Crib Beyond Age of 3?? - Berwyn,IL

My son stayed until 3.5.. He LOVED his crib. Some of my friends gave me a hard time but I didn't care! Until my son was not in diapers at bedtime anymore ( we was potty trained at 2.5 but overnights not until 3.5), he stayed in his crib and had NO issues with it! DO IT FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN!!!!!!!!

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Tent or no tent, once they can climb out they are in danger of hurting themselves. Dump the tent and go through the transition. Yes! You will have to deal with weeks or more of quietly walking him back to his new bed,perhaps repeatedly for some nights. It's not fun but it must be done sometime. Why keep him penned in?

I've posted this here so many times but here goes again: Friend's 18-month-old fell the FIRST time she tried to climb out of the crib and broke her arm. If she had landed on her head or neck she could have been paralyzed or killed. I always say: Put up the crib rail, and look at the distance from the top of the raised rail to the floor. Imagine a small child falling that distance head first.

Put him in a mattress on the floor and save the toddler bed expense, and just get ready to work with him on staying in bed. It's another phase of training him and has to happen at some point. If he can climb out of the crib and is as you say "a major marauder," don't you expect soon he'll try to take off or fight the tent?He could get entangled in it. He's telliing you he's ready for the transition.

I wish I had left my son in his crib longer. At around 2.5, everyone started the "when is he getting a big boy bed?" thing. I should have left him right where he was! It's a WHOLE new ballgame when they're out of the crib. My thoughts are that the older they are when they move out of the crib, the better they understand the 'concept' of going to bed--and staying there!

If you take him out of the crib, I'd strip his room of things he could get into. I'd also get a door knob thing or a gate to keep him IN his room so even if he doesn't stay in bed, he stays in place.

My DD will be 3 this summer and I'm not looking forward to the next step, either.

My son is only 2 but I plan on keeping him in a crib as long as possible. i see no problem with keeping your son in a crib. My husband's mom tells me all the time how her kids were in their cribs until they were almost 4 years old because that's the only way they were safe--not up exploring the house at all hours of the night.

Kiddo was about 3.5. We kept him in it for as long as it worked, and it worked *fantastic*. He outgrew it, and it was time to move on. A bed is a bed. A crib is just a bed with rails. Hospital beds have rails as well. Waiting gave us 2 additional "side effects". 1) He was more mature/ had better impulse control/ better verbal abilities so we had only 2 or 3 nights where he was in and out of his normal bed after bedtime & could very easily understand needing to stay in bed except to pee & 2) it was also his timeout spot... so we got to keep his "safe" place for an extra couple years... which was all to the better. ((That was the hardest thing for him, btw, finding a new "safe" place to calm down.))

At age 8 he sleeps anywhere, and is a healthy / happy/ well adjusted kiddo. A bed, really is just a bed. A cup is a cup whether it has a lid, straw, nipple, etc. The idea that all things that babies use are "babyish" is only in our own adult minds. Certain things are, certain things aren't. What works, works.

I think its based on your son's personality and how well he is still sleeping. My son was getting up at night and we were putting him in our bed and it really was not working out. We switched him out of the crib to a bed about a month ago (2 years 10 months) and its been great. He does still ask for me at night but I can go and stay with him in a nice warm bed. If he does leave (which is rare and only happens if he has not asked for me all night) he comes right to our room. But my son is also very attached to me and does not like to go off on his own nor does he tamper with anything in his room.

Keep there as long as you can. My son will be three this month and is happily in his crib. When/if he tries to "escape" I will get him a big boy bed. Until then, we are all happy: )

my daughter was just over 3. she loved her crib and stayed in it. as soon as she learned to climb out we switched to a bed and it was a lot easier than we thought. we let her go out and get tinkerbell bedding and things for her room and made a big deal about how big she was... worked like a charm she loves her room and stays in there for the most part

So happy to read some of these responses as my 3rd child just turned 3...he is still in his crib. My first 2 I moved to a toddler bed when they were 2. With my 3rd, I have been dreading moving him to a bed. He is extremely active and into EVERYTHING and I know that once he is out of the crib there will be no stopping him. He is also not one that takes "change" real well. He has not ever tried to climb out of his crib, not once. As long as he is safe and does not try climbing out, I intend on keeping him there. People have all sorts of opinions on the matter, but every child is different and different things work for different children and ya just gotta go with it :) I think if the crib is still working well, then by all means keep it until it no longer works as well.

I would keep in in there as long as possible. There is no rule in stone saying a 3 yo has to be out of their crib.

All of our girls stayed in their cribs til 4 yr or older. They had no problem with their cribs and we didn't push the issue.

We moved daughter into a toddler bed around 20 months due to climing out (and her brother was set to arrive at 24 months). She has always been a restless sleeper, waking up often at night and cosleeping with us part time. While pregnant and my husband worked nights, she would sleep with me about 1/2 way through the night. She's 3.5 and still comes into our room at night (their door is open). She would be fine with me sleeping with her but I just let her get into bed with us. I am not sure what we'd do if my 18 month old son was up and out of his bed at night! He's not a cosleeper - never really liked it and enjoys the door being shut and sleeping alone (didn't wan any rocking or cuddling since 9 months) so my plan is to keep him in his bed as long as humanly possible! He sleeps so great, goes to bed on his own, sleeps all night, etc. I do not want to mess with that! I'd say keep them in there as long as possible. Only when night time potty training comes into play is there really a need to move them.