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Transitioning to toddler bed
My son turned 3 a few months ago and we are thinking about converting his crib to a toddler bed. He was potty trained when he turned 3 and now is waking up a few times a week in the night to use the potty. then he fights us a little about coming into our bed but we say no and put him in his crib. i'm nervous if he is not in a crib that it will be easier for him to leave his room and a big fight in the middle of the night.
Also, i should add i'm pregnant with baby #2 so i was thinking transitioning now before the baby might be the way to go so we aren't dealing with a new baby and that transition all at the same time. in addition, i'm nervous about lifting him in and out of the crib since he weighs 36pds and i'm pregnant so that is another reason why we are thinking about doing this now.
any thoughts, suggestions, advice on how to do it? i already bought him 'cool' new bedding to make it 'exciting' for him....
Re: Transitioning to toddler bed
First of all, congrats!
For us, the toddler bed wasn't much of a transition. EJ was sleeping through the night and not waking to go potty. So once we got her to stay in her bed at bed time we were fine through the night. I think her fear of the dark helped.
) It was like she didn't realize it was an option to get out herself at night, and would call to us if she did wake up
Ditto Amanda. It was surprisingly easy for us (though we put her in a reg twin bed, not a toddler bed). It was months and months before she seemed to realize she didn't need to call us to get out.
Congrats on #2!! I definitely think you're doing the right thing in dealing with this now.
Brody didn't have any problems transitioning (we moved him in the late summer right before he turned 3). But, he doesn't like to stay in his bed either. It goes in waves...so it will be a week or two of him staying in bed all night. Then, it will be a week or two of him coming down to our bed at 3am a few nights. I have good intentions to take him back to his own bed - but at 3am, I just let him in to our bed and we sleep the rest of the night that way. Also when I do take him back to bed, I lay with him for a little while, it seems to help him go back to sleep. I am hopeful that he won't do this until he's 15. (Although he's a total momma's boy right now, so who knows, I might eat my words!)
ETA: We just did it by making a big deal of him getting a big boy room. He's SO in to being a big boy and not a baby, that we just made a huge deal about getting rid of all things baby and giving him his cool new big boy space.
Don't fear if this technique doesn't work. Cause it never did with EJ. she would just revert to baby behavior. There are other ways to motivate if the Big Boy technique doesn't work.
Congrats on the pregnancy!!
We used the same approach as Amber with Jake (who was also over 3 when we transitioned him to a full size bed out of the crib); we redid his room with new bedding, decor, etc...and made a big deal out of it. The first few nights, one of us had to lay with him while he fell asleep, but he was fine after that, and we didn't have any problems with him getting out of bed.
Jake - 1.15.08
Liam - 5.17.11
Congrats on #2!
We moved Brinley straight from the crib to a double bed just before she turned 2 because she started climbing out of the crib. And like some of the others, it took her awhile to realize that she could get out of the bed herself and she always yelled for us when she woke up.
Up until recently we also had a baby gate across the door, since her bedroom is right at the top of the steps. So after she got brave enough to get out of her bed, she still had to yell for us to get her out of her room.
Good luck!
Congratulations! We moved dd into the toddler bed when we moved. She was a little over 3 years old. When we got to the new house we just set the crib back up as a toddler bed. She thought it was awsome and like others didn't really get out of bed. I told her that she needed to stay in her bed and if she needed something she could call me. Now that she's almost 4, she will some times get up to use the bathroom but she goes right back to bed.
I think doing it now would be a smart choice. That way you can work out any problems before the baby comes.
congrats and i say do it!
He will probably welcome it and it may solve your bed issues since he is a big boy with a big boy bed AND it will help all of you i would think, with the night time potty breaks. Especially as you probably shouldn't lift him in and out of the crib as you get father along!
My son was giving us sleep trouble and we put him in a toddler bed at 15 months. and I think he did great for that age I think your son will do fine! make a big deal out of what a big boy he is now and how special the Big boy bed is so he WANTS to sleep in it! good luck!
When are you due? I am pregnant with #2 as well.
Married, September 23, 2006
Congrats to you too! i'm due in July! you?
My EDD is August 2nd, but since it will be a planned c-section it will most likley be July as well!
Married, September 23, 2006