Is He Ready for a Toddler Bed?!?

Let him know you would like to let his sister have his crib, because she needs a bed and would feel better in his. See if you can use that type of talk to get him to be a big boy. He may just be feeling a little left out right now, which is normal so going back a bit is getting attention and he's helping too. So, just make sure you let him know how proud you are of him and what a great big boy he's getting to be.....how he is going to be helping take care of his sister and how much she will eventually love that.........He'll be fine, just keep talking to him. Maybe they could nap together on the floor or something so that he would feel better about sharing and giving up his crib.
Good luck.

I think he's ready... I put off turning our crib into a toddler bed for a long time because people said it would be hard to keep the baby in there etc. We converted the crib one night and showed my baby how to climb in and out of the bed and said this is your big girl bed. She loved it! It was such a relief that I didn't have to worry about her trying to climb out of the crib anymore. One thing I did several months before I converted the bed was put of a baby gate which was a "walk through" gate vs. one I had to climb over all of the time. This keeps her in her room if she wakes up before we do.

Good Luck!
G.

I'd try to borrow another baby bed for the new baby (or for him -- whichever you choose). He seems to be transitioning well from our description, but just because a child (baby, really) is very mature in one area doesn't mean that s/he doesn't need a little extra TLC (AKA 'babying') in more sensitive areas (like 'his' bed). Actually, the more intelligent a child is, the more tendencies they have to feel 'insecure' -- maybe because they get compared to others so much.

You ultimately want him to be well-adjusted and feel secure, so 2 baby beds for a while (even if it's a few years) is not really too much to deal with for his peace of mind. (Is it?)

God bless!

Perhaps you can make a big deal out of how his sister is growing up. She used to be a newborn infant needing a bassinet, but now she is almost OLD enough to be in the crib for a baby at night. Ask, Is he growing up too, and ready to sleep in his brand new CHILD's bed at night? He will have to lead the way for his baby sister because some day she, too will grow up and not even need the baby crib anymore, and when will someday sleep in a child's bed like him. But she can't yet. She'll have to sleep in his old baby crib for now.

An alternative is to just borrow, or purchase another crib for her even though he may very soon after that move to the bed. That way, you will not feel rushed about it, and stress on your part will be felt by him.

A book my little one loved that made her feel so grown up, and also that she laughed about, was called, "Where'd the Baby Go?" Your precocious son might also appreciate that book at this stage in his life.

How much does he weigh and how tall is he? My concern would be him falling out of the bed. Does the bed have a railing on it? Would he be likely to get up an wander around his room? Is his room child proofed? 13 months seems really young to me for a toddler bed (but you don't want to wait until the child is crawling out of the crib either, because that is a safety problem too).