Hopefully, simple and short question...
My son currently sleeps on his own in his crib. He "puts" himself to sleep and sometimes wakes up once in the night, but goes back to sleep on his own. We will need the crib for the new baby in Aug, so Grandma got him a toddler bed for Christmas.
How is the best way to transition him to the bed? How do you keep him in bed since we put him to bed awake? He tends to flip this way and that all night when he sleeps, so how do I keep him from falling out of bed or is that a worry since it has rails 1/2 way down the bed?
Thanks for everyone's suggestions. We put the bed togther (had to keep the toddler bed as this room is too small for the crib AND twin bed) and put it in his room with the thought of having him see it for a couple of days before we tried. Yeah, right! All he wanted to do was play on it and threw a fit when I tried to take him off it to put him in his crib for bed! So he ended up sleeping there from day 1!!! It was great! He cried for a few extra minutes when I left, but he never tried to get out of bed, which I was amazed at, but we made sure it was quite dark in his room! He slept ALL NIGHT LONG!!!! For his 1st nap, it took 4 times of putting him back in bed before he understood not to get out of bed, but now it is wonderful! We have only had one set back of teething where he wanted me by his bed all night long, but the next night he was fine! Again thanks to everyone! You were right...it was easy!
It shouldn't be a problem since he already goes to bed so well. We transitioned our son at 18 months and had some concerns since he also was an active sleeper. It's been a year now and he has yet to fall out of bed even without a rail. We left the crib up for the baby, which wasn't a problem. He was excited to be able to help the baby out. I think you'll find the transition will be a smooth, easy one. Congratulations on the one on the way!
no worries, try it out and make sure you talk him through it. take the crib down and store it. totally put it out of sight out of mind. it should be an exciting thing and i don't think it will be a hard transition. if he gets out you simply take him back and say it's bedtime. but if you kiddo goes to bed with no problem now it shouldn't be any problem when you change.
keep his sme favorite blanket and sheet and pillow. good luck and god bless
Just do it. I highly suggest getting him a twin or daybed. My daughter went into a big girl bed pretty young too when I found out I was pregnant with her brother. I bought a cute elmo bedrail and she just never got up or out of bed. I put a babygate on her bedroom mainly because her room is so close the top of the stairs. When my son was ready I put him in a twin bed too and he inherited the bedrail. I never had any problem and they understood they weren't to get up and play. He will do a lot better then you think.
The twin bed is mainly because they outgrow toddler beds way too fast and it is money down the drain! Take him to pick out his big boy sheets and comforter, my daughter loved doing this! :) Good luck. I bet he does great since he is such a great sleeper. P.S. My daughter is a crazy sleeper and now seven has only fallen out of bed once! :) And that was recently. Twin beds are still low enough to the ground he shouldn't hurt himself if he does, it is more startling then anything for them.
Hi S.! We just put our 2 1/2 yr old in his own bed and I was amazed at how well it went. There have been a couple of afternoons that I found him asleep on the floor but it's to be expected since he can get up to play when he couldnt before. He sleeps in a full-size bed that we put 3 bed rails on. I thought he might feel overwhelmed by the size but it doesnt seem to bother him. We have a little step stool so that he can get in and out on his own.
You might consider putting him into a regular twin bed but that is your call. We had great success with both of our boys and didnt see the need for a toddler bed - friends who had them say they dont hold up well and they quidkly ended up in a big bed anyway. One set of friends just put the mattress and box springs directly on the floor.
We have a consistent bedtime ritual and we tuck him in at night and tell him that he needs to stay in bed. Inevitably, there are a couple of nights a week that I check on him before bed and he's asleep in the bed with the light on, surrounded by toys.
