3.03.2008

Sleeping Beauty?

Miss Peach is just over two and half years old. The discussion has come around to a big girl bed. The Little man is one and a half, he is still sleeping in a mini crib. He needs to be upgraded to a regular crib...now! Here is my dilemma...How will I ever get my baby girl to sleep if I can't contain her in a crib? My options are: buy a big girl bed for Miss Peach and let The Little Man have her crib, or buy The Little Man his own crib. I just don't know what to do. At what age do you start sleeping a toddler in a big bed? Miss Peach totally needs to be caged in order to go to sleep. She will sleep, but if she has an option to get out, she will. I am in new territory here. Who has gone through this, and how do you do it?

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39 comments:

  1. Morgan's a little over two. Some people I know have their two year olds in a big kid bed already and some don't. Personally? I'm waiting. Morgan is showing no signs that she's ready to move to a big girl bed and I'm not pushing it.

    I say buy a new crib. Let her keep sleeping in her's and move the baby into a big crib. Morgan's crib converts to a toddler bed and then to a full size bed. Maybe give the baby Miss Peach's crib and buy HER a crib that converts down the road?

    I'm useless. Sorry :(
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  2. Kellie's idea about buying her a convertable crib that can be used as a big bed down the road sounds good.

    Cooper moved from the crib to a toddler bed at 17 months, in large part because he hated his crib . . . he would take a 3-hour nap camped out on the floor in the middle of his room, but would only last 20 minutes in the crib. I have heard that the nighttime wandering can be nixed by putting a babygate at the door and making sure their room is babyproofed - they can get up and play/wander all they want, and will fall asleep wherever they want to. (We have always done a bit of co-sleeping, so we didn't use a gate . . . he always starts the night in his room, migrating into our room somewhere between midnight and 6:30 a.m.)

    Would a mesh rail to keep her from rolling out of bed deter her from trying to climb out?
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  3. we moved sass to a big girl bed (a full size no less) when she was 2 b/c frass was arriving. I wanted sass in a bed before frass was born b/c i didn't want to deal with that transition with a newborn.

    we followed healthy sleep habits book. we put her to bed the same as always. of course she discovered she could just pop on out and come visit us. for a full week i would walk her back to her bed without talking or looking at her. i would tally it each night...over 100 times she was getting out of bed. FUCK it, we bought an eye hook lock, locked her in, she cried and banged on the door for about one night, then that was it. sounds cruel but we did go in while she was screaming and banging and put her in bed....it just worked quicker. good luck
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  4. We were forced to put our daughter in a toddler bed at around 18 months. She was jumping out. A lot!

    For the first week we thought she would never sleep again! She was up and playing and we would find her in the morning passed out on the floor under her dora rug. But she eventually got used to it and now (at 2) we dont have any problems.

    I say go for it, but be ready for a little big of a fight!
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  5. My son will be 3 in a few weeks and we just converted his crib to a toddler bed this weekend.
    My older son was a little over 3 before he moved out of the crib too.
    I dunno, though, I wasn't faced with the dilemma of having to buy a new one so we keep them in the crib for as long as possible.
    Good luck!
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  6. Both my girls were climbing out of their cribs at 2. It was more of a speed bump to them. They were in big girl beds right after that.
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  7. We did the toddler bed for a few months & just moved him at New Year. Made a big production of it. He loves the big bed. And, it's so nice to be able to read books and cuddle. He's just a couple months older than the Peach.
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  8. We put a baby gate up at his door when we put him in a toddler bed. He soon learned that when he was put into bed it was time for sleep. As long as the gate was up he was great.
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  9. I agree with Feener and Karen.

    It will take a good week. But developing good sleep habits is important. My middle child is a firecracker and we had a hard time with her so we added a baby gate at the door. She knew we meant business.

    There is nothing better then climbing in bed with your child and snuggling in THEIR bed. Seriously, it is awesome.

    All of our kids got a mattress on the floor at age 2. We skipped the toddler bed. It was just another expense.

    Baby gate in the door. Mattress on floor. A week of struggle. All good in the end. Have fun.
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  10. I know I am lucky because neither one of my girls ever tried to climb out of their cribs!

    Miss C was moved to a twin size bed (regular bed pushed up against the wall on one side and with an Elmo safety rail on the other side) when she was about 2 1/2. Miss A was arriving when Miss C was 33 months old. Honestly she was so tickled pink with her new big girl bed she never made a fuss, HOWEVER to this day (she is 5 1/2) she will practically beg nightly for one of us to lay down with her after story time until she falls asleep. I usually tell her I'll check on her after I get a glass of water and then come back and she's zonked.

    Miss A will be 3 next week and has been in a twin bed with a safety rail since last year. She prefers to sleep on the floor. I'm not kidding. She doesn't try to escape, either. My troubles usually stem from just getting them to go to sleep, but once I do they are out for the night.

    Good luck!

    p.s. personally I am one of those insanely practical people who thinks toddler beds are just a scam to get you to buy into one more big ticket item
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  11. For all that is good and holy in the name of Oprah - do NOT put them in the same room! My girls were 1 & 2 1/2 when I put them in the same room in "big girl" beds.

    Oh, Mama.

    M.I.S.T.A.K.E.

    They teach each other how to get out of bed. I'm still paying the price a year later.

    Keep us updated.
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  12. My kiddos were just over two. We only switched because they were climbing/falling/catapulting out.

    Two hints:

    * Start with the crib mattress on the floor, next to the crib.

    * If you hold out, and stay in the crib, two words: crib tent. Sounds medieval but kids (and parents) dig it.

    Good luck.
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  13. I've usually moved them into a toddler bed around 18 months to 2 years old. It definitely took at least a week until they were completely comfortable.

    My daughter was the most difficult transition, but I would just spend a few minutes lying with her each night, and used a baby gate to keep her corralled.
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  14. My girls are 17 months apart. We had 2 cribs for awhile and then moved our oldest into a bed at 2 years old. Our second make her transition at the same age. Of all the advice you've received so far (so not to repeat what you've already heard) OhMommy's experience is closest to mine. If you need to corral them in their room, the baby gate is the best. Some states have laws against locking your kids in their rooms.
    Every transition that you face with your kids takes time. Establish rules, let Miss Peach know what you expect and have a plan as to how you are going to correct her when she breaks the rules.
    Good luck!
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  15. My youngest is 2 1/2 and I am not in any hurry to move her. She never crawls out and, like your little one, I am afraid she will never sleep if not caged.

    My oldest, when we moved her at a little less than 3, quickly stopped napping. But other than that, the transition was OK. She was so thrilled with her new bed she couldn't wait to go to sleep.

    I want to wait until my youngest is really ready for a big bed. If they are too young, you have to deal with the "not staying in bed" routine. But if they are older, they are more capable of understanding consequences. Plus, maybe by then I can bribe her a bit to stay in bed. My oldest is easily bribed to do something if I just tell her she can put a sticker on the calendar indicating she was a good girl.
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  16. OH, to answer your question, the idea of the crib/convertible toddler bed is a great one. Some even convert to full size beds as well. A little more $$$, but it may save your sanity.
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  17. I'm sorry but I can't help you out here. You're WAY ahead of me in terms of the sleep training.

    My son is still co-sleeping with us and nursed to sleep every night. I'm working on it though....
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  18. I think it is different for every child. My oldest daughter got in a twin bed at two and I had no problems. My youngest daughter was nearly four and I only did it because we were moving and I had no choice. But, she did great even though I was expecting a fight.
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  19. I hate to say it but another crib is probably your best option. My son wasn't really ready until he was almost 3 and even then we had to coax him to stay in his bed.

    He's also the kind of child that has to make up his own mind on big changes like this (don't get me started on potty training!) so once he did he was fine in his own bed.
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  20. I think it really depends on the child. We put Becca in a toddler bed before her 2nd birthday, but she was more than ready and has done fine in that and now in her twin bed. But we did end up with 2 cribs for a while after Hannah was born because Abby was nowhere near ready at age 2... Good luck!
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  21. I have really enjoyed reading the other mom's advice. My son is just about 19 months and still in his crib. I have been growing a knot in my stomach thinking about moving him form his crib since he is not one to listen to waht we ask him to do. Needless to say, he will be in his crib, caged, until the very last possible moment.
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  22. If you lived closer, I'd lend you our crib for a few months. We moved to a toddler bed right before Alexis turned two because she wasn't sleeping through the night at the time, nothing was working to get her to do it, and I figured we might as well get all of the drama out of the way at once. She still isn't sleeping through the night three months later, but I blame my husband completely. He lets her in our bed, so that's where she heads. It's too hard to argue with the man at 2:00 in the morning, so whatever.

    Toddler beds aren't all evil, but I say keep 'em caged for as long as you can.
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  23. When my twins were at that stage we did go to a toddler bed but we had to gate their door. We made the room totally baby proof but they were still somewhat caged. Other wise they would be flushing everything down the toilet - in the middle of the night.
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  24. The munchkin (just turned 2) shows no signs of wanting to sleep in anything but her crib (ie. no escape attempts). So, regardless of what my MIL wants (which is for us to put her in a big bed since both of her kids went into full-size beds at 18 months), I'm going to keep her in a crib until she's closer to being potty trained.
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  25. I had to move my son into a big bed when he started climbing out of his crib right around two. He was one that I really felt needed containment and the first week was hard. I started by laying with him until he fell asleep and then I would sneak out. Probably not the best solution but it worked for us. One thing we had to do is buy those safety side rails, the first night he rolled right out of that bed and hit the floor hard, luckily he didn't get hurt.
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  26. We put our daughter in a twin bed when she was 2 years old. For the first month she got out every chance she could. We just had to keep putting her back and putting her back. Then when our son was about 18 months old he wanted to always sleep in the bed with hi sister. So we bought a queen size bed and both kids sleep in there together. They still share a room right now since we only have a 2 bedroom. Once the two of them could sleep together in the same bed we really don't have a big problem with them getting out because they are so excited still to get to sleep together.
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  27. Being a kidless wonder, i have nothing to say. Just, "hi." *smackers*
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  28. Miss O was right at 2. We had a long discussion about it for a few nights in a row (1 week) We took her to buy it. Got her new sheets and a pillow and she thought it rocked!
    She got out a few times and I threatened her with the baby crib. THat did it.
    Good luck honey.
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  29. We put our daughter in a (twin sized) big girl bed by age 2. But then she's always been really big on sleep, so it wasn't an issue.
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  30. My mom actually had to get a bed harnest for my brother and I. We got out of bed soooooo much that she finally started putting us in a device that wouldn't let us leave the bed. After about a week or so of that....we stayed :) I hated it, but man it worked But it does sound a bit...um...barbaric :)
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  31. i moved austin to a twin bed when he was just about two and he sleeps better in there than his crib! I told him a kajillion times that he cannot get out of the bed until I come to get him. Fortunately he got it right away, although I do keep the door closed, just in case. Now i just need to figure out how to get the baby out of my bed and into his crib!

    (ps: my sister bought a toddler bed and my son won't go near it. It's tiny, so it won't last him long anyway)
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  32. My daughter was 2 when she was ousted from the crib in order to prepare for her baby brother, my tip lots of wine and even more patience’s then normal. It took us about 2 months to get Lauren total settled in the big girl bed. Good luck.
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  33. #1 was a few months short of 2 when we moved him. We moved him into an entirely new room and took our time. It was easier.

    #2 was harder. We put the bed in her room. She wanted nothing to do with it.

    Two months after her second birthday, when she and her brother were using the crib as a plaything, the crib went. Just like that. Cold turkey.

    As for how to contain them, put a gate on the door, fill the room with quiet play things and lots of books and let her figure it out. She will.
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  34. I had to take my son out of his crib and put into a toddler day bed. (He's 19 months old.) He was climbing out, head first thank you very much, so I no choice. Anyway, like you I was very nervous about the move. The first night I stayed in there with him, sitting on the floor until he went to sleep. For the most part it's been pretty easy. I do keep a baby gate at the end of the hallway so if he gets up at night his only option is to go back to bed, or come into my room. My baby sitter has heard of parents putting a lock on the outside of the door and locking the child in there, but that scared the living beans out of me!
    However, he's my only one, so I don't know how it would be with 2 babies.
    Oh and I just delurked myself :0) I've been reading for a few weeks.
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  35. I always say, "if it ain't broke...don't fix it!" if she is sleeping well in her crib, I wouldn't change that. Sleep is precious. :)

    I would get another crib, a convertable would be nice. :)

    Sugar is still in her crib. We MIGHT change it to the toddler bed mode soon, but she sleeps like an angel in it, so I am not at all in a hurry.
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  36. We moved my little guy at 18 months and made a big production out of it. I bet if you get her some Cinderella(isn't that the one she likes?) sheets, she might surprise you.
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  37. I've done it different every time! The first was put in a big girl bed at 18 months to accomodate her new baby sister. The second stayed in the crib until well after two. The third, we took off the side rail at 18 months and made it a daybed. The fourth crawled out of the crib at 13 months so we got her a toddler bed.
    I say get her a toddler bed or a big girl bed with rails. A new bed, new rules. It might take a few frustrating nights to get her new routine all worked out, but it's new to her too, so you never know. Good luck!
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  38. Yeah...a convertible crib with a guard rail is good for the transition...

    Let us know what you decide to do :)

    Bradley
    The Egel Nest
    http://egelnest.com
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  39. We moved Ironflower to a big girl bed at two and a half. She had a lot of trouble staying in it, though, so we had to put a gate across her door. Once she couldn't roam the house, she settled down a lot more quickly. True, sometimes she feel asleep on the floor while playing, but it didn't seem to hurt her.
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