Tips for Moving up to a Big Boy Bed

When my boys were about 18 months I put them on the floor on a mattress with some tupperwares and pillows around it and locked their door at night so they couldn't get out and get into things (had a baby monitor so I could hear if they were up). So essentially their whole room was like their new crib, and my second one especially would wake up, crawl out of bed and start playing with his toys most mornings. Good luck!

We found a really nice toddler bed for my son on craigslist for $25. You may try lookin on there for one. We switched him to his toddler bed around 19 months bc my daughter was about to be born and needed the crib. I started by putting him in the bed after he had already fallen asleep so he would get used to waking up in it. We also had many conversations explaining that it was a bed and thats where big boy sleep. We used and still use a safety gate at his door so when he wakes up he can't just wonder around the house. We also have a monitor in his room so when he wakes up he can either holler out for us or just start playing with his toys and it will wake us up. It took a couple of months of getting him to sleep and then moving him to the bed immediatly after he fell asleep for him to get the idea of it. Now our normal pattern is letting him sit in his chair and have milk and watch elmo in his room with just his night light on and then he knows when elmo goes off we have to get in bed. Sometimes we have problems with him wanting to sleep with some or all of his toys and after we lay him down he will sneek out of bed and fill it with toy but we just stay very strict with the no toys in bed and its time to lay down rule. You will have to constantly re tuck them in but eventually they will get the idea! Good luck and hope this helps!

My daughter-in-law puts a mattress on the floor and also puts a gate up in his doorway so he doesn't wander the house. There is nothing in his room to hurt him but at least he doesn't get out of his room in case they don't hear him. I would take a gate with you on your trip so that he is "locked" in one room in case he wakes up - even if you are in the room. That way he is safe from going down stairs (if that is an issue) or leaving the room without you knowing it. Although moms usually wake up little guys can be very quiet.

N.

we started the process with a mattress on the floor and my son loved it! He NEVER even came close to falling off, and eventually, we put the entire boxspring and frame together for him. Our son is pretty mellow and a great sleeper, but I told him that he should never get off his bed without asking first - and for 2 years, he really listened to that...now, he is 4.5 and is starting to come out of his room on his own...I think that if his room is baby proofed enough, you should not worry too much (make sure dressers are tethered to the wall) - give him a few books and toys and he should be fine!

we liked the mattress on the floor- we put it so it was enclosed on two sides- against a wall and the side of the crib. i was VERY nervous about the switch b/c we co-slept and i had heard nightmare stories about moving them out of your bed and them wanting to sleep w/ you til they're 6. but it was suprisingly easy.

here's what we did. we talked it up for a whole week (big time!), brought the new mattress home on a saturday morning and played on it, made it up with new, cool sheets (Target, $15) and his favorite blankets and a bunch of stuffed animals. we talked about it all day, how that night he would sleep in the big boy bed. we played hard that day to make sure he was very tired. that night we went up, he went right to the bed, he checked it all out again, playing a little, then we read stories then i sat next to him til he went to sleep. he slept thru the entire night and woke up at 6 am and called for me to come get him. we have done it that way ever since- no problems/no regressing. occasionally he will wake up during the night and want me, but i just go in for aminute or two- usually its cold and his blankets are off- so i adjust his blankets and pat him and he goes back to sleep.

FYI, he was a about 27 or 28 mos when we switched. this was the only change going on in his life at the time, nothing else to have to 'adjust' to at the same time. he has been a pretty good sleeper from about a year old but is still hard to get to go to sleep, the hard part is getting him to go to lie still. also, he has rolled out of bed a couple times, so we are going to keep it on the floor for a while. one last recommendation, we got him a new, cheap twin size mattress from costco for 150 bucks w/ no box spring- very happy with it.

good luck-i hope it goes well- sometimes things surprise you in a good way!

We moved our baby to a big girl bed when she was 1. Everyone thought and still thinks we are crazy. She is 16 months now and doing great. I put her to bed and stay there until she falls asleep. She is now getting to the point where half of the time I can leave her while she is just drowsy and she puts herself to sleep. The type of bed we have is very low and it has head rails and foot rails (built in), so it keeps her in pretty well. I dont like the traditional rails, my baby has wiggled around them before. Because it is low she can climb on and off of it too. Its called an extendible bed (from IKEA) and we love it, but it was on the tad expensive side (well expensive for my taste but I still bought it). Good Luck!

I just responded to your potty training question. I would just do the potty training and not worry about the big boy bed. You don't want to introduce too many changes at once!

My daughter is 16 months, so she isn't in a big girl bed yet. However, when the time comes, we are just going to put a mattress on the floor for her. We can't really afford a toddler bed, and I don't want her falling off of a twin size frame (can't afford the frame or the extra rail either). I have read in several places that it is a safe and wallet friendly way to make the change so I think that is a great idea. Sorry I can't be too much help. I can't wait to read the other answers though, because my daughter still wakes up at night and never has slept well either.

Well everyone has their own methods but we didn't make a big deal out of it at all! One day he woke up from nap and we asked him if he wanted to take the bars off his crib (we had a convertible crib) so he could sleep in a big bed like mom and dad and Kuba (one of his little buddies) and he was so stoked! We didn't have a problem with him getting out of bed until a few months later (it was like he didn't realize he could just get out of bed on his own) and for that we put a baby gate in his doorway. My son was 18 or 19 months when we switched. As a side note (and this is just me) we didn't do extra requests. He had a sippy cup of water next to him and received all his hugs and kisses before we left the room. It's the start of "stall tactics" and if you allow 3 then he'll take 3 each time. At least that is the case with my son. It took me a while to catch on to what was occurring but once I started replying "you're okay buddy, it's time for bed" and then not responding AT ALL to further requested put an end to the silly stalling.

One of my fellow moms starting putting the mattress on the floor and left the crib up. If her daughter gets up she told her, in a very sad voice, that "Oh, now we have to put the mattress back in the crib". 3 roaming incidents total and now she's fully "trained".

Good luck!!
T.

Let me start by saying that I wish you good luck and lots of patience! Know that you son WILL mostly likely get out of bed - that is where the patience comes in. Our son is a great sleeper and very obedient most of the time and even he struggled with getting out of bed. It is a new freedom and they have to try it out. Really one of the only things that has worked to keep our son in bed is the knowledge that if we do catch him out of bed more than once prior to a nap or nighttime then we take away one of his lovies and he has to sleep without it. We had to do it twice and he fell asleep crying for it back (so sad and hard to listen to) but it does the trick. We then talk about what happened after the nap and before the next one and ask him what will happen if he gets out of bed so we know that he understands the consequences. The other thing that helped with the initial transition was being really excited about the "big boy bed" and getting him his own sheets (toy story and cars)
Also know that even if he masters it at home vacations throw everything off and you could find yourself needing to be creative while on vaction and/or go without as much sleep as you would like...but just take it in stride and don't let it throw off your enjoyment of your vaction if you can help it!
Again I wish you lots of patience with yourself and your son for this process. Also we got a pretty cheap, low to the ground bed at Ikea so that might be a place to look for a budget friendly toddler bed.

Hi K.,

We put each of our kids in toddler beds when they were around 18 months. Just plan for a lot of consistency. He will get up, give him a squeeze and put him back. Avoid a lot of talking, just "It's bed time. Stay in your bed." The first night is the hardest/longest. If you have an earlier bed time for him then yourself it will help :) Good luck to you. As soon as he knows the routine, he will stay in bed.

My daughter is just over 2 and we switched her to a big girl bed (aka toddler bed) 2 weeks ago. She has been a dream! She hasn't gotten out once. That may be just her, but what I started weeks before we made the switch is...I bought a cheap light that looks like a bug from IKEA and a light timer (the kind you would set to turn your lights on and off when you were away). I put the bug on the wall and set the timer so it was one before bed, and went off right around bed time. I also set it so it would turn on at an appropriate time to get up in the morning. For weeks while she was in her crib I would tell her "when the bug goes off, you close your eyes or you can call for mommy when the bug turns on". Now each morning when I go in she is still in her bed and says "I want to get up". Nothings stopping her, but she's staying put.
Good luck.
K.

A mattress on the floor is great, but talk it up and get him excited about it! Our son was just like yours - terrible sleeper, never wanted to go to sleep, etc., and I was prepared for the worst with the big-boy bed but we also had to move up as I needed his crib for one of the twins that I was 6 months pregnant with at the time. But you know what? We've never had a problem with him getting out of bed! Weird since he was climbing out of his crib before that. But I would suggest a reward chart. Worked wonders for getting my son to go to sleep on his own.Good luck!