped toddler beds and went right to twin beds. I didn't want the extra expense in between.

 

We switched Cricket and Piper at about 20 months and the transition was quite easy. They both fell out multiple times until we got smart enough to put up a guard rail on the open side. Once we did that, both naps and nighttime returned to normal and stayed that way for five months. Now at 25 months my girls are starting to get out of bed in the mornings or in the middle of nap when they don't feel like sleeping. It's frustrating to deal with nap refusal and dancing on the floor of their room instead of sleeping, but I'm glad we switched, and think we had it easier than many people who waited until their kids were older and more strong willed.

 

We're about to do it. . .

Eeep!

 

I put a tent on their cribs at 23 months when they started to climb and it stayed that way until last week when we put them into toddler beds at 3.5 years old. No problems whatsoever. They stay in bed and either chit chat, wait for me to come in or come get me in the morning. I have no toys in their room and never used it as a playroom so they know to stay in bed and sleep. I was the type that never would entertain the thought of a toddler bed until at least age 3.
Forgot to add, they still nap 2.5 hours a day....

 

Ours went to toddler beds when they were 3.

 

Oh Debi,

That is my worst nightmare regarding "big boy" beds. Our oldest DS still won't get out of bed in the middle of the night - or anytime - unless he is *sure* that it is morning. I'm so scared these two are going to be little terrors once they are in beds - which they won't be for a long while!


Back to OP, we didn't transition our oldest DS out of his crib until he was 3.5. He loved his crib, didn't climb out - so we didn't see any need to mess with a good thing. The transition was really easy at that age - and I hope we find the same to be true with these two!

 

We switched ours at 18 months and it has been a very easy transition. Crib tents are $65 each and the toddler beds we got were $80 each so we figured we might as well just skip the tents and go straight to beds. My girls actually sleep better in the beds now than they do in cribs at their grandma's house. I put a baby gate up in their doorway so that if they get out of bed in the night they can't wander around the house.

 

We switched Nadia right when she turned 2, to a twin bed with rails. I also installed a video monitor and put the fear of MOM into her, telling her repeatedly that she was NOT ALLOWED to get out of bed. LOL, it worked for a good while. I also put a gate across her door, so she couldn't wander the house. After a few months, she did get out of bed, but it didn't really interfere with sleep.

I'm on the fence about what to do with K&K. They turn 2 in a couple days. I think we'll likely move them to beds this summer -- Karina is definitely ready, but I'm afraid Kevan will be a little monkey and not stay in the bed. He also flails all over the place, and I'm just worried he'll fall out every three minutes.

Still, this is a transition that I would like to be done with before they start school in late August, so I think we'll move forward with it.

Also, I'm thinking in terms of potty training -- Nadia used to get up and go to the bathroom on her own when she was 2. She was trained at about 26 or 27 months, and she had a bathroom inside her bedroom, so it worked. So, I wouldn't want to keep a kid in the crib beyond potty-training age, in order to foster independent bathroom habits...

 

The twins were almost 3. Night time was fine but napping was a big struggle for at least 3 months. Hubby wants to put Cody in a bed already, but I am holding out.

 

thanks for posting this...I was wondering the same thing! I will need to be using one possibly both of our cribs for the new arrival(s) in January and I was wondering when I should switch them to regular beds! Thanks for posting this and I am looking forward to all the answers

 

Oh man, we did in April, so my kids were about 21 months. I felt I needed to because of them climbing out, and spending money on crib tents didn't make a lot of sense to me, but now, 2 months later, I am wondering why I didn't go with crib tents. Heh.

One of my kids is pretty darned good about it, but the other is wild. She jumps around, climbs in and out, dances around, runs around the room, climbs all over her brother in his bed, throws her things out of bed, then runs around picking them back up only to do it over again. She opens the curtains, pulls on them, and is generally a wild animal in there. Nap time has finally gotten decent, but bedtime is at least two hours of her messing around until she goes to sleep. Each and every night. It is wearing me out.

 

The first time was at about 25 months.
Tried absolutely everything to keep them in beds and get them to take naps but nothing worked.
Finally saw the light at about 27 months, bought crib tents, and put them back in their cribs.
Everyone was happy again.
Made the switch again at just over 3 years old.
Had no problems because they were more mature and had just a tiny bit more self-control.