We recently set up a 'big boy' bed for my son in his room. His crib is still in there b/c he will eventually be sharing the room with his baby brother that will be here within the week. Yesterday we did try to get him to take his nap in it, but that didn't work out too well. He wanted to touch everything in his room instead, so took his nap in his crib. Last night, he did sleep in it all night. I was worried about what he would do once he woke up, but he just stayed in it until I came to get him. So...I'm just curious about taking naps and sleeping in the bed when I know he can get out whenever he wants. Anyone have any thoughts about the transition? Advice??
Thank you for the responses. I appreciate it. My son has been doing very well in his big boy bed. He actually did much better at night than naptime, so I did have him in the crib for one or two days during naptime after we had set up his bed. He then finally realized he could get out of that crib though and hasn't been in it since. I have kept him in there for this long (32 months) b/c my pediatrician told me not to worry about it until he was three if he wasn't climbing out of it. I guess I was a little surprised to see that maybe my daughter should be getting ready for a toddler bed too from the responses. We'll definitely be waiting on that though. :) He does have his books and stuffed animals to play with until he falls asleep and we have had to go in there and tell him to get in bed. Overall though, I'm very proud of my little guy. :) I have tried the gate, but he throws a fit knowing it's there and just wants his door shut instead. We still put it up after he falls asleep and crack open the door if he has shut it completely. As far as the bed type goes, he has a full twin car bed. There are two settings as far as where you can put the mattress and his is on the bottom one. He has to basically crawl in and out of it, so he won't be able to fall out of it at all. He will still have his room to himself for another couple of months while the baby sleeps in a cradle or the pack-n-play. We just wanted to give him some time before the baby was here to realize it's not going to be his bed anymore. If for some reason he cannot handle having the baby in his room, then we may put my daughter in there with him for a little bit. Again, thanks for your suggestions and comments. :)
My son was moved to a bed at 18 months as well. The bed rail was used at first, plus I remember staying in his room for just a couple of minutes while he calmed down, then left while he was still awake. The just being firm. It all worked out. Good Luck.
When we did the transition we started putting up a gate in the doorway. This way if our son gets up in the middle of the night or gets up before we do in the morning he stays safe. It may help until your son is old enough to understand that he isn't to go outside/get into things without Mommy or Daddy.
We used rails on the big bed for all 3 of our kids. You can get them at Babies R Us and they just slip under the mattress. I think the rails helped our kids because they still feel somewhat contained like they did when they were in the crib. Good luck to you and congrats on the new baby!
We started off the same way you are, and that was by him napping in there first. That did seem to help. It could help if you have very little toys in there to distract him. He will be curious for while of course. We always put a baby gate at his door, so that if he got up, he couldn't wander out of his room. Stay consistent, and expect it to take a while for him to adjust. I'm sure that you'll all adjust just fine. Good luck with the new baby!
just make sure his room is child proofed and put a gate up at the door if you are worried about him getting up in the night and roaming around the house. Some kids stay in their beds but most will get up and play when they are awake. I kept a baby gate up at the door when it was naptime and bedtime and my oldest son usually did get up and play with a few toys for 20-30 min but eventually fell asleep and didn't fuss about being in his room for nap or bedtime because he knew it was that time and it didn't bother me if he got up and played quietly for a little while because he wasn't harming himself or anything and usually did fall asleep within 30 minutes. Sometimes he may have been sleeping on the floor or found him asleep in the toybox a few times but as long as he was sleeping well and safe I didn't move him. He is 15 now and still prefers sleeping on the floor over his nice comfy bed and even at his friends houses he offers to sleep on the floor.
I was also so worried about what my son would do in a "big boy bed" that I kept him in his crib until he was almost 3! I was so scared that he would get up on his own in the morning and I wouldn't wake up and he'd get hurt or whatever. But...it's been a dream come true. He's been in his bed for 8 months now and he's never ONCE gotten up on his own!! When he wakes up, whether it be in the morning or from nap, he yells for us. Usually we go in and get him, but every once in awhile we'll yell for him to get up and come out of his room. At first he wouldn't. But now he will. I'm not sure when, if ever, the day will come when he just gets up on his own and comes out!! If people didn't know better, they'd think we had him tied in bed! As for the bed rails, we never used them. One side of his bed is against the wall. His bed isn't very tall so when he did fall out (only happened a few times) he didn't fall very far.
You might try putting a "baby" in the crib so he is used to someone else being in there. You can get baby dolls at the dollar store (while they are not the best they will work). Offer him rewards for staying in his bed. If you have to remove his toys from the room or stow them in the closet so he is not distracted when it is time to go to bed. I had trouble with my daughter when we transitioned her, she kept getting up and wandering around. Finally we put up a kid gate in her doorway - we could still see/hear what she was doing but she was safe in her room.Eventually she understood what she was supposed to be doing but there were a few nights she cried herself to sleep on the floor and we would move her to her bed before we went to bed ourselves. My son had no trouble switching since he hated his crib from day 1. He even hated the little bed he slept in at the hospital. Anyway good luck to you. E.
I kept 'soft & quiet toys' in a basket in his room when we switched and put a gate at the doorway for the first few weeks for saftey...my oldest we moved at 17-18 months and the first few days/nights he would play for a while with toys then crawl back in bed and sleep thru-- he always waited until we came to get him to get up---my youngest (2 on Monday) we moved at 18 mo as well- he did ok but would play more than my oldest but they have shared a room since he moved to his big bed and they would play/read to each other at first, now they love sharing a room and miss each other if they aren't sleeping next to each other! they can get up and come into our room (next door) if they want as we have a gate at the stairs now vs the door so my oldest can go to the potty if he needs too--- they kinda worked their own ways into sleeping/getting up-- we havent really had many issues with 'getting up/out'....
This is kind of inconvinent, but it worked for one of my friends. They took apart the crib and put it away until the baby was born. I know you don't have much time, but maybe you could reassemble it in a couple of days in your room and have the baby in there for a while? That way your 19 month old will get used to his big boy bed and maybe will stay out of the crib when it comes back in his room
You need to take the crib down and store it. You need to use a basenet for the new baby. When the baby is old enough for it's own bed, put the crib up in your room, if you have the space. If not put it in to the childs bedroom and keep an ear open. If he gets in with the baby,I am sure the baby will let you know. Another option is to get another crib. That would give him time to get use to being a big boy. Good luck, G. from Missouri
Just be firm and let him know that at it is nap time and that he has to stay in bed. Maybe give him some books to read as he is falling asleep. You might also have to stay in his room with him for the first little bit to help him understand that it is time to lay down. It might take a few days but he will figure it out.
Hey A., It's me, C.!
I would just make sure the room is baby-proofed enough so if he does play in his room, it is safe. If you worry about him getting out, I would put a pressure gate on the outside frame of the door so if he opens the door, there's a gate there.
Some kids need to roll around and look around to get into the mood of sleep. I would just tell him that he needs to stay in bed. My kids would say that they are not tired and I would say, "you don't HAVE to sleep, just rest in bed for one hour. You can play in bed as long as you are laying down." Almost every time within that hour, they would fall asleep. If he gets out of bed a lot, I would just go back in there and tell him to get right back into bed. But just think about it, he's got this Cool, Big Boy Bed that he can get in and out of anytime he wants. He's got to try it out and get in and out a lot because it makes him feel like a big kid. I would just let him get in and out a lot and every once in a while go in and say "okay, now it's time to get back into bed" and hopefully he will. It may take some time to wear out the newness of the cool bed, but eventually he'll stay in it. Keep me posted.
Good Luck next week - if you don't go before then!
I have 4 kids and we did set up a gate at the doorway of our oldest child when she was around 3, but it did present a problem for having to go to the bathroom and we took it down after she got the message that she couldn't roam the house. My youngest was close to 3 1/2 when we put him in a bed and I told him to just call me when he's ready to get up. He actually followed that for several months and now he gets out of bed in the morning on his own, but we don't have any issues with getting up in the middle of the night. He does have lots of toys in his bed and several times (at night and nap time) I've found him asleep on the floor in the middle of toys as if he just fell asleep while playing! I told him he needs to get in bed when he's tired. I like the gate at the stairs idea if you have stairs.
