When to Transition Between Crib and Bed or Toddler Bed?

With all 3 of my kids, I went straight from a crib to a twin bed...never saw the need for a toddler bed, since a twin can be used for much longer. I did see something neat at Ikea: a toddler bed that converts to a twin.

If wandering is a concern, can you put a safety gate up in the hallway to limit his access? Most kids are not going to go far in the dark.

I switched them when the started showing interest in climbing into or out of the crib. I began by putting the boxspring and mattress right on the floor and up against a wall. Then we moved to the bedframe and used a safety rail on the exposed side, but I didn't need the rail for long.

Best wishes!

When my daughter started asking for a "big girl bed" at about 2 1/2, what we did was first put the mattress from her crib onto the floor with a thick rug next to her and she slept on that. This way their bodies learn to stay on the mattress and if they roll off they do not get hurt. After about 2 months we put a twin mattress on the floor, and when it seemed like she was no longer rolling off,(about another month or 2) we put the box spring underneath. She is not quite 3 and has only once rolled off, but we still have the rug next to her bed, so it was not a big deal.

Buying a toddler bed seemed like an unnecessary step to us and this has worked perfectly.

I think this is about the right time. I would go right to a twin bed. put one side up against the wall. we did this with our kids..they are now 20 and 14. It really helped them sleep better at night. much more space and allowed them to wiggle all they wanted with out crashing into the sides.

The time to transition is different for every child. My daughter is almost two & quite tall. She is very uncomfortable in her crib so we have decided to move her this weekend into a twin bed. She too has the 'lifetime'crib, but it makes no sense to move her twice. I would put up a gate at your son's door, or close his door with a doorknob cover on it when you move him so he won't wander the house.

I moved my son when he was three. But gave him rules that went along with the privledge of sleeping in a big boy bed. If he wanted to get out of bed he had to call me and he was allowed one toy in his bed to play with. That worked until he was three and a half and at that point I was much more comfortable with him moving around his room.
Good luck with the transition,
K.

We skipped the toddler bed and went straight to our double fold-out futon for my son. Will use a twin bed (probably just the mattrass on the floor) for my daughter. My son was 20 months old when he was transitioned. We will probably do my daughter around the same age (she's 14 months old now). At age 3 he should have no trouble with a regular big kid bed. We put a gate up in my son's door for the first month or so, and after that we started leaving it down because it was clear that if he was going to go anywhere, it was straight into our bedroom. (and that was infrequent)

My older son went right from crib to regular twin bed at 2 1/2. He couldn't open his bedroom door till he was older so that wasn't an issue. At first I put his box springs and mattress on the floor with a bolster pillow on the side just in case he fell. We made a REALLY big deal about the big boy bed and he was extremely pleased to sleep in it. When he got a little older and more used to sleeping in it we moved it up on the frame. Any time that he got up in the night it has just been because he was upset/needed something/bad dream etc and he always comes to get us. But then again...every kid is different!

We put our daughter in a full sized bed at age 2 1/2. She was always getting out of the toddler bed and never slept the entire night in it. Everyone, including her pediatrician said she was way too young, but she has never gotten out of her 'big girl' bed and refuses to sleep anywhere else. I did put a gate on her doorway at first so she could not wander the house, but the need for it was soon gone. I also let her pick out her own beddings and that was a big help.

Moving her to a bigger bed helped me a great deal when going on vacations-most rooms have 2 full or 2 queen beds and she was fine with that as well.

I have a 3 yr old son also. My advise is why ask for trouble? Keep him in the crib as long as possible. As long as he does not climb out, he is safer and you don't have to deal with the next step any earlier than you have to...the running out of the bedroom.
I figure in the next year, I will move him, but I'm not rushing into it. My son will nap in his twin bed, but bedtime is still in crib. If you can, just skip the toddler bed if that's an option.

Because our second is due soon, we moved our son to a twin bed with a rail when he was 18 months. He's upstairs; we're down, so to prevent him from trying to come downstairs on his own, we covered his doorknob with a safety knob he can't work and close his door when he's sleeping (or supposed to be!). We moved rooms as well, so we moved all of his things before naptime one day and surprised him with sheets and a comforter with vehicles all over (his favorite). Once he saw the sheets, he was in love with the bed! At first, he would get out of the bed and wander the room for awhile before crawling back in and sleeping. We figured this would happen so we were careful to make everything in there safe for him. Naps were tougher, and still once in a while, he just plays in his room instead of napping. I hope you have as good an experience as we did!

My child was 20 months old when he started sleeping on a twin bed for 2 reasons. One he was crawling out of bed all the time and I was afraid one day he would hurt himself. The other reason was I had my second baby and needed the baby to use the crib. I only had two instances that he woke up. All I did was make sure he couldn't unlock the front door by himself. I added extra locks on cabinets and refrigerator so he could not open them. The worst he ever did was empty the refrigerator and spilled juice and broken eggs on the floor. After that, all he did was crawl into bed with us.

I took my son out of crib a little after he turned 2 way too early!!!! He still at 3 1/2 comes in our room from his twin bed at night. He went straight from crib to twin with rails ( that part worked fine) but he was too young. My daughter who is 15 months won't switch until she is crawling out of the crib and wanting a new bed.

Just my opinion

We moved our guy from crib to twin at about 2 and 1/2. Like everyone else, we started with the mattress on the floor, then gradually added the box spring and rail.

Because he sometimes talks/walks in his sleep, I wouldn't have done it without three things: bed rail, video monitor, and a gate at the door. So far, so good!