June 2008 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Transitioning from crib to toddler bed
Anyone done this yet? How did you go about preparing/teaching your child to sleep in a bed that they can now get in and out of on their own?
Re: Transitioning from crib to toddler bed
Since we put Alex to bed sleeping (she falls asleep on the couch, and naps on the couch), it was fairly easy, at first. We put her to bed, put blankets near the bed to soften her landing when she inevitably fell out, and left it at that. For two weeks, it worked great. Then something happened, and I ended up on her floor, as you know. Now that we're over that, she gets put in bed, then wakes up within seconds to two hours, takes everything off her bed and moves it to the doorway/latched babygate, and sleeps the rest of the night on the floor.
So, um, yeah, that's how we're doing with the toddler bed transition
It was fairly easy. Taryn woke up easily when we would lay her in the crib, so converting it to the toddler bed made it easier since our bodies could stay closer to her longer and it was a little easier to cuddle her to get her to settle down.
She fell out of her bed once, and I had extra blankets to cushion, like Jill did. She never tried to climb out of her bed, even in the mornings. Now she's in a toddler bed and she'll sleep in there fine for the most part. Some nights I have to lay with her (which is much easier in a twin than a toddler bed lol) but for the most part, she'll lay down easily.
Now our issue with her is when she wakes up in the middle of the night (couple of times a week), she'll just climb out of her bed, open her door (she just figured this out in the last few weeks) and come into our room.
All in all, I found it MUCH easier to get her into her toddler (then twin) bed then it was when we transitioned her into her crib.
Hmm so maybe we will need to just lay in there with Jack until he falls asleep, at least at first. (and NOT all night Jill, haha. I learned that lesson from hearing about your experience!) There's no way he is going to just lay down and go to sleep. No way. The fact that he can get out of the bed will be too much of a lure for him, I think. I plan to put a baby gate across his doorway so that if he gets up, he won't wander out of his room, and we've got some extra couch cushions to lay where the bed has an opening so that if he rolls out, he won't hurt himself.
How about night lights? Jack doesn't sleep with one now, it's completely dark in his room. I keep thinking that we should maybe put one in his room so that if he does get up, he doesn't hurt himself walking around in a dark room OR so that he can see where he is if he rolls out of bed or something - I can imagine that will be a little disorienting to him. Do you girls use one or find that you don't need it?
It hasn't been easy for us. Back in January we converted his crib to a toddler bed. It went well at first then he started getting out of bed to play during naptime. After a couple frustrating weeks I gave up and converted it back to a crib.
About a month ago, I bought a new bed for Kodi since the baby will use the crib. The transition this time went a little smoother. He still gets out sometimes during naptime, but he gets in trouble when he does that. Now for the most part he stays in bed. He plays in his bed with all of his animals and blankets and sometimes never sleeps but at least I get a break from him. Bed time hasn't really been a problem, just nap time.
At first I put a baby gate across his bedroom door, I was paranoid that he would get up during the night and walk out our front door. But during the night, if he wakes up, he'll call for me rather than get out. Even in the mornings he calls for me to give him permission to get out of bed. Enforcing the rule of no getting out of bed has been working out well for us.
Good luck!
Aspen Marley ~ 12.22.11
My Blog of Randomness - Pocketful of Roses
Yeah, definitely leave after he's asleep if you do that one. Not a good habit to start.
We have an iHome in Alex's room, and the face has adjustable light settings. We have always had that in there though, so she's used to the light off of that. Maybe try a night with a small light, and see if he notices. Once you get the toddler bed set up, just see how he does, he may surprise you. Alex did, for two weeks anyway. I think Melissa/Ranger did that with Abby and had no issue.
We've always had the baby gate on her doorway. It was to keep the dog out, now it's to keep her in. I'd be afraid of her getting to the kitchen while we sleep and causing trouble there. As for getting up and playing, I don't know. Alex never does that. If the gate is locked, she screams to get out. Once it's open, she'll play in her room for hours. Most nights of the screaming, I wished she'd just play quietly all night if she wasn't going to sleep, but that has never happened.
Aspen Marley ~ 12.22.11
My Blog of Randomness - Pocketful of Roses
The babysitter just moved her 20 month old from the crib to a toddler bed just the other night, she's had 3 successful nights.
However, Emma (20 months) was showing major interest in sleeping with her older sister, Ava (4 years). And would actually cry at bed time. I think it helps when you have someone older to follow.
Zac is NO WHERE near ready for this, right now we're resisting bedtime and having a little seperation anxiety. He'd be in the doorway as fast as I could get there if he had freedom to roam.
This is sort of how Jack is. When we say it's time for bed, he whines, but he walks to his room and gives us kisses and hugs and everything. He knows he is tired, he just doesn't want to go to sleep and miss anything. Most nights when we put him in his crib, he goes right to sleep on his own, but some nights he cries for a few mins. I am willing to bet that the first time he goes in the toddler bed, he will get right up and beeline for the door. That's why I think the other girls' idea of laying with him until he falls asleep may be our best bet.
We'll see how it goes!!! The good thing is, if it turns out he is not ready for this, he can go back to a crib. The new baby isn't due until the end of November, and the first 2 months or so, will be in a cradle anyway. So Jack's got 5-6 months to adjust.
Thanks for the ideas and responses girls!
Neena Mae. 1/7/10
"A baby nursing at a mother's breast is an undeniable affirmation of our rootedness in nature." - David Suzuki