i have a dd who will be 3 in april. she is very petite and small for her age. she is still in her crib and hasnt tried to climb out. how long should i keep her in the crib? should i try a toddler bed now or wait until she shows signs of wanting a change?
i have a dd who will be 3 in april. she is very petite and small for her age. she is still in her crib and hasnt tried to climb out. how long should i keep her in the crib? should i try a toddler bed now or wait until she shows signs of wanting a change?
thanks
My dd is also very small but she fall off the crib when she was between 2 and 3 years old, and we didn't see it coming. Anyway we put her in the playpen to sleep not toddler bed util she was at least 3. I think you can put her in the toddler bed already to be on the safe side.
We had our daughter out of her crib a bit before she was two. We put her in her crib night and she gave us this michevious look as she put her leg up over the bar, and that was the end of the crib.
We got a twin mattress with a mattress board to put underneath. This is pretty low to the floor so when she fell out, she didn't hurt herself. She is a bit over 2 1/2 now and she sleeps really well in her bad and doesn't fall out anymore.
If you're ready to put your child in a bed, then your child will probably be ok too.
I put my daughter in a todller bed when she learned to walk.she was 18 months old.I feel that when they are old enough to walk the are old enough to be in a big bed. gl with the bed issue.It went smoothly for us.
thank you all for your replies! do you have a gate at their bedroom door to keep them from "roaming" around the house? i worry about her not wanting to go to sleep when she has access to getting out and playing in her room. i guess we just have to try it and teach her the rules.
You can get a special cover for the door knob so she won't be able to open the door and you can 'cause it require sqeezing from the sides. You can buy one at Baby r Us or Target. May be other places have them.
My dh after sometime insisted to take it out 'cause he felt it is unsafe for her to be locked in the room and it limited her freedom. Anyway it is cheaper and less hassle than another gate.
My first daughter was out of her crib before she was two. We just put her in a regular twin bed and put a rail on it. A toddler bed for a three year old wouldn't last you very long at all. Unless you already have one or are borrowing it, I think it would be a waste of money. And we did do the gate at the door thing. My kids don't like the door closed when they sleep, so the gate worked great for us. It not only kept them safe, but it also told them that they were to stay put after bedtime. If you're worried about her falling out of a regular bed, put pillows on the floor. It's really not a far fall...shorter than if fell out of the crib!
We have one of those door knob devices on the inside of her door. But, I don't like to leave it shut like that when we're asleep ( i worry about safety issues too - like if there's a fire = i want her to be able to get out of her room). When I put her to bed, I leave the door adjar unless she gives me a hard time and won't stay in her room and then I shut it just until she goes to sleep. We had to do that more in the beginning than we do now. And, when she wakes up in the morning or even in the middle of the night, she comes looking for me. So, I don't worry about her wandering around on her own.
I have a toddlet bed for my 4 year old dd and since she is small (5% of smallest kids) she can steel use and it seems to me that she will use it for couple more years, may be I am wrong.
I have a toddlet bed for my 4 year old dd and since she is small (5% of smallest kids) she can steel use and it seems to me that she will use it for couple more years, may be I am wrong.
Isn't the toddler bed mattress just the crib mattress? If so, when I look at my 9 month old son lying on it in his crib, I couldn't imagine my 4 year old (smaller for her age) and definitely not my 6 year old (average size for her age) sleeping on it. Maybe there are bigger toddler beds out there, but I always thought you just moved the crib size mattress onto the toddler bed, or something similiar in size.
I guess my point is, if you're eventually going to put them in a big bed (especially at 3, like the first post stated), why not just go right to it and put a rail on it instead of buying something for just a short time. Like I said, she is already 3.
what is a toddler bed?... if i am understanding what a crib is.. with the high sides? then id say if she is nearly 3 it is time to get her into a big girls bed! it is all part of them becomming independant.. they learn to stay In bed because you teach them.. if she gets out, you put her back, in my opinion, keeping a child in a crib becasue they arent trying to climb out is like a parent still spoon feeding a 3 year old becasue they dont want to do it themselves.. let her grow up a little, she will be proud of herself!
Isn't the toddler bed mattress just the crib mattress? If so, when I look at my 9 month old son lying on it in his crib, I couldn't imagine my 4 year old (smaller for her age) and definitely not my 6 year old (average size for her age) sleeping on it. Maybe there are bigger toddler beds out there, but I always thought you just moved the crib size mattress onto the toddler bed, or something similiar in size.
I guess my point is, if you're eventually going to put them in a big bed (especially at 3, like the first post stated), why not just go right to it and put a rail on it instead of buying something for just a short time. Like I said, she is already 3.
Yes, I put mattress from a crib to the toddler bed and my 4 year old is fine there. There are room to grow for at least couple years. You can go to baby r us and ask them for toddler beds, that is where we bought our. It is pretty low sho she won't hurt herself.
I honestly can't see either my 4 year old or 6 year old sleeping on a crib mattress. Most kids flop around a lot while they sleep (which is why I refuse to allow mine to sleep with us) and they need to move. Both my girls transitioned to their big beds around 2 and the rail worked great. Not once did either fall out. And now there are even better rails out than the one we used. They now make them where they snap to the mattress and they don't slide at all like our older one did. So you're child is safe. In my opinion, it makes more sense to go right to the big bed. The child is eventually going to need it anyway. But if you're more comfortable with the toddler bed, then go for it.
And whether she is in a toddler bed or twin bed, yes, she will be able to get out. So you just need to tell her that she needs to stay in her bed. If she comes to yours, take her back right away. This is why the gate worked for us. There was no option to get out and come to our room. And if you talk it up and make a big deal about getting a new bed and staying in it is a big girl thing, that goes a long way.
We went right to a twin bed. But, we had planned to convert our 4 and 1 crib into a toddler bed. But, it turned out that there was a manufacturing defect -one of the screw holes was not there. So rather than go out and buy a new toddler bed to put the mattress in, we just bought the twin. We figured we were going to be buying one down the road anyway, so why not just skip the expense of a transition bed. As I mentioned earlier, we bought a bunky board (or something like that) that goes under the mattress. It raises it up only about 2 inches, if that. So, we didn't get a rail. She rolled out a couple of times, but she was so close to the floor that she was fine. And, it didn't take too long for her to get used to it. But she does roll all over it during the night. What's also nice, is that a couple of times when she had a nightmare or something, I was able to crawl into her bed with her and comfort her. Now, I've done that maybe twice in the last year that we've had the best. But, it's been nice.
Since my dd moved to toddler bed we have a problem of her trashing her room. It become a little less when she is 4. Me and my father try to discipline her, but my dh believed that her room is her business. I convienced him to clean it with her sometimes.
After she fall from the crib we put her to playpen and she slept there for a while. We were told that it is not good for her since it is too soft. After she slept at least once in toddler bed no way she would go back to playpen since she wants her freedom.
I pesonally don't regret of getting toddler bed, it is working for us. I don't want to buy tween bad and make adjustment. If you very stressed for money or good with your hands it may be the way to go.
My friend also bought toddler bed first. May be you can get used on moving sales, it shouldn't cost much. New one cost around 200 as far as I remember.
I put my two daughters in beds at around 2 1/2 -3. Never used a toddler bed at all. I felt that they would be better off getting used to a normal twin bed right off the bat. The bed was pushed against the wall on one side, so no problems of falling out that side.
As far as wondering at night, never had a problem. Both of them understood that they were not allowed to do that. Once they went to bed that was it, except for bathroom or drinks. Or of course bad dreams.
My oldest never had a problem falling out of the bed. But my youngest had one up until the age of 13. It was kind of funny, and even she thought so. Not sure why she would fall out, and it was not often. Just once in a while. For a while she had a futon, but she found that uncomfortable.
My youngest is now 16 and my oldest is 21. They seemed to have had no issues with never being in a toddler bed.
I think it's all a personal preference whether or not you want your kids to transition to toddler bed or straight to a twin. When my son was around 2 he tried to crawl out of his crib so we got a toddler bed. I decided on that so I could live vicariously through him in his RACE CAR BED! I wanted one ever since the show "Silver Spoons" and Rickie Schroder had one. So that was fun and he loved it. And I know it's hard to imagine but he actually slept in it until last year and he's now 6! He's an average sized kid, and I think we waited probably a year too long, but he loved it. We finally got him a twin and now he loves that. Our 9 month old dd will go straight to a twin though. I think at 3 she's probably ready for a bed. Good luck!
I would say she is old enough. Don't worry about her roaming the house. You are still going to hear her. Don't waste your money with a toddler bed. My son had a really nice car bed and NEVER slept in it once. Moved out of his crib right in to the twin bed. Within a week or so, he wasn't getting out of and going right to sleep.
My son is pretty small for his size too. I wasn't worried about that too much.
The best thing to do is take down the crib the first day you move her. Do it when you have a few days off. B/c at first she is just going to want to come find you and not sleep. It might take 15 times the first night for her to understand. It takes time. kiesha
My son out grew his crib well before he was 2. He went straight to a twin size bed. We used his crib matress as a buffer so that if he did roll out of bed, he landed on it. He had no problem adjusting and we just used a doggie gate in his dorrway to keep him caged in his room. If he needed us he would roll out of be with a thud toddle to the gate and hollar. Make sure there is nothing bad in the room to get into and this works great.
Sincerely,
MG
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