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Chrissi · 11-15-2004, 09:25 PM

i am 3 months pregnant, and i have a 13 month old daughter, when the next baby comes she will be about 19 months old. we have one crib (which she is in now) a bassinette (which she slept in till about 1 month old) and now a toddler bed....

i hate to buy another crib and it just be used for a couple months but i am scared to put her in a tot bed too, she is into everything all the time and i am so afraid that she will get up and into things...her room is pretty safe and i would use a gate to keep her in there but i am afraid still that she will find something to get into in there....

one option is to use the bassinette for the new baby till he/she can roll over (probably around 4 months or so ) and let my DD use the cib till then (she would be 23 months then) and then put her in the tot bed and the baby in the crib but then i am afraid that she will feel like i am kicking her out of her bed and giving it to the new baby...and they have to share a room because we only have a 2 bedroom home.

another thing i am afraid of is she might try to hurt the new baby on purpose or accidentally and i wouldnt know about it...but i dont want to have two children sleeping in my bed with me till they gratuate high school either

another option is to get her warmed up to the tot bed before the baby even comes (she would be about 18 months then) and that way she wont feel as if the new baby is suddenly more important than her.

i do plan on putting the new baby in the bassinette in my room for a while because i want to breastfeed and because i dont want the new baby waking my daughter up every 1 -2 hrs a night.

i wouldnt mind the tot bed but she hates to sleep i know she would be up constantly and she wont just play with toys she has to be into things that are off limits...*sigh* and everything has to go in her mouth...

what in the world should i do here?

Kiera1595 · 11-16-2004, 03:41 AM

Hey Chrissi...I'm in the same boat. My son is 19 months and will be 22 months when this next one arrives. He has absolutely no interest in going to a bed, so I bought another crib at a garage sale for $20. I just made sure that it was on the "safe" list of cribs (no recalls, no lead paint, etc.)

I've read that with any child the big question is are they ready. I know a 17 month old who's been sleeping in a bed for months...my son loves having the security of the enclosure (for some reason)

The one thing that I will say about her putting things in her mouth, that will really decrease by the time she's 19 months...by 2 they really don't do it much at all. But if she hates to sleep, it may be a problem putting her in a bed.

Good luck, let us know what you decide!

Mommyof4 · 11-16-2004, 06:15 AM

My 4 and 5 year old are a year and nine days apart so I know where you are coming from. My biggest problem was looking at my daughter the way I should see her if she didn't have a little brother. A year old is still a baby in so many ways so she was nowhere near ready to be the big girl.

If your oldest seems ready, then go for it. If you still feel that there is a need for the crib, I would go with the idea of buying a used crib or a Port a Crib for now. Good luck

camden · 11-19-2004, 02:38 PM

I honestly can't remember when my children went into their "big beds". I remember that I was waiting until they started to climb out of the crib but they never did. I also remember thinking that I would have a battle keeping them in the bed but I never did and they never got out of the bed and usually called if they really needed something.

Do you have room in your bedroom for a crib? We kept the crib in our room for quite awhile. When the kids were about 8 mths. old we moved them to the room across the hall. When we thought my son (our oldest child) was old enough we set up his toddler bed and left the crib set up just in case we needed it. When my daughter came along we set the crib up in our room until she was about 8 months old then moved it across the hall with her brother. When it came time for her to use the bed we got my son a regular bed, moved her into the toddler bed and put the crib back into our room for nap time because she wouldn't nap in the toddler bed! We then transitioned our son to a downstairs bedroom (because the kids loved to giggle in their shared bedroom for awhile before they would settle down and sleep) by letting him have his bedroom set up downstairs, but leaving his other bed (his sister uses it now) upstairs in case he felt frightened downstairs and wanted to come up. They are now 8 and 4 and have their own rooms.

I had the luxury of time with my kids so I didn't have them in the toddler bed until they were at least 2 &1/2 so I'm not sure how well it will work, but I do babysit an 18 mth old who has been in a toddler bed for a few months now.

I'm thinking that you may want to leave her in the crib until shortly before the baby comes along, then try her in the toddler bed. If you do it before the baby comes you will find out if she is ready for the big bed or not and you will have time to purchase another crib if need be. If you wait until after the baby comes you may have a bit of a jealously issue on your hands as she finds that she is getting a little less of your undivided attention.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck!

Chrissi · 11-19-2004, 10:08 PM

thanks everyone for the advice...i am opposed to putting the crib in my room though, it is just to hard to get any sleep like that...(i have tried when my DD was first born, and everytime she moved i was wide awake.)
i am a light sleeper.

but i have found a possible solution.....the play pen.

i have made it softer and my DD has been sleeping in it for the past few nights....she is sleeping better than she has in months!!!
i have no idea why, other than it is softer than her crib but shes sleeping longer and better.
this is something i would not put the new baby in because of the SIDS risk and it is just safer for a newborn in a crib or bassenette.....but she is 13 months now and it isnt something i am to concerned about anymore.

i hope this works out for a while....at least till she is ready to be in a big bed....and i am not sure she (or I) will be ready in 5-6 months either...
she wants into sooooo much it is ridiculous, and i just dont think it is a risk i want to take.

*sigh* we will get through this too i am sure

jbox · 11-21-2004, 04:34 PM

My son is 19 months we put him in his toddler bed when he was about 15months,cause he started trying to climb out ofthe crib so we tought we would try it . He has done great with it when it's bed time we put him down and he goes right to sleep. Good luck with what you decide to do.

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