Toddler Bed Toils

I think you know her best and if you don't think she is ready for a big girl bed and you tried, then give the crib back and get a new one. Shes only 20 months, she will be big soon enough. Try not to stress because she won't sleep in a big girl bed. You can get a nice inexpensive crib from walmart or k-mart. Just think if you plan on having another child one day you will already have a crib. Hope this helps a little.
Take Care, T. Q

Simply put; ask your sister in law if she NEEDS it back or even wants it back. Is it your mother in laws bed??? Where is the 2mo old sleeping?? What "deal" was brokered when you received the bed? Is the bed an heirloom of some sort?

Sorry for the additional questions but, personally I feel it is between you and your sister in law to work it out. Be kind, honest and sincere; explain how you feel about rushing your daughter and not wanting to change beds just yet. Offer to buy them a new crib...if they get offended, well, that's just plain silly!

However, if you feel it will keep the family peace to give the bed back because your S.I.L wants/needs it; you will just have to explain to your daughter that her cousin needs a place to sleep, too... and make her a part of getting new bedding for the big girl bed (or something...thought about the safety bed rails??) and make it exciting...it's hard, I know. At the very least(and this may sound harsh, I'm sorry), she WILL survive this :)

I just had an idea! If you HAVE to give the bed back in a month, maybe making a calendar or one of those paper chains to mark the days off until she gets to have her own big girl bed would help! ??? Just a thought.

Good luck!

I agree with Tina. Getting another crib that is similar in appearance; i.e. same color, same material (wood or metal), same size seems like a reasonable solution. And keeping her in a crib also seems like the right thing to do. I think that your baby could adjust to a different crib but with the same similarity and bedding would be much easier than adjusting to a "big girl" bed. If that doesn't seem feasible to you I'd suggest you talk directly with your sister-in-law and find out what she thinks. Perhaps she could help you problem solve. I think that it's possible she would appreciate being involved in your decision. Knowing first hand from her what she wants would relieve some of your stress. And a direct, honest relationship is much healthier for everyone involved. Your mother-in-law may not even be hinting that you should give back the bed. You won't know her intent until you ask her or clear up the air with a conversation with your sister-in-law.

If saving money is important you could buy a used one thru the want ads or Craig's list. We bought my granddaughter's crib thru the want ads and were pleased.

Give the crib back. It will save problems with the family and you may not need it. Try this. Put the toddler bed where the crib was and when it's time to sleep sit next to the bed until she sleeps. I know that it makes bedtime harder but it will work. She needs to know that this is her bed and when you put her there you expect her to stay there. By sitting next to the bed you give comfort and she doesn't have the chance to get out. She will learn and after awhile you can then put her in bed and leave the room, when she gets out you simply make her return. You will get her trained on this just like anything else. And she will test her boundries. Patience mama patience. Breath deep and tell yourself that you are a wonderful mom! Besides anything else. The toddler bed is way easier to change. Have a great day B.

M.,

My son is now 22 months and just started sleeping in his toddler bed about 3 weeks ago. We have had it in his room since he was about 16 months old. I thought he would never actually sleep in it, but he finally did. I had tried and tried to get him to sleep in it and he would always wander around the room. I finally put new bedding on it, instead of using his crib bedding. My husband and I also hyped up the whole situation of him sleeping in his big boy bed and he finally did. We started with him sleeping in it at night because that is when he is more tired. It worked too. He stayed in the bed all night. He would roll out of it once in awhile, but we put pillows all around it on the floor so he wouldn't get hurt. Now he absolutely loves the bed. He tells me when he's tired now. He goes over to the stairs and will say naptime or bedtime and says bed night. It's pretty cool. I would just continue to try putting your daughter in it. It's hard at first. We also have the crib still in his room and he never wants to get back in it. I am expecting in a few weeks so we really wanted him in the toddler bed before the new baby comes, but I didn't want to force him. He now walks over to the crib and says baby sister because I put all of her bedding on it now. Good luck and I'm sure that she will be sleeping in the toddler bed before you know it.

It really depends on your child nad her needs and you know her best. My oldest we moved into a toddler bed like right when she turned a year old because we were having a baby four months later, so we gave her plenty of time to get adjusted to it. At first I think the biggest thing was the fact that she could get out of the toddler bed and she couldn't in the crib so she kept getting out and coming out of her bedroom- yep she could open the door because we had a handle that you just pushed down no turning knob on her door. We just had to have a lot of patience and we kept putting her back in her bed when she would come out. Eventually she would just get tired or loose her patience with it and go to sleep, it only took about 2 months with her to really get used to it and now she loves it and has slept in it ever since (she's 3 now). My younger one is 20 months now and still sleeps in her crib. We tried to put her in the toddler bed and switch our older one to a twin bed, but they sleep in the same bedroom so we had the problem of the younger one getting out of bed and getting in her sister's bed and waking her up or her older sister getting in the toddler bed with the younger one because that is what she was used to, so we put her back in her crib, which is just fine as we don't plan on having any kids soon so she can use it as long as she wants, fine by me :). Good luck with it, if you feel she will do okay in a toddler bed just be patient with it and it will happen, but if you want her to stay in the crib I would just talk to them and see if they really need it if they do then find one that is very similar and I'm sure your baby will do just fine.

M. J,
I would keep putting her in the toddler bed and telling her how much fun it is to be a big girl now and that she now has a big girl bed just like mommy and daddy have a big bed. I have 2 kids, my son is 4 years old and my daughter is 5 years old, when I got them their own toddler beds, I let them go with me to pick out what kind of bedding that they wanted on their very own big beds. They were able to pick out their favorite things, so i think that gave them a sence of feeling that this was really their own special thing just for them and nobody else. You might want to give that a try, hopefully it will work for you to. You might also want to try to explain how your sister-in-laws baby needs a crib now, and how good it would feel to be able to give the baby the crib so that it would have a nice safe place to sleep until the baby is a big kid. Hope that this will help you out a bit. M. S.

I think that if you can afford it, like on craigslist or something, I'd get your own crib and give back the other. If they are dropping hints, no matter what the reason, out of respect for them lending it to you in the first place, you should give it back without resentment...Especially if they have a 2 month old that needs it.

As far as your daughter sleeping in a toddler bed; I keep telling everyone the same thing. :) If your toddler can not climb out of the crib and is fighting sleeping in the toddler bed, then they are probably not ready for a toddler bed. It is sooooo convenient and safe for our babes to be in a crib, safe and sound. It is when they get mischievious and crafty that you want to make it easier for them to get out of a bed instead of a crib for their own safety.

My 2 year old daughter does not like her toddler bed yet. I just plan on getting rid of the crib when it is time and she will have no choice. I do have it set up in the Family Room so she can see it and we've told her that it is her new bed. I guess I'll worry about it more when it comes actual time for her to really need to be in it.

Good luck! Let us all know how it goes.

Since the crib isn't yours the polite thing to do is return it as promised. If you don't think your daughter is ready for a big girl bed, and most kids aren't at her age, buy another crib. Maybe spend a little extra and get a lifetime crib. Those turn into toddler day beds and full size beds. That way the crib will adapt with her as she grows, and you won't have to feel like you are spending money for a crib that's only going to last her another year or so. We bought a lifetime crib for our son, he's 2 1/2 and we just turned it into the day bed. We bought one of those toddler side rails for the edge, he loves it!

My daughter is now 20 months and has been in her toddler bed since 13 months. She never slept in her crib (bassinet in our room) and hated to be put in it. So I don't have first hand expeirence, but I will be behind you when you speal to your s.i.l. Try getting a new crib for your daughter. You have a month to see if she will try it or even like it. I bought a pooh bear one at walmart that is s four in one. Also buy stikers in her favorite charcter and decorate it with her. If she doesn't want anything to do with the new crib, then I would talk to your s.i.l. and explain to her whats going on. The way I look at things: You never know what the other person will say unless you ask. Hope this helps and give you some support. Good Luck

I'm sure you wrote this a long time ago. I had one of those cribs that changes to a toddler bed right? So I would change it to a toddler bed. BIG MISTAKE!! She thought it was still her crib in the middle of the stood up and went to lean forward for the bar and ended up face first on the floor. So thats when I decided we needed the toddler bed if we were going to do it. So then I wondered how do you REALLY know when your child is ready for her "big girl bed"? This is my first child and I kept going back and forth in my head wondering. I was like so much work if I bring the toddler bed in take the crib out, what if it doesn't work yada yada. Ok well I watch Supernanny and Nanny 911. I told myself "You know what NO your the boss not your daughter!!! You need to help her make the cross over and adjustment." So I decided I can be the boss and decide when its time but I don't have to be a big meany about it. And well I guess sometimes a child really will tell you when they are ready. ANYWAYS. For Christmas my daughter opened up her favorite cartoon character (Dora the Explorer) bed sheet set canopy included. "ALRIGHT!!!" I exlaimed. That night I took down the crib, put it in the garage and pulled in the toddler bed (luckily it was one my mom had available from my nephews). After her bed was made I told her "I have a surprise for you!!! Come look!!" Took her by the hand to the bedroom and showed her!! She walked in and the first thing she said was "DORA!!!!!" She climbed in that bed SO excited. That night she couldn't wait for nigh night time. And I'd say for about 2 weeks every night she loved going to bed. And then it started. She pressed her luck to see what she could get. Kept getting out of bed. I would go in and continuously put her back in bed, no words. Thats what I saw on TV. But I think it only works on bigger kids because it didn't work on my daughter who is only going to be 2 at the end of february. I was feeling frustrated so I just shut the door with her in the room. I needed to calm myself down before I got upset with her. After about 5-10 minutes I was ready to deal with her but, she was quiet, I was concerned so I quietly peeked in, she was in her bed ASLEEP!!! I was like HEY! This could work!! So the next night again she tried to test me. So instead of fighting her I automatically put her in the room door closed for 5-10 minutes of crying and she put herself back to bed and went to sleep. She did that one more night. And since then there hasn't been anymore fights. I will go in and right before bed I will rock her for a few and hum to her, then she will say "nigh nigh??" I will respond with a yes and she gets down, gets in bed and waits for me to tuck her in. Then I don't hear a peep until morning.

The problem is EVERY child is different!!!! My daughter is very well mannered. Her dad and I don't live together. Her and I share a room. She has a set schedule. There are different factors in every childs life. So its really hard to say for every child. There could be different reasons why each child acts the way they do. Every child develops at different stages at different ages. So, my daughter is ready for her toddler bed, yours may not be. Also it depends on the parent. I'm ready for my child to be ready for her toddler bed, I have the time and energy to put forth to chasing her around a few hours each night or morning, you may not. So its really hard to say. But what I have noticed that works well with EVERY child is to have a steady bedtime schedule. They do the same thing every night. Routine always works with children it helps them know and understand this is what they are doing and this is how its going to be.

I would talk to the couple that loaned you the crib. Find out if they need it back or if the mother-in-law just wants to get into everything??? I'd find out where the problem is coming from. Maybe you could get a book to explain to your daughter the transition of going from a crib to a big girl bed!!