Moving My 18 Month Old Son to a Big Boy Bed?? Little Sister Coming.

My daughter moved just before her first birthday, because she kept climbing out of her crib. I simply childproofed her room. I didn't have anything out that she could play with, put her and a stuffed animal in her big bed and she was fine. I hope it works out for you. I would try first.You may be really suprised at how well he does.

I had the same situation with girls about the same distance apart. I went the the toddler bed route and my daughter was just not ready at that age. If I had to do it over again, I would have just bought an extra crib that converts!

My neighbor did go ahead and move her little boy into a toddler bed (he was tall and climbing out of his crib at 18 mos) and then put a lock facing the hall side of the door so he couldn't wander around at night and it worked well for them.

Good luck!!

My kiddos are 22 months apart and we moved my daughter around 18-19 months. She moved to sleeping on a toddler bed we bought at Walmart for less than $50.00. (we didn't want to spend much money on a transitional bed) We started out with both the toddler bed and her crib in her room just in case, but we didn't have any problems. She loved the idea of moving to a "big girl" bed and did great. Now...when we finally moved my son to a "big boy" bed, he wandered a lot...so I think it will depend on the child. Good luck!

I moved my oldest out of a crib at 12 months. It takes time to get them to stay in the bed but the sooner you start the transition the better. Don't waist the money on another crib. Try to find a bed that is cool that he will be excited about sleeping in, My sons was a blue bear he loved it.

Good luck and God bless!

I recommend getting another crib. Especially if you have a convertible crib that can transition to a toddler bed. I would also get a crib tent. The last thing you need with a new baby is your toddler running around the house in the middle of the night.

I know I sound harsh, but I have three boys that are 2 1/2 years apart. The crib tent on the crib was GENIUS. The boys LOVED it - we called it a circus tent. They didn't want to give it up. I made them move out of their crib at age three when they had better control over not getting out of bed and I never had issues about them wandering at night. In fact, they would remind me if I forgot to zip them in.

Whatever you can do to save your sleep, please do it!

Good luck!

A friend of mine was in a similar situation. They bought a toddler bed (a race car that was low to the ground). She said that he took to it pretty quickly and she expected more drama, but he was sleeping fine after about a week and a half of teaching him to stay in bed.

i moved my daughter at 18 months. we didn't have any problems. i would start now. you can just buy an exta crib matress and put it on the floor in his room. whatever you use put it in his room for a week or so. that way he can get used to it and it isn't scary. play on it, read books on it ect. . . tell him that is going to be his new place to sleep. talk about it. tell him when he sleeps in his big boy bed he has to stay in his room (or bed) and go to sleep. when you are ready put him to bed with the same bedtime routine. then tell him he has to stay in his room. leave and shut the door. he may cry which is fine. it's not going to hurt him. let him cry for 15 to 20 minutes. then go in and DON'T say anything! just put him in his bed, leave and shut the door. if he comes out of his room do the same thing. it may take an hour or so the first night. put keep at it. don't give up till it's been at least a week. i would expect it to work in about 3 days.
at least try before you go out and buy another crib! i think this is pretty close to the supernanny way of doing it. you should check out suppernanny. they have some on hulu.com i know. i would do this as soon as possible so that it not related at all with the new baby and it is an established routine. if he gets up in the middle of the night just take him back to his room. don't let him sleep with you!! that is a habit that is very hard to break if you don't establish the rules in the beginning. btw i think it's great you don't want the baby to sleep in your room. better sleep for all!!! good luck.

I think that it is worth the expense to keep him in a crib as long as he is not crawling out. It is the safest, and is what he is used to, and will require the least additional effort from you. It is probably better to keep him status quo as much as possible when the new baby comes. I transitioned my guy at 2.5 years because his brother was coming, and it caused a lot of tearful nights, and dramatic scenes. I wish that I would have let him stay in his crib months longer. You are talking about potentially another year or year and a 1/2 in the crib. Good nights of sleep help both him and you be happier well-rested people that have happier more stressfree days, as well as nights.

we moved our first child at about 2.5 years old, shorty before we conceived child #2. child #2 had to be moved at about 18 months b/c he kept sticking his legs b/n the crib slats and nearly broke his leg. we put him in a toddler bed, and it took a few days, maybe a week, but he caught on and did fine. i'd encourage you to make the change very soon, or just wait til the new baby is close to a year old and you've got the patience to deal with it again. most important thing is don't blame the move on the new baby! good luck.

I'm sure you can move him ... I've known people who've moved even younger children. But, if you don't want to move him, and he's not climbing out, then you certainly don't need to! I had the same dilemma: child #2 was born when child #1 was 24 months, and still enjoying his crib. I thought I'd move him a few months early, but when I looked at toddler furniture, it was just as expensive as baby furniture, and my son already have a convertible bed, anyway. So, we just bought the baby a convertible bed, too, and kept them both in cribs. My 1st son had no desire of his own to move to a big boy bed, so we kept him in his crib until #2 learned to sleep through the night ... which was not until my first was almost 3. But, we were all happy with this arrangement.

My oldest son moved to a toddler bed at the age of one. The concern was never he had to be 'in bed', he just had to be in his room. There were many a night I picked him up off the floor and moved him into his bed but eventually he stayed in bed. Not requiring him to be 'in bed' kept the stress level down for us and him and the adjustment went smoothly. We never had an issue when we said, "It's time to go to bed". He is now 12 and still has good sleep habits :)

We moved my son when he was about 18 months in preparation of his sister's arrival. We bought a twin bed and just put the mattress and box spring directly on the floor and stored the bedframe and headboard until he was older. We started the transition in December and she was due in March. He was fine with the change. Good luck!

My friend had the same dilemma you did. They bought bunk beds and used the top bunk as a regular bed for their son. The rails on the side of the bed helped their son not roll out of the bed as well as kept him in the bed. When the little brother moved out of the crib 2 years later, they put him in that top bunk and their older son in the bottom bunk. They do not have the beds set as bunk beds but as two twin beds.

Another choice is to put the baby in her room in a bassinette or pank and play.

What I would do is put a bed in the room (even if it is terribly located and crowded) with the crib. Then you talk it up...calling it the "Big Boy Bed." Let him nap in the big boy bed and let him sleep in it when he wants. Praise him but don't push it...let him think it is his idea. Then when he is in it a lot, ask him if he still wants his crib. If possible, pack the crib up and put it in the attic or closet so it is gone. But don't do this until he has willingly moved to his Big Boy Bed or you will have baby resentment later. Brag to everyone every time he sleeps in the big bed. Then a week or two before the new baby is due, get the crib back out. Refer to it as the "new baby's bed" and to his as the "big boy bed" and you probably won't have any trouble. If he wants to take a nap or sleep in the crib once he sees it, I would still let him, but I would act like it was a big huge joke. "You are so big in that tiny baby bed. Do you still fit? No, look how big you are. Are you sure you want to sleep in the tiny baby bed? Your big bed misses you..." etc. Then let him sleep in there but tease him about it in a fun way. "You look so big in there!" etc.

That's what has worked for us each time.
VickiS

Our pediatrician's recommendation was to keep them in the crib as long as they're not trying to climb out (it is the safest place for him), and honestly, he's going to be really young to be in a toddler bed.

Why do you not want your newborn in your bedroom with you initially to help with the transition?

Another thing to consider is that he's going to be going through a LOT of transitions all at once, new sibling, new surroundings, freedom to move around out of the crib - you may be facing some issues with him becoming a poor sleeper.

Once you get them out of the crib and into a bed, keeping them there is very challenging and will likely be more of a source of stress than having an infant.

Good luck.

I'd suggest getting a 2nd crib. Since he's not showing signs of climbing out of his crib, why put yourself thru the stress of trying to "keep" him in a big boy bed...especially with a new little one coming. That's already enough change for him. We ended up doing this with my 2nd child, when baby #3 was arriving. We bought a convertible crib the 2nd time around and put big sis in that (she turned two 4 days after baby arrived). It's been perfect! We just took the side rail off and she's now sleeping in what she calls her "big girl" bed.

Best of luck to you!

It will be a big deal. Is the 18 month old climbing out of his crib? If not, I would consider getting another crib. Seriously.

We went through this last year. When my son was 16 months old, we took the front of his crib off to make a toddler bed. The first few nights were rough since he now had all this freedom. We did a lot of putting him back in bed in the beginning (I let my husband do most of it since he was less likely to cave than I was :)), but we stuck to it. After a week, he was staying in bed and sleeping just as good as ever (he's always been a good sleeper).

When he was 18 months old we moved him to a different room in a twin bed. He had no problems with this transition. The baby was born when my oldest was 19.5 months old, and he had no problems/relapses with staying in bed. He had also "forgotten" that the baby now had his bed so we didn't deal with jealousy.

I totally suggest going ahead and making the transition now. 2-3 months is enough time to get him trained in a big boy bed. You'll have a lot more time and patience now than when the baby comes. If you put if off until after the baby is born, when you do decide to make the transition, you'll have to deal with the crying and getting out of bed while you have a baby around that he can disturb.

Good luck!

I have boys that are 19 months apart. I waited until #1 learned to climb out of the crib (which was around 2). He has a crib that we converted to a toddler bed. My suggestion would be to wait to move the toddler. There will be times when you need the toddler in a safe place when you need to care for the infant or take a shower. It took a few nights to get him to stay in his bed, but it wasn't too difficult of a transition. We have a safety gate so he can only come to our room if he gets up at night & not in the other part of the house. I had the infant in our room since I didn't want him waking the toddler (their rooms are right next to each other). I moved the infant to his crib around 6 months old. Now the baby is 10 months & we are finally starting to sleep pretty well.

We moved both our boys to toddler beds when they were 17-18 months, and they both did great. We have a bit of a strange take on their bedrooms, though: they are for sleeping. They have no toys in the bedroom, and there is nothing they can get into (the closet is locked). They do sometimes get into their dresser, but other than that, it's great incentive for them to go to sleep.
With our first, he would often get out of his bed and sleep on the floor. With our second, he just stayed in bed and went to sleep. Each one is very different!

we moved our daughter at about that age. we put the big girl bed in next to the crib and let her choose where to sleep for a couple weeks, she eventually just wanted the big girl bed. We slowly moved the crib closer to the door- then out in the hall- then eventually we just put it away!

My daughters are 12 months apart, and we didn't want to get another crib, so we moved our oldest daughter at about 13/14 months. Instead of a toddler bed, we just bought a twin mattress and for the first few months, had the mattress on the floor. We talked it up with her for a week or so and by the time we moved her she was really excited about it. Good luck!

We moved our daughter (for the same reason) and she did great. We had a special lovey that she only got in bed, and if she got out of bed we told her the lovey would sleep with us. We also always shut the door which helped since we still had a monitor. When she was old enough to ask for the door to stay open, we told her we would love to keep it open as long as she stayed in bed. We had a small issue with her getting out but it was short lived and worked out fine for us. We painted her room and moved her before the baby used that room, so she was about 17 months old at the time.

My daughter juat turned 2, and we have baby #2 on the way in July. We just bought another crib for the baby and are keeping our daughter in hers. Same as you, I did not want to deal with keeping a toddler in her bed and a baby not sleeping! Plus, our daughter has not really expressed any interest in a big girl bed, so I'm not going to push it. :) I have no problem keeping her in her crib for a while longer

I'm in the same boat. As are several friends. My collective advice...
It depends on his personality. Is he a fairly obedient and compliant child? Will he "stay in his bed" without getting out just because you told him so? My friend who's children are more active have had a horrible time with transferring them at that age. My friends with kids that are more sensitive, quiet and still have had a breeze of a time.

We decided to buy another crib. We found a really good one at a garage sale for $50. I wouldn't go buy another full price one. His up some online shopping or talk to friends that might be getting rid of theirs. I didn't want to mess with my sons sleeping routine. He sleeps routinely 11-12 hours at night and still naps consistently. Personally, I didn't want t mess with that with a newborn coming.