[Kenziesmom]

DS will soon be 19mo, when is the appropriate time to transition to their own room...upstairs? The upstairs part is the thing that makes me nervous! He can go upstairs really well...coming down he has a problem. I guess baby gates would be the answer, but at what age would anyone advise making this transition?

 

[LynnS6]

Hmm.... I'd have a hard time with my kids on a different floor than me until they were 10 or so. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol"><br><br>
I would honestly say at least 3 -- you need to know that they can be on their own safely for a few minutes. So, they need to be past the putting things in the mouth stage (which really is 3, sometimes they just do it randomly even when they 'know' better). Is there a bathroom up there? Is there anything they can get into? How safe is it now? Then I'd put a monitor in, just so you can hear them. Our nearly 6 year old (11 more days of 5!) still needs us about once every 2 weeks. Our nearly 3 year old gets up and comes into our bed about 2-3 x a week.

 

[StrawberryFields]

Upstairs as in your bedroom downstairs, baby's bedroom upstairs? IMO, 7 or 8 or even older--that is what dh and I discussed. We have a 2 br downstairs 1 br upstairs setup and our kids will be sharing one downstairs bedroom while we have the other until they are much older. Any younger than that and I just wouldn't be comfortable. I just can't get the what if's of a middle of the night fire scenario out of my head--especially if there are baby gates barricading the kids upstairs. Another worry of mine is a confused and scared half asleep toddler/small child falling down the stairs at night trying to find me after a nightmare or a bedwetting incident or something.<br><br>
We are hoping to dormer out our upstairs within the next 5 years so it will be a non-issue and we can fit all our bedrooms upstairs. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/fingersx.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="fingersx">:

 

[Pepperdove]

During naps DS is asleep upstairs and I go down to do stuff. Same thing for the first couple hours of night. But all night on a different floor? Geez, a while yet. Maybe grade school?

 

[dara00]

I have to say that I've done this, but I'm upstairs and dd is downstairs. The one problem I see with it is that she cannot come to me during the night. But we have a monitor and when she gets up we can hear her and we go to her. We transitioned her between 23 and 24 months to her new room downstairs.

 

[Kenziesmom]

There are 2 BR and a bath upstairs, DD' s br is up there...she's 12. We built the house 3 years ago....before ds popped in on us! It scares me to death to put him up there, I have all the worries that were mentioned...fire, falling, plus we have a balcony overlooking the living room....he loves to climb...I don't see him getting his own room before he's 10!! I was kind of thinking that since dd is up there, if he got scared during the night he could go climb in the bed with her, but ....If we had thought 3 years ago that we were going to have another bb we would probably not have an upstairs..or 3 for that matter...upstairs bedrooms, basement and bonus room!!!!! He LOVES to go up and down stairs, I can't wait until he gets good at it!!!! I guess he'll be in our room for a few more years!

 

[AugustineM]

Yeah, I probably would be too nervous to do it until 5, 6, somewhere around there. But I don't have an older child yet, so I may not be a great one to give my opinion! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/lol.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="lol">

 

[CartersMomma]

Our ds slept in the family bed (mostly) until he was 5 1/2, then he shared a room with his sister for awhile. That wasn't working so well once he started kindergarten (being on different schedules) and he was to the point where he kind of wanted some space for his "stuff". So, he was about 5 3/4 when we moved him into the basement. I wish wish wish we had another room upstairs! Both dh and I still don't like him in the basement. But, he has an egress window in his room that he knows how to use, we have smoke detectors and we use a baby monitor in his room. He sleeps well all night and he is fine in the basement, not scared, etc...I do think he would prefer to be upstairs, but he's also not upset about being down. Our house is pretty small (so its not big of a journey to come up).<br><br>
Personally, I would not have been able to do it any sooner. I'd also be a bit worried about a tired kid falling down the stairs. Good luck with your decision, it's a tough one! Trust those instincts!

 

[Peony]

DD1 is 4 and will not be sleeping on a different floor then me for several more years. My big concern is if something happens in the night, a fire, anything that we need to get out of the house, if she is away from me then she could get scared and try to find me or hide... My DC will not be allowed to sleep on another floor until they are able to understand fire safety and can get themselves out of the house if need be. What will be the DD's bedrooms someday are on a different floor, DD1 knows that when she is mich older that she will sleep there, and until then, she sleeps in our bedroom.