How old was your child when they stopped sleeping in a crib?
Baby Bedding
~*Mrs. GM2*~ asked:
Just wondering. We have a new baby coming here soon and we want to get our two year old used to sleeping in a bed (probably a toddler bed at first) before the baby gets here. Is 2 too young to be out of a crib? Any tips for making the transition easier for her? Thanks in advance!
Harry
Just wondering. We have a new baby coming here soon and we want to get our two year old used to sleeping in a bed (probably a toddler bed at first) before the baby gets here. Is 2 too young to be out of a crib? Any tips for making the transition easier for her? Thanks in advance!
Harry
March 11th, 2009 at 6:41 am
Brett
my brother is 2 and sleeps in a toddler bed with guard rails.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Kathryn
It depends entirely on your situation and your child.
My children were 15 months, 3 years, and 2 years when they moved out of the crib. Every child & every situation is different.
With my 2nd & 3rd child, I did have two children in cribs at the same time. That’s what worked for us at the time.
My oldest was out of a crib long before we were pregnant with our second child, because she was ready.
March 14th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Shawn
My two are 25 months apart. 6 months before baby #2 arrived, we put a twin mattress & springs on the floor in #1’s room - she could climb on it herself.
Then we told her that this was for a big girl, and someday she would be big enough to sleep in it, but not today. After a few days, I relented and told her that she could try napping in it, but she couldn’t sleep overnight because it was only for big girls and she still needed her crib.
Within a week she had abandoned her crib, announcing that the crib was for babies. I put the crib mattress on the floor next to the twin mattress to cushion her fall if she fell out (which she did - but it was a short fall and well cushioned).
Eventually, I checked whether she wanted a soft chair in her room instead of that big old baby crib, and she decided that she was ready to be rid of it.
March 16th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Willie
My oldest was 17 months, because of the impending 2nd child and a trip to my parents, it worked well for us. We traveled out of state to my parents and had no crib, so we just took the crib down when we got home since she was already used to it.
My 2nd was out of the crib at 18 months, she did well at first, but then started to have trouble staying in bed and it was WW3 everynight. We put the crib back up and have no problems, we will try again later.
I would just have your 1st pick out some cool sheets and blanket to put on the bed and make the change. Do your bedtime routine, turn out the light and leave. See how it goes. If you need to, go to her room, return her to bed, over and over again, not talking to her at all. Place her in bed and leave again. This should work with about 3 days. If not, try sitting in the room, lights out, by the door, until she falls asleep. Return her to bed if she gets out, and go back and sit down. Once again, just a few days and it should work.
It didn’t work with my 2nd bc it takes her about 2 hours to lay in bed to fall asleep. She would stay in bed and just be awake, once I left she would just get up and play, it wasn’t working for us. Good luck!
March 17th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Gail
Both of my kids were in toddler beds around 18 months. When they could climb into one, they slept in one. The only problem my daughter had was falling out of bed at night. As cruel as it sounds all we did to break that was to put this GIANT stuffed duck where she usually fell, so she wouldn’t get hurt, it just startled her to wake up not in her bed. After a little while it stopped. My son never had any problems with this.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:39 am
Cecil
i dont have any kids yet but i do have 4 lil brothers and sisters and they all started sleeping in a bed around the age of 2 of somewhwere around there. my sister is 2 and still dont sleep in a bed so it all depends
March 20th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Floyd
My daughter was 22 months old when we moved her to a bed. We used guard rails and put pillows on the floor around her bed just in case she rolled out at night. The first week was the hardest because she kept getting up and seeing what I was doing. The trick to getting her to stay in bed is just to keep putting her back in the bed each time.
Good luck and congratulations!
March 21st, 2009 at 10:17 am
Bobby
Two years and two months. I bought her a daybed and put one of those guards on the other side that slide under the mattress. It doesn’t go all the way across but enough to keep them from falling out. I kept it of for a couple years. You can get a daybed and do what I did, or a regular twin bed and put one side against the wall and the guard on the other. If you know the baby is the same sex, you may want to invest in bunkbeds now. In three years you will be glad you did.
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:35 am
Herman
My oldest son was 11 months old when he went into a regular bed. It depends on how well they are able to get around. All my kids were around 1 year or so when they graduated to a regular bed.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Frederick
My son started sleeping in a toddler bed at eighteen months so no I don’t think two is too young at all. We moved him because he continued to climb out of the crib time and time again.
Start talking about how much of a big girl she is now. Show her the bed. If she wants, let her pick out a new thing for her bed whether it’s a comforter or just a small stuffed animal to sleep with. Make sure it has rails because my son still had a little issue with the imaginary line that he doesn’t go across. Just continue your evening routine as normal then get really excited when she jumps into her big bed.
If I were you I’d do it ASAP. My friend waited until a week before her new baby was born to move her son. When her daughter came to sleep in HIS crib he was very jealous and showed a lot of resentment. Best of Luck!
March 29th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Ramon
I decided to get a crib for my daughter the very instant I found that she could climb out of the crib.
She was experiencing separation anxiety and one day she simply climbed out and ran to me. She was only a year old, maybe even a month shy of 1.
Just as long as the toddler bed has side rails to prevent injuries from falling it should be just fine.
At the age of two you can have a discussion with your child about the bed, what to do and what not to do when he or she gets out of bed at night or in the morning.
Getting a toddler bed means more freedom for a child. So you may want to review your home for safety and put things up that you don’t him/her to mess with. The kitchen and the bathroom are the most dangerous places. Use baby gates or those door knob trinkets to prevent a curious mind from entering and doing things that might cause harm.
Or maybe you can start using a baby monitor again so that you know when your child is up.
Im making these suggestions just in case yoru child is the type that would get out of bed and wander (like mine did). Make it clear that if he/she wakes up to come straight to mommy or daddy.
Good Luck!
April 1st, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Tracy
No thats old enough already to sleep on a toddler bed. Thats what i did! Let her take naps on the bed during the day so she can get use to it. I did that with mine and she has no problem sleeping on her little bed!
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:55 pm
Angela
well i rememeber actually sleeping in a crib haha i was a late bloomer when it came to that , i think i was like 4 before i moved on to a real bed. i also distinctly rememeber why i liked the crib, it felt safe, in my child mind i felt that nothing could “get me” while i was in there. my mother was always the type to let us do things at our own pace and i think for the most part thats the best way. she bought a kids bed for me when i expressed the desire to sleep in a real bed. it was a very easy and comfortable transfer that way. unless there is some particular reason why your two year old needs to be out of the crib and in to a real bed i would say just leave it be for now. my bet is when your 2 year old sees the new baby and the baby is in a crib he/she might start wanting to NOT be in a crib and at that point youll have an easy go at it.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:12 am
Melissa
My daughter started to climb out of her crib a litle bit before she was even 2yrs old, so we put her in her toddler bed with side rails on both sides. and how we got her to stay in her bed was kinda tricky. i would go sit in her room the whole time and everytime she thought i was sleep sitting up she would get up and try sneeking out i wouldnt spank her or anything i would just tell her no it bed time and pick her up and put her in bed. i did that for an hr for almost a week before she figuer out thats her bed. She also has known that she has a bedtime every night. now she goes to bed right away with no problems and loves going to bed. i think potty trainning is the hardest so far.. lol
April 9th, 2009 at 6:38 am
Beth
My son moved to a toddler bed at 19 months. Your daughter is probably old enough to start moving to a toddler bed, but don’t force her if she’s not ready. My son really just moved to his bed with no problems, so I don’t know what else to do to help her transition except let her pick out “big girl” bedding for it, and maybe a new night light. But if she really isn’t ready and wants to use the crib, let her. Instead, get an inexpensive bassinet for the new baby. If you insist she give up the crib she’s been using since she was a baby to make room for her new sibling, it could really cause her to resent the new baby.
April 10th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Shirley
alot of kids are vary diffrent my oldest went from a crib by 15 months and my others did the same so it is all vary diffrent just make sure your child is walking and can no where mom and dads room is just for safety
April 12th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Brett
Mine were early climbers. My daughter (now 6) got a toddler bed for her first christmas, she was 11 months. My son (now 3) was moved from crib to crib mattress on the floor. He would climb out of his crib, but still fell out of bed. He started with the mattress on the floor around 1, and stayed there until he woke up ON the mattress for 2 weeks.
I think cribs are over rated. Both of mine go to bed when it’s time, and know not to get up. This started when they were each around a year old.
April 14th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Leroy
My friends just put their son in a toddler bed, he’s 21mths old. I think it’s too soon as he wonders out of bed way too often! I’m going to keep Noah in his crib for as long as I can. Hopefully, he won’t start climbing out of it anytime soon. I think I will transition him when he’s almost 3
April 17th, 2009 at 7:15 am
Lillian
My son was 2, because that is when I split with the father and the transition house for abused women. They didn’t have another crib for him to sleep in, because there was a woman with a baby in there already. So it was a huge adjustment for him. I just made sure that the bed was right up against the wall and the other twin bed was right beside it, where I slept on one twin bed and he slept on the other one. Then when I got into a second stage transition house he had his own bed and he adjusted to that fairly well. I put pillows down on the floor in case he woke up. He had been sleeping in his bed ever since. I had moved out of the second stage transition house after a year and moved into an apartment, he sleeps in his own bed, with all his stuffed animals all in a row. My son is 5 1/2 now.
I think by the time they can climb in and out of the crib it is time to get a bed. Because climbing in and out can be dangerous on it’s own, because the crib can tip.
April 19th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Debbie
Two was right for our child. And avoid the small toddler bed, because you won’t be able to ever lay with him (except in your bed).