How old was your toddler when he/she got their own toddler bed?

[gbailey]

We're in no rush to put DD in a toddler bed. She's 2.5 and not climbing out of the crib. DH and I figured we'd wait until her birthday and get her a toddler bed. Any thoughts on when is the best time to make the transition?

[happysmileylady]

For us, the transition occurs when the kids can climb out of the crib.  With DD1, she was about 2.5.  She was in the crib, my dad was babysitting and was in the room on the computer but his back was to her.  She was babbling...then she wasn't.  He turned around and she was head down in the hamper next to the crib.  New bed by the weekend.

With dd2, she was only 14 months.  Mattress was at it's lowest setting, and yet one morning, I went to get her out of bed, only to discover her out of bed.  Thinking it was a fluke I tried a few more times, and when she fell trying to climb out, I determined that it was unfortunately time for a big girl bed.  As it happens, she ended up in the SAME big girl bed that DD2 had used.  DD2 is 13 years younger than DD1, and DD1 had moved into a queen size bed inherited from DH's grandma, so the twin bed she first used put up and almost sold, until DD2 needed it. 

[sunnygir1]

Dd never really slept in the crib, only a side-carred crib.  We transitioned her to her own bed (a mattress on the floor in the next room) around 18 months.

Ds is sleeping in the crib at 15 months, and I will definitely transition him when I think he might be able to get out of the crib...which is, I think, fast approaching.  I'm not in a huge hurry to get him out of the crib, though, because we are just working on him to go to sleep on his own instead of being rocked, bounced, and nursed, and rocked, and bounced...and I think the crib rails help with the process because he can't really escape.

[waiting2bemommy]

Well I guess i'll be the voice of dissent. I really don't get the drive to keep kids in a crib til they're 3 yrs old. The whole "they can get out of bed" thing makes no sense to me, because if they are getting out on a regualr basis at bedtime, then obviously they are needing to be parented to sleep in some sort of way, and it seems to me that if they couldn't get out, they would just start crying, which is CIO, which no one here does anyway. So....I just don't get that reasoning. Ds was going potty at 15 months and I can't imagine him having had to wait for me to get him out a crib in the morning to go pee. Plus he was climbing everything by then anyway.

He never really used the crib except for naps when my mom watched him or sometimes in the beginning of the night if I wanted to have the light on in my room. I put my mattress on the floor when he was 9 months beause he kept diving head first over the bed rail in the middle of the night. That same weekend I bought him a $20 flip out toddler couch, which I put next to my bed. He started the night out sleeping on that and then got into my bed at his first wake up around 11 PM.

About 2-3 weeks later I bought him a real toddler bed (he was 10 months at this point) and he slept in it just fine.

[love4bob]

All of mine transitioned at about 14-16 months. They couldn't climb out or anything, I just switched them. I can't imagine my 2 year old still in a crib! She is in a twin bed(bottom bunk bed), and loves it.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

DS1 was 3 months away from 3 when he switched out of the crib. Our old house was just not safe for him to be wandering around if he got out of bed at night. We couldn't find a gate suitable for mounting at the top of the stairs that would fit our narrow staircase, and the area between the two bedrooms was narrow and small. We were afraid he'd tumble down the stairs. He was a kid who you could put in his crib, say goodnight, and he went to sleep. No CIO like the previous poster implied must happen if you put a child in a crib at that age.

DS2 went to a toddler bed at around 20 months. He is a crappy sleeper, and getting him to sleep was becoming an issue. I decided it would be easier to have him in a toddler bed so I could nurse him down and then roll away every time he wakes up instead of nursing him back to sleep, laying him down, having him wake up again, and attempting it all over before I gave up and brought him to our bed. He still ends up in our bed for most of the night, but at least he starts out in his own bed so I can have some time to myself. Sometimes he calls out for me, but other times he just comes into our bedroom and climbs into bed with us.

[coyotemist]

23 months and 34 pounds

[lactatinggirl]

DD started sleeping in her own bed at about 1.5 years. We co-slept before and I still fall asleep in her bed sometimes and occasionally bring her to bed with us in the middle of the night. We just got her a twin sized mattress and put it straight onto the floor so if she falls it's not a big deal, but she's only fallen off all of once I'm guessing because she was used to a bed before getting her own.

[sapphire_chan]

DD just got one, but it's just for playing pretend. We got a fold up cot she can set up herself. Much better than finding her laying in the dirty laundry!

As for your actual question, I'd move her if one of the following situations occurred:

1. she asked for one

2. she got too heavy for it to be convenient to put her into the crib while asleep

3. she started climbing out of the crib

4. you found a great deal on a great bed.

[lifeguard]

We switched ds to his own bed at about 17mos. The crib never really worked for us (I could never get him down without waking him again) & none of us slept well in one bed. We are still using the bedrails but more for peace of mind than because he needs them. As for the issue of him getting out of bed - it generally is a non-issue for us but I did put a baby gate on his bedroom doorway - this way I can keep the door open so he can hear us/we can hear him (& for heat 'cause there is no register in his room) but he is safely contained.

[happysmileylady]

 The whole "they can get out of bed" thing makes no sense to me, because if they are getting out on a regualr basis at bedtime, then obviously they are needing to be parented to sleep in some sort of way, and it seems to me that if they couldn't get out, they would just start crying, which is CIO, which no one here does anyway. So....I just don't get that reasoning

 In our case though, she wasn't getting out of bed at bed time.  She was climbing out after waking up.  And falling when climbing out, so it was a safety issue, not a parenting to sleep issue.

[Aufilia]

We switched DD at age 2, when I went one afternoon as she awoke from her nap to find her with one foot up over the bar of the crib. So we converted the crib to a toddler bed the next day.  She was always the kind of kid who was easy to put down to sleep but the first 2 months we had her in a bed she was out 1000 times at every nap and at bedtime, roaming around the house just because it was there to roam around.  We moved her from the converted crib/toddler bed to a twin bed at age 3.

[akind1]

If we had the space, I would do it tomorrow: DS is 13 months. He isn't climbing out (my dad made the sides of the crib quite high, and there are only rails on the front) but I think it would be a little easier to get him to sleep if he was in a bed I could nurse, read, cuddle him to sleep/drowsy then leave. I have to nurse/cuddle him to absolutely asleep before putting him in his crib for the night. He usually STTN once there. I can't lay him down in it drowsy at all, but I think if I could lay with him it would be less traumatic. We will probably go straight to a twin bed and skip the toddler bed. (FWIW I can't just get rid of the crib b/c my dad built it and I don't want to put it in storage just yet either.)

[~Charlie's~Angel~]

OP, we did exactly what your describing, for all the same reasons.  Our son is doing fabulously.  The only thing I dont like is when he wakes up, he can now come and wake me up, and thats usually between the hours of 4 and 5.  Christmas morning?  420!  ugh.  lol  But he loves his new bed. 

[nkintzel]

Good thread! I've been thinking about this a LOT lately because we are working on nighttime potty learning. or, we are THINKING about it. DS is 100% trained during the day but we haven't started working on night time learning yet because he is still in the crib. My husband is really reluctant to move him out of the crib...though I obviously think its REALLY important so the poor guy doesn't have to wear a diaper at night. :(

Has anyone simply took the side rail off of the crib? My husband keeps saying he's going to do that. I'm just wondering about him falling out since he's probably used to that rail being there.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by nkintzel 

Good thread! I've been thinking about this a LOT lately because we are working on nighttime potty learning. or, we are THINKING about it. DS is 100% trained during the day but we haven't started working on night time learning yet because he is still in the crib. My husband is really reluctant to move him out of the crib...though I obviously think its REALLY important so the poor guy doesn't have to wear a diaper at night. :(

Has anyone simply took the side rail off of the crib? My husband keeps saying he's going to do that. I'm just wondering about him falling out since he's probably used to that rail being there.

How high off the ground is the bottom of your crib? Would it even be possible for your ds to get down alone?

Is your crib designed to have the side lowered or is it part of the structure of the crib?

[KempsMama]

DS1 hated co sleeping, and transitioned to a toddler bed around 18 months I believe.  We had set it up in his room several weeks prior so he could get used to it/play on it, and one day he started putting himself there for naps, and a couple of days later asked to sleep in it.  Two days later the crib was gone and we've never had an issue. 

[HidaShara]

We moved DD to a toddler bed when she turned 2.  We had just moved, and she had her own room for the first time in her life.  Previously, we had her crib side-carred to our bed, so she'd never been "trapped" in a contained sleeping space before, and I didn't think she'd want to be.

This has worked brilliantly for two big reasons: 1) toileting: DD started using the potty at the same time (24 months) and now she gets up to pee in the middle of the night once in a while 2) partial co-sleeping: DD comes to our room anywhere between 2am-6am and crawls into bed with us.  I like this MUCH more than her waking up and calling/crying for me, and ME having to get up. :D  This way I stay in bed and eventually get a little company.

[Ambishop19]

I'm glad to hear of people making the switch (from either co-sleeping or crib) around 18 months.  My lo is 18 months on Sunday and we've been thinking of getting a twin mattress.  He still nurses to sleep, but it starting to learn how to fall asleep without it.  I'm sure he'll still end up in our bed sometimes, and that's okay too.  It's pretty young for our families, and I know they'll think we're weird. 

[thehighernest]

We switched around 17 months, I think? We were trying to follow his cues - he started to make an effort to get out, although hadn't succeeded, and in the evenings or near nap time he'd go over to the crib sometimes wanting to get in himself, which he couldn't do. It went pretty smoothly, save for a couple of weeks when he seemed to prefer sleeping on the floor for some reason. He still does sometimes, though, but I think it's part of his routine of winding down for sleep. He'll climb in bed, get down on the floor for a little bit, climb back in and fall asleep. I make an effort to make most things around the house accessible to him (example: a low book sling for him to grab his own books, etc.), so I figured it made sense to do the same with his sleeping area.