At what age do you move a baby (2 yrs?) from crib to a toddler bed?

Question

We're expecting our secind child when my current one will be 22 months -- when he is 24 months should I start him on a toddler bed in preparation for the baby to move into the cribe he is now in??

Even if we were not having another baby, at what point is a child ready to go from crib to bed -- and is it crazy with them being able to roam around their room / house at night?

Thanks for your insight -- people with knowledge / experience in this only please - thanks!

Answer 1

It's a good idea to make as many changes as you can BEFORE baby comes, so that the change is not associated with the baby, but you need to judge when you think the child is ready. Plus that kind of change - going from a crib to a toddler bed - is usually a welcome change on the child's behalf, so it's not a negative thing for them!

My eldest was moved at 14 months, and I am getting ready to move my 18 month old now. My 18 month old is already in the crib with the side off anyway - she just has the safety rail on it, so both of mine have been free to get out of bed when they wished - and it has worked beautifully for us. Neither of them ever liked being contained, and neither of them roam the house when they get up. The first thing they do (unfortunately!!!) is head straight for mummy and daddy's room! We do have a safety gate over the stairs, of course, and we do shut the bathroom door at night, but they never go anywhere except our room when they wake up!

For about 2 weeks my eldest thought it was funny to sneak out of her bedroom and crawl along the hallway and peek into our bedroom until we saw her! But she pretty quickly got tired of getting not much of a reaction and just being sent back to bed. That's all you have to do - take them right on back with minimal talk.

Many many people thought we were insane giving our kids the freedom to move about at such an early age, but it worked for us. Each child is different, so do what works best for you.

Answer 2

We just switched my 2 1/2 yr old son from his crib to a twin bed as he was waking up at night .. not enough room for the roamer! He was the same when we moved him from the cradle to the crib at three mths, he didn't have enough room to turn around and kept waking up. Once he was in the crib he went back to sleeping through. So far it's been the same with the "big boy bed" and it's great. He loves it, tells everyone that he has a new bed. He had tried to climb out of his crib twice, once he got his foot stuck on top of the rail and couldn't get it down and once he got stuck between the rail and the wall. After those two instances he never tried again, even with the rail lowered. We lowered and kept it that way for almost 6 mths, he still wouldn't try to climb out. He would climb in on his own and stand and wait to be taken out. Once we moved him to the big bed with the bed rail, he did the same thing for about 2 weeks .. just stood in the bed and waited to be lifted out! Now he gets up in the morning and comes to get one of us out of bed; if it's after a nap he comes downstairs looking for us.

Our pediatrician said he should be out of the crib by age 3 .. I didn't do it any sooner because there wasn't any need. Once he started having trouble sleeping through it took me about 3 weeks to clue in that he needed more room ... presto, change-o, baby sleeps through once again!

one question .. is the baby going right into the crib or staying in a cradle or something for the first little while? if you can hold off the move until the baby's actually there and been there a bit, then it might be the "cool" thing to do, to give the crib up to the baby and get a new "big boy bed."

ps: we skipped the toddler bed and went straight to a twin .. lots of room and no need to make another purchase in a year

Answer 3

We moved our 20 month old into her toddler bed last month and she has done really well with it. However we did need to buy a gate from walmart to put up so she has to stay in her room but the door is not closed. She may play for a while but when she gets ready she turns the light off and gets into her bed!!! I would go ahead and move your child as soon as possible because the closer you get to the new baby coming your son is going to get very jealous and you don't want him to feel like he has to move out of the crib for the new baby.

Answer 4

We went on vacation when my oldest daughter was 22 months old. We decided to see how she would do in the bed (instead of the playpen we brought for her) since the bed was low to the ground and she wouldn't get hurt if she fell out. She did great and we came home and put her in her own bed. It worked well since I was pregnant with our second child and wanted to leave enough time between the changing from a crib to a bed and the new baby's birth so that my older daughter wouldn't feel that the new baby had taken over her crib.

My second child is now 21 months and won't lay down with us in our bed. (She just wants to play in it.) So I'll probably wait a while to transition her to a bed. I'll either wait until she is climbing out of the crib or until she is old enough to understand that at bedtime she has to stay in her own bed.

So if you can, try out the concept of sleeping in a bed first just to see how it goes. You might be surprised how well it will go. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

I moved my daughter into a toddler bed when she was 2 yrs old, but with my son he just wouldn't stay in the crib so I moved him into a toddler bed when he was 1 yr old. The only thing I did different between the two was for my son I bought a baby gate and put up in his doorway so he couldn't go anywhere but in his room. Good Luck and Congratulations.

Answer 6

I had my 2nd when my first was 23 mos. I had planned to move her to her new room and new bed (full bed, with rails, not toddler) before, but due to illness, etc, it didn't work out. Anyway, my son was born and slept near us in the bassinett. And my daughter stayed in her crib a while. But, she was not a climber and never got out of the crib. One day at a nap time she told me she wanted to sleep in the big bed and has ever since. I would guess she was right around 2. My son, on the other hand, was a total climber, and was getting out of his crib by 20 mos or so. We switched him to a twin at around 2.

So, I guess it depends on the child. You don't want to make stress for him around the time of the baby, so I think I might do it before the new little one comes.

As for roaming. With our son we have had to spend a few evenings camped in the hall just putting him back into bed. Over and over. He got the idea and almost never gets up now. You just have to put that time in at the get go (don't pick your favorite TV night for this!!). With my daughter, a friend told me to put one of those spinners on the back of her door so she couldn't open it, but I don't recommend that -- she pooped on her floor -- guess that told me what she thought of that!

Answer 7

Our son didn't start crawling out of his crib until he was 2 1/2, and we waited until then to make the transition. However, I know a lot of kids who started crawling out of their crib from 15 months, and their parents went ahead and made the transition.

It was a little rough on us at first. Our son was thrilled when he realized "Woo Hoo! I can get out bed without waiting for momma!" It took a month or so to get him conditioned to staying in bed. Our pediatrician recommended the following technique called "Daddy's Hands." The first time the child gets out of bed, you take him by the hand back to his bed. The next time you have the father take the child back and say something like "Daddy's hands are going to help you stay in bed." Then the father holds him in bed for a little while. I don't know why, but my doctor was particular that the father should do it and not me. Everytime he got out of bed after the first time, his dad asked him if he needed daddy's help staying in bed. It goes without saying theidea was to be firm but not to lose your temper. I don't know why it worked but it did with ours.

Even if you don't want to do that, I'd be really careful about letting the kid play in his room til he decides he's ready to go to bed. My parents had a screaming nightmare with me over bedtime when I learned I could get up. If left to my own devices, I would have stayed up til 4 in the morning even at that early an age. You've got to establish control from the beginning. YOU, not the child, should decide when his bedtime his.

Good luck!

Answer 8

You put him in a toddler bed when he can climb out of his crib. Until then, keep him in there, then you know he's safe & won't be wondering around at night. When it's time to put him in a toddler bed, make sure everything is baby-proofed, & keep a monitor on so you can hear what's going on in there.

Answer 9

I switched my son at 23 months previous. He climbed out of the crib, regardless of the crib tent, interior the wee hours of the morning. He has been interior the crib with the drop side off for extra desirable than 6 months now (looks like an afternoon mattress). I purely offered him a actual toddler mattress at a backyard sale final weekend and he LOVES it.

Answer 10

We moved our daughter into her bed for her second birthday we made a big deal out of it. Usually when they can start to climb out of their crib you can move them. Just becareful since you have another baby on the way that the child you have now might become territorial over his crib. Just keep reassuring him that he's the big brother and now he gets the big boys bed and the crib is for the baby.