Big kid bed

[jessesgirl]

What age did you put your little one in a "big kid bed?"

Justin has been trying to climb out of his crib, which doesn't concern me much because he is far from succeeding. What does concern me, though is that the last two nights, he has gotten his pudgy little thigh stuck between the bars of his crib, causing him to twist and turn, scream, and pass out. I can easily see this becoming a nightly ritual and it is one that I'm not ready to face. The thing is that if I put bumper pads in there, it will enable him to climb out MUCH easier. So...anyway, not really seeking advice on how to keep him from climbing (though it is welcome if you have anything constructive to say), I am just curious as to what age they were when you changed their beds.

 

[lucypevensie]

Around 2.5 years old is when my kids exited the crib. I remember my daughter getting her leg stuck once too, and it was really wedged hard in there! It's the price we pay for crib slat regulations. I guess it's still better than getting a head stuck though.

 

[Manna]

We were just a month shy of her 2nd birthday when she moved into her toddler bed. It wasn't anything relating to being a good parent that caused me to move her, I had a friend give me a handmade toddler bed for her, so I put her in it that night, simple as that...lol. She did great, the transition was apparently at the right time because we had absolutely no problems. Oh, and she only tried to climb out of her crib once. She landed on the floor, screamed her head off, and never did it again.

 

[jessesgirl]

Yeah...when it is bedtime or he is ready for a nap, he tries to climb in...but rarely out up to these last couple of nights. I'm not sure what to do...I don't think he is even close to ready for a big boy bed. Better still, I don't think I AM READY for him to be in a big boy bed!!! lol

 

[GolfingMom]

OS - 1 year 9 months (i needed the crib for the next bed) went into a Twin - not toddler bed.

YS - 1 year - changed the crib into the day bed. Basically we took of the gate and it became a day bed. He climbed out a few times and I figured it was time to take off the gate and he did fine.

 

[jouwhoo]

I don't have a crib. My daughter sleeps in her play-pen. I bought her a toddler bed to get ready for when my son is born. I know she wouldn't be ready for it now because she'll just get out of it and roam around. She's 16 months old right now, so I'm hoping by the time she's two she'll be ready. If you do decide to put him in a bed now, make sure that the door is closed so that if he does get up, he can't roam around the house. Kids will do anything to try to get out of sleeping, so if he keeps getting out so that you come get him, it's best to just leave him in the room or, if you believe in spanking, give him a spanking when he gets out so that he knows he needs to stay in bed when you put him there.

 

[JustBoo]

What does concern me, though is that the last two nights, he has gotten his pudgy little thigh stuck between the bars of his crib, causing him to twist and turn, scream, and pass out. I can easily see this becoming a nightly ritual and it is one that I'm not ready to face.

sorry if I missed something obvious but why didn't you just un-stick him?

As for when my kids moved . .well , DD1 was about 2.5 or so. Moved her to a dbl mattress on the floor.
DS well . . it's kind of complicated. He started out in the cradle/my arms for the first few months then his crib / our bed for the next few months and now he's 15 months and he's been on a twin mattress on my floor beside my bed for 6 or 8 weeks. When we move to a bigger house ( in 4 months , hooray!) and he gets his own room he'll be 18 1/2 months and he'll be on a dbl mattress on his own floor then. Whenever we figure he's wise enough to not fall out of bed or otherwise hurt himself we'll change it to a mates bed.

 

[jessesgirl]

Because I put him to bed, closed the door and came into the other room. I herad him scream and in the process of trying to unstick him, he twists, making it harder to unstick him and he is notorious for holding his breath and passing out...so that is what happens. I don't just stand there and watch him struggle to break free.

 

[Singin4Him]

I know Linnis has transitioned her DS to a toddler bed in their room. We've been considering doing this with our DS because he just hates his crib. The advice we've been given is to put the crib matress in our room on the floor and start him out there. Since Justin doesn't co-sleep you might try it in his room as long as it's baby-proofed and you put up a babygate so that he cannot get out of the room at night. If you're not ready and more importantly you don't think he's ready you may need to try the bumber pad thing or get a pack n play and let him sleep there. I can't think of any other option.

 

[marezee]

My first born was in his crib until age 3. He never tried to escape...he loved his crib. It was his haven.
My 2nd born was 2yrs old. We bought them both Thomas beds at the same time. They loved them and are still sleeping in them.
It may be time for a twin bed for them now! LOL! they are 4 1/2 & 5 1/2.
My third son is now 2 1/2. He got a big boy bed last Christmas, so he was just about 2 1/4yrs old.
We never had a problem with climbers.
And all 3 boys love their big boy beds, so they stay in them at night.

BTW, how old is your son?

 

[jessesgirl]

He is 16 months old. He loves his crib, we don't have a problem so much with him not lliking it. When he climbs, he is more just being silly than anything. I've thought about pulling out his pack and play andletting him sleep in that, but he just has so much more room in his crib, kwim?

 

[marezee]

yes, i KWYM. I used a pack and play with my three sons for their first 3 months.
I would say to you that if he likes his crib, and you don't think he could climb out and get hurt, just let it be for now. re-evaluate in another 4 months.

 

[jessesgirl]

Well we use one when we travel...and he loves it, but he is always so relieved to get back in his crib. The only thing that really concerned me was the getting his little leggies stuck.

 

[marezee]

yeah...my boys got their arms and legs stuck also.
I didn't use bumper pads either.
But, I would just unstick them and we'd all go back to sleep.

 

[Linnis]

The crib mattress went on the floor at 11 months and he got his toddler bed at 14.5 months. We did the mattress on the floor so he could learn to sleep without falling off with little chance of getting hurt. Getting stuck in an attempt to climb out of the crib can be dangerous, they could hang themselves etc.

So DS was sleeping in his toddler bed from 14.5-17 months in our room and then he moved into his own room when we moved to a bigger house.

We do use the baby gate so he can't wander around the house while we're sleeping and his room is safe.

Oh I rocked him to sleep like normal before transitioning to sitting beside him while he fell asleep. Now it takes him about 10 minutes. Eventually I plan on him being able to fall asleep without company but I'm not worried.

 

[jessesgirl]

I think I'm going to try and lay his mattress down and see how he does.

 

[Birbitt]

My older son went into a toddler bed at 2 because we needed the crib for the baby

My younger son went to a toddler bed at 1 year 4 months because the older child was climbing into the crib and they would sleep together..so I figured that to avoid any possible danger I would get a second toddler bed and push them together and make one big bed they could share...it worked beautifully.

 

[seamonster]

We just started my DS in his own bed, too. He's almost 14 months.

 

[JulySheMustFly]

Bear - 15 months. She successfully climbed out and fell on her head. Thankfully we kept a large floor pillow by her bed for story time so there was no harm done but the crib quickly became a bed that day.

Bird - 1 year old. We needed the crib for our son who was due in 3 months. Went to pick out a bed for Bird and after testing it out in store she refused to sleep in her crib after that. She was never a problem sleeper. Bart put the bed together and she's been sleeping in it every since.

Pirate - 18 months. He could actually hold on to the railing and jump out. We moved him to a small toddler bed then to a conversion bed once the mattress went yucky from the crib.

 

[RedTulipMom]

my oldest son started climbing out of his crib at age 18 mos and so i switched him to a mattress on the floor.

my 2nd son co-slept and i started transitioning him to a toddler bed at 2 yrs and 9 mos because i was 6 mos pregnant at the time and knew the baby would be with me soon. it took 3 mos, but by his 3rd bday he was fully in his bed all night.