"Big kid bed" at what age?

[BlueSkyDay]

My DS1 is 23 months and sleeps and naps happily in his crib.  He is physically able to climb out, but never has (he's a pretty laid-back kiddo).  I'm due with our second child in a month and am wondering about when/how to transition DS1 to a big kid bed.  Though he's a pretty flexible kid, I don't want to overwhelm him with change when the new baby arrives.  I'm also really reluctant to change his sleep situation because I love his 3 hour naps and don't want them to go away right now!  We'll just be taking one side off the crib since the new one will be in a co-sleeper so we don't have a need to get DS1 into a different bed.  I'm just worried that I'm going to hear a loud "thunk!" one night and he'll hurt himself climbing out.  Should I try to transition him to the 3-sided crib now (with 4 weeks to go before #2 arrives) or just wait a few months after the new baby and hope he doesn't climb out before then?

What ages have you moved your tot out of a crib and how did you help him/her make the transition?

[Jayray]

We made the transition around 20  months and it was  no big deal.  We have toddler rails on a queen sized bed and DS loves sleeping in it.  I have heard advice about waiting until they ask for a bed, etc., but for us doing it early seemed to be better.  He still needs the rails, though, and would fall out of bed without them, I think.  We didn't do anything special except being really patient with him getting out for the first few weeks.

Having said that, if your son is happy in the crib and you think he has plenty of room, I don't think you need to change it.  I wouldn't even take the side off.  I'd just leave it.

[TuiNZ]

We just transitioned our DS into a single bed at 22 months of age. I don't think he even noticed but could be because he'd quite often end up in our bed in the middle of the night so he's used to it (never been a great sleeper). I'm not worried about him falling out. I just tuck his duvet in and put some chairs on the side.  

[Ansley]

I wouldn't worry about it right now unless he were trying to climb out. My daughter is 30 months and has been sleeping in her toddler bed since she turned two (bed was a christmas/birthday present). She does good in it, no falling out (it has rails on each side). Maybe if you can't attach a rail, you could just make a soft landing pad just in case he does happen to fall out.