When to Move to a 'Big Girl Bed'

My philosophy is to keep them in the crib until they climb out or are 3 years old - or possibly when they are too big for a pack-n-play when traveling (this is what happened to me when my son was 33 months old). The longer they are in there, the easier for you!

There is no "right" time. Every child is different. My oldest 3 moved into a toddler bed between 18 months and 2 years. I moved them beause they started climbing out. My niece moved at 12 months because she could climb out in less that 10 seconds! The way we made the transition was setting up the toddler bed and letting them "explore" for a while and then having them sleep in it when they seemed ready. (whithin a few days) Once they started sleeping in the toddler bed we immediatly took the crib out so that there would be no options. I have found that toddlers do better when they do things on their own time and without to many options. Good Luck!

Unless it is a safety or space problem I would keep her in the crib as long as possible. Our oldest began crawling out of his crib at 11 months so we took him out because we did not want him to fall. Our younger son stayed in his crib until he was over two because we had moved and were in a rental until our house was ready and there was not room for a twin bed. He never tried to climb out. Each child is different you just have to watch their signals.

I would wait until she started trying to climb out of the crib OR is asking for a big girl bed OR if you need it as an incentive for something else (when you're potty trained we'll put you in that pretty princess big girl bed!).

I have 3 boys ages 5,4 and 2 and I use the crib as long as I can... I have always used a crib tent by tots in mind so we never have the climbing out problem and I feel they are safer in their crib than possible getting into something when I am sleeping.

My 2.5 year old is still loving his crib and I will keep him in there until at minimum of 3 years of age.

HTH
A. J

My 18 month old daughter climbed out of her crib this week. She crawled out three times in two days. The next day we converted her crib to a toddler bed. Now we just have to figure out how to keep her in it all night. Good luck.

We kept our daughter in her crib until she was finally old enough to start climbing out by herself. We thought it would be safer at that point to put the toddler rail on her crib, so she could get in/out safely. This was around 2 1/2. We gave her a twin bed with rails when she was closer to 3.

When my daughter was 18 months old I converted her crib into the day bed and put up a security rail. I thought this was a good time since we were starting the whole potty training thing. Also I have friends who waited until their child reached two. So I think it is up to you and when you feel your child it ready for the change.

The advice from my pediatrician when we asked that about our first child was to leave them in their crib until they first climb out of their crib. Until then this is a safe environment for them. With our second child we took the front off his crib and put a gaurd so he couldn't fall out. It was nice because it allowed him to get use to the change in his own crib that he felt comfortable in. Then when he got a big boy bed he was "so" excited and did well in it. Good luck to you!

I would say it depends on when YOU are ready and when your child is ready. We have a 21 month old and last week I started putting her in her "big girl" bed to nap. We'll do that for a couple of weeks then move her there permanantly. I do this to make sure she won't get up in the middle of the night and to get her used to it. If your daughter is ready and you don't worry about "escape", I'd say go for it.

From what we've been told and through experience, we moved our kids to toddler/big bed when they started climbing out of their cribs. For their safety.

My daughter just turned 2yrs old and she is still in the crib. I was trying to figure out what was more important to start, either potty training, losing the binky, or moving to a big bed. I decided that potty training would be the big issue, so I have started that first. She hasnt even tried climbing out of the crib, so I figure I will keep her in there as long as she is comfortable. We are trying to get a bunkbed for her room, because right now she is sharing with a sibling. So in the meantime while waiting, she will stay in her crib. I did move my son when he was 18months to a toddler bed. I kept his crib up just in case he wasnt ready.....I started out in the daytime at naptime putting him in the toddler bed. He walked around a while and then fell asleep.

I have 3 daughters, ages 5, 3 and 9 months. My first daughter moved out of the crib at 18 months because she started climbing out and I didn't want her to fall and hurt herself. My second daughter moved to a toddler bed when she was only 13 months old because she kept climbing in bed with her older sister when it was bedtime. I think you should let her sleep in a toddler bed for a night and see how she likes it. If your house isn't 100% baby-proof, consider putting up a baby gate at her bedroom door so you can still hear her, without her getting out.

I don't think there any "right" time. Our daughter is two and still sleeping in a crib. However, we are in the process of getting her big girl bedroom ready. I know people that keep their kids in a crib until almost 3. Just remember once you move them out of the crib they can get out of the bed on their own in the middle of the night.

i am a mother of 2. i have a 10yr old and a 6yr old. both of my kids were different. as soon as my son was able to walk and no bottle he was in a b ig boys bed. my daughter was older. she wasnt ready. being a mom you will have the motherly instinct to know when the time is right.

Well, mine isn't there yet, just 12 mos, but all our other friends and neices, nephews moved to toddler bed when they either had another on the way and needed the crib, or when the child started climbing out. Those usually coincided with 18-20 months though. Question is, does she seem like she wants to "be a big girl"?

I moved my daughter when she was 2. I had another child and my youngest needed the crib. she was a little freaked out by the bed at first so i pulled it into the playroom and we would watch tv on it so she would get comfortable with it. I put both the toddler bed and the crib up for a while and asked her which she wanted to sleep in. The night she chose the big girl bed we took down the crib and moved it to her sister's room the next day.
My friend waited until she wanted to get rid of her daughters paci and used the big bed as a reward. (2 and 1/2)