Every night there are tears. Every night a battle. I find myself repeating the same phrases.
“Please go to sleep,” I say pleading.
“Lay down” and “stop jumping” I beg, as I am worried he may hurt himself.
I may not want to admit it, but it is time. My son has informed me that he no longer intends to sleep in his crib, and now I must face a scary milestone: transitioning my toddler from his crib to a bed.
Tips on switching child from crib to toddler bed.
Crib to Toddler Bed Transition
This is a scary milestone, isn’t it? Taking a child from a confined safe place like a crib and letting him freely roam his bedroom is something I was hoping to postpone for quite a while.
But I’m not really in charge here, am I?
The baby leads the way to his milestones, without asking me for permission. So now we’re wondering about the process of transitioning to a toddler bed at 18 months!
So how do we go about helping our toddler transition from crib to bed?
How I knew When to Switch my Toddler from a Crib to a Bed
So at what age do you transition from crib to toddler bed? Do you know when to transition from toddler bed to twin bed?
My answer? When the child is ready!
There are signs to look out for that help us realize our children are ready to move out of the crib. These are the signs I noticed that informed me it was time.
- When standing up, his armpits are above the horizontal bar on the front of the crib. This shows he could climb out.
- He jumps and bounces in his crib. One good bounce and he could launch himself out of the crib.
- Throwing himself against the crib rail. Yes, one time hard enough to give himself a bloody nose. That was fun.
- Immediately starts crying and protesting upon being laid in the crib. While not an indicator by itself, combined with the others is compelling.
- He likes to climb onto our beds and cuddle with us.
How I Transitioned my Toddler from a Crib to a Bed
We already have a bed in my child’s bedroom. I’ve slept on that bed many nights when he was an infant, and I nursed him on that bed. We also sleep on that bed when he wakes in the night and can’t go back to sleep without me holding him. So he is very familiar with this bed and often crawls onto it by himself. If I were going to introduce a different bed, a toddler bed maybe, I would have it in his room for a while and let him get familiar with it before making the change.
Having the bed idea already planted in his mind, what I had to do next was to ensure his room was safe. He rarely spends any time in his room alone, so there were still a few things we needed to baby-proof.
Here’s a list of the baby proofing we did in his bedroom, either before or as part of the out of crib transition:
- Install a safety gate at the top of the stairs.
- Tie all window blind cords up and out of the way (with the blinds pulled all the way up).
- Made sure we covered all outlets.
- Have doorknob covers on the door handle and closet handle.
- Hide the baby monitor (we have a video monitor and I love it) and night light projector cables behind his bookshelf.
- Anchor the bookshelf to the wall in case he decided to climb it.
- Remove pillows and comforter from the bed, just leaving the fitted sheet.
- Install a safety bed rail on his new bed, so he doesn’t fall off in the middle of the night.
When do you transition a toddler from crib to bed?
Toddler Transition from Crib to Bed: Success
Check him out, playing on his bed before bedtime. He’s got a lot of what he had in his crib – some toys, his blankie/burp cloth, a book, his pacifier, and a sippy cup with water. Now he has a lot more room to sleep and roll around, and if he wakes he can play with all the toys in his room and not feel caged in.
Sharing my transition from crib to toddler bed advice
Hopefully, this will help him sleep more peacefully.
Maybe there will be no more nightly battles and fewer tears.
Well, a mom can dream, right?
Over to you: Share your toddler crib to bed transition wins and tips with me!
Erin @ Stay at Home Yogi says
I hope things have been going well since you transitioned him! He looks so cute in his big boy bed! 🙂
Julie says
He won’t allow me to leave the room and now he can chase after me lol
Eva Birch says
Hope the transition is going well. Looks like you have all the bedroom proofing sorted! I have just come through this transition period with my youngest, it felt a lot more stressful this time around as he was a lot earlier than my other two however, all the signs were there that he was ready to come out of his crib. We went for a toddler bed instead of buying a standard single bed, I have found a great range with all the necessary safety requirements, ordinarily I wouldn’t have gone for a toddler bed but he seemed so young for a big boy bed (sob!) goo.gl/6LUjXE
Jessica says
I happened to stumble across your post on the first night we transition our 21 month old. His climbing out of the crib has been a nightmare so we decided to put him in the toddler bed. Wish me luck! lol
Julie says
Good luck! Hope he likes the new option of a bed 🙂
Michael says
where was this post a few months back? Haha I love it and will be using this to help with our 2 year old who is still struggling with this
Maria says
I think we were really lucky with both the boys – we had no real dramas and they transitioned really well. I had horrible visions of them keep getting out of bed when we did it but it was never an issue. It sounds like you are well and truly prepared – so I hope it goes well!
Thank you for linking up to #KCACOLS and I hope to see you back again on Sunday
Julie says
That’s great that your boys did so well! He keepes getting up and running to the door ha.
Angela Watling says
Sounds like it went really well considering. I’m not looking forward to this. I really wish my daughter had a cot bed so she was familiar with it when we took the sides off. I’m tempted to buy one soon and use it as a cot first since your son transitioned well through familiarity. Hope he starts sleeping well! #KCACOLS
Julie says
I think he only slept through the first night haha. Familiarity helps, but he still wakes and demands to be in my arms halfway through the night.
Madeline (This Glorious Life) says
I think we got quite lucky with our two, and the transition from cot to bed went pretty smoothly both times. No real advice I’m afraid, but after reading your post it sounds like you’ve got it covered to me! x #KCACOLS
Julie says
That’s awesome that your kids breezed through the transition 🙂
Sonia says
Mine were all climbers so once they could climb out, I just felt it safer for them to be in a bed! The hard part was keeping them in it at bed time- your tips pretty much cover the precautions I took too, though the stair-gate went on their door rather than the stairs to stop them disturbing siblings!! #KCACOLS
Julie says
Yes, that keeping them in the bed is not easy.
Nikki Crump says
My son just transitioned and at first it was tough. Now he is used to his big boy bed. Your son looks adorable in his bed btw.
Julie says
Thanks Nikki 🙂
Tiffany | shortsweetmom says
This transition is both exciting and scary to me. My munchkin is still co-sleeping and going to sleep can be a challenge. Having her sleep in her own bed would be awesome. I hope our transition goes as well as your. ?
Julie says
We still co sleep the second half of the night cause he wakes up screaming for me ha. But at least he sleeps for a few hours giving me a chance to shower and get some stuff done lol
Candace @ Fullest Mom says
We’re getting really close to this point. Fortunately, our littlest has not figured out that she is tall enough to climb out. I still believe that once they are big enough to climb, it’s time to consider sleeping in a bed.
Julie says
I agree, it is about time because she’ll figure it out soon. I kept worried he would hurt himself the first time he launched himself out.
Kirsty - Winnettes.com says
Good luck! Our eldest settled very quickly with her big bed, the time is rapidly approaching to do this with our youngest. I’m dreading it not going well.
#KCACOLS
Julie says
Glad it went well with your first one. Hopefully the sibling is already familiar with the idea so that might help.
Debbie Walyus says
Extremely helpful tips! We installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs when we converted our sons crib into a toddler bed. But it’s a scary transition and you have great points! Pinning!
Julie says
Thanks Debbie! It is a scary transition but at least until he learns to open the door he is still confined to his room.
Christine Em says
Great post with some helpful tips for those parents facing this milestone
Julie says
Thanks Christine!
Shann Eva says
We had to transition the twins way before I was ready…but they were. One of them jumped out, so that was it. Naptime was really challenging, but bedtime went pretty well after the first few nights. We still have the rails up, but they never get out until morning.
Julie says
Ha they really do dictate the schedule
Elizabeth Doren says
Yep this is in my future. I like the idea of putting a bed in now so she gets used to it. Thanks for the tip.
Julie says
Thanks Elizabeth. Good luck when the time comes.
Briana Marie says
This post was right on time. We’re transitioning our toddler from the crib to a toddler bed this weekend!
Julie says
Good luck this weekend! Hope it goes well for you guys! Us, I still have to lay next to him and hold his hand until he falls asleep, or he gets up and chases me to the door.
Casey says
We are debated this right now so this post is very timely! We are using the “big girl bed” as potty training motive…oh, she wants the bed but not the potty 🙁
Julie says
Gosh potty training is a whole other issue. The bed is something they see as a positive because it gives them freedom, but I think they like not having to think about the potty heh. One day our kids will be ready for that.
Samantha @ Momma Wants Java says
I am terrified of doing this with my twins, and I know it will be coming soon. My son (somehow magically) made the transition perfectly. He wouldn’t get out of his bed until we said it was okay. But with two girls in one room? Help me. They feed off of each other’s craziness, and confining them to their own beds is probably the only thing that gets them to take a nap. I’m in trouble! 🙂
Julie says
He doesn’t stay in bed even on his own. Last night he woke at 1230 and was in my bed the rest of the night lol ?
Jen says
Such a big step! And important to include the securing furniture so it can;t tip over!
Julie says
Definitely, especially if the little ones love to climb everything haha
Savannah says
This is great!!
I’m currently cosleeping with my 18 month old, as he is still breastfeeding, but I feel that introducing a toddler bed will be an idea that I revisit again in a few months. I DEFINITELY have a fear of him being alone in his room, free to roam, but I feel that you have just about covered all the bases. Thanks so much for sharing! <3 #KCACOLS
Julie says
Yea giving a little person more freedom is a bit scary. We cosleep after he wakes up in the night. But at least he starts out on his own haha.
Stacy says
We just went through this, with the exception that we co slept. Best thing ever!! We all sleep more peaceful now. Good luck momma!
Julie says
If he had it his way, we would cosleep forever haha. This kid can’t fall asleep without touching me with at least a foot. Then I run off when he is sleeping.
ohmummymia says
Oh I’m glad that I read your post now I know what to do when time will come:)
#KCACOLS
Julie says
Good luck when the time comes!
Georgiana says
Great tips! I left our two youngest in their cribs WAY too long (because we were so broke back in the day that we couldn’t buy two beds, lol!) In fact, they were climbing in and out by themselves, and one in particular was showing her earliest signs of being a gymnasts as she’d hoist, launch and otherwise vault between the two cribs. Oy. Yeah….they were pretty old.
Julie says
LOL See I would be afraid of crib related injuries, but it sound slike your littles were quite agile!
Susan Croox says
I always give my kids books and toys to sleep with for that reason! My autistic three year old sleeps in a large closet with the door opened, but he’s restrained from leaving by a safety gate. It’s the only thing that works. Half the time he falls asleep on the floor and I have to move him to the bed.
Julie says
If he fell asleep on the floor I might leave him there for fear of waking him up and starting all over.
Stefani @ Crafty Christian says
Love that you mentioned anchoring the furniture to the wall, that’s the biggest thing! He’ll probably still protest for a while, but within 2 months he should be used to his new bed. But yes, they could be a long 2 months 😉
Julie says
Funny enough the anchoring the bookshelf part was the very last thing we did. He still won’t let me leave the room and now can chase me to the door so I have to wait until he falls asleep heh.