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When to go from crib to bed?


Truscifi
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Babyman will be 2 in September. I'm not in a rush to move him into a bed, but a friend gave us a cute one that I think he will love. Right now it is in pieces in the back corner of our room so I see it all the time. Which got me wondering, what is the typical age to move from a crib to a bed?

 

(Ds10 moved over pretty early because he started climbing up on the top rail of his crib and doing Superman leaps, so I don't think he provides the best point of comparison. :laugh: )

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Mine didn't move until she was 3.  Of course, her height was below the 0th percentile.  The bed had always been in her room.  It had been DH's bed before we married.  One day she asked to sleep there.  I hadn't been expecting it, so we didn't even have the toddler rails installed.  I think she took one nap in the crib after that.  A few weeks later I sadly took down the crib.  

 

So, I would set up the bed in the nursery.  Say it is an option whenever he is ready, but that he won't have the option of the crib if he climbs out.

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I was just looking at pictures the other day to see when this transition took place.  I had had twin beds set up in the boys' rooms from very early on to play and read on, but the boys still slept in their cribs.  I avoided the crib to bed transition until the next baby in line was consistently sleeping through the night, and then started offering the boys the option of sleeping in either their big bed or crib.  They both tried out the big bed a few times starting around 32 months, but they didn't decide to switch full time until they were each 34 months old.

 

Wendy 

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My oldest at one and my youngest before one. Both are crib climbers and managed to get out even at the lowest settting. My oldest was also big for size he kept banging the sides of the crib while he slept so it was easier to move him out.

 

My social circle mainly move their kids out of the crib at one but still use the crib as a daytime playpen. Kids were just moved into the regular twin size beds.

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I hadn't thought of setting the bed up with the crib still there. There isn't room right now because we have a recliner in there for nap and bedtime snuggles. I could have bed and crib, crib and recliner, or bed and recliner, but not all three. Hmm. I will have to think on that one.

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Umm 1.5 yr. for dd1, she climbed out of her crib at 8.5 months then went to play pen (lasted another 2 months) then our bed. We tried the mattress on the floor at 1 yr but she wasn't having that, it took us 6 months to figure out that she needed the whole bed put together with a safety rail. Oh and she's in a twin size bed.

We will most likely do the same with dd2 (skipping the crib, right now she's in our bed will transition to playpen this month then go to twin bed at 1 yr)

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My question is always - does the child get into more trouble IN the crib (i.e., by climbing out), or OUT of the crib (by getting into drawers and such).  I never had an early climber, so I think mine were always in until 2.5 - 3.

 

That's a good point. Right now he definitely gets in more trouble out of the crib. He hasn't figured out he can climb out yet. He is a climber though, so it may not be long.

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That's a good point. Right now he definitely gets in more trouble out of the crib. He hasn't figured out he can climb out yet. He is a climber though, so it may not be long.

 

I drilled an extra set of holes in the crib legs so that the mattress could be lowered another couple inches.  I lowered it until the top of the mattress was even with the bottom of the crib rail.  In the end though, both my boys could crib out of the crib (safely), but still chose to sleep in it.  I guess they felt secure in there.  At the same time we were reading and cuddling in the big bed in their room so they got familiar with that, and as they were ready we made the switch.

 

Wendy

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We're supposed to take them out????  Crap.  I think Indy was about 3.5 and Han Solo is still in his (he was 3 in April).  Neither of mine have ever tried to climb out of the crib.  Indy never even got out of bed until I told him I could.  He'd lay in bed and yell, "Mommy!  I'm ready to get up!" until I came in and tell him he could get out of bed.  What a weird kid.  I adore him.  ;)  Han Solo will be ALL OVER the place when we take him out, so I'm in no hurry.  As long as he's not trying to climb out, I'm happy to keep him there. 

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DS moved at 2y2m when he started climbing out.

 

DD moved at 2y6?7? m because it was time.  We had the bed. She kept wanting to sleep on the floor instead of in her crib. (though she never actually climbed out). Oh and I caught her stepping on things in her crib and trying to "climb" the vertical bars. I was afraid she would start actually climbing out soon. We have a friend who needs the crib. We decided to switch.

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My twins moved when they were climbing out of their cribs (a few months before they turned 2?). My youngest moved not long after, when they started climbing INto her crib.

 

We spent many months with 3 mattresses on the floor & a baby gate in the doorway. Looked funny, but it worked & was safer than beds in that room full of monkeys.

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I moved each of mine as soon as they were able to climb from floor to couch -- which approximated the point in time just before they would be able to climb the crib rail. I didn't want to risk a fall from that height at-all!

 

We child-proofed the room and kept it pretty empty until the child established the habit of mostly remaining in bed.

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I think it varies a lot. I would be in no rush if he is happy. DS climbed out at 16 mo. exactly. He apparently gets it from me as I broke my arm climbing out of a playpen at 18 mo. Keeping him in the toddler bed was a massive headache for months.

 

With DD (11 mo.) we skipped the crib and have a twin mattress on the floor.

 

My best friend's son was super content in his until nearly 3 when she needed to move her 4-month-old out of the bassinet. I have other friends with kids as old as 3 1/2 stay in!

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Two of mine were quite young because they were little monkeys. One was 2.5 and I was ready to move his little brother in. My current 2yr old is still in the crib and I will leave him in there for as long as he will stay (he really loves the crib). Hoping he stays in till 3!

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With us, it was usually between 2 and 3, but it depended on different things.  In one of our first apartments with kids, we just didn't have room for a real bed, so we took one side (of the crib) down and that's what they slept in until they were almost 4.  Others moved out when they were two, but only if I felt they were ready.  Even then, we installed a "side" railing to their bed so they wouldn't fall out.

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Ds14 was 2.5 when he moved to a bed because we were expecting another and I wanted him to disassociate from the crib before his brother came.

Ds11 was 1 yr. 10 months. The crib was falling apart and he was jumping out of it.

We didn't mind a family bed and kids were welcome to join us during the night although they did start out in their own beds for the most part.

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When they start climbing out of the crib to play for a while after we do the bedtime routine at night, but then can't get themselves back into the crib when they want to fall asleep. I pull the crib mattress out and let them sleep with it directly on the floor until they no longer roll off of it, then my girls went into the trundle bed after that. Mine moved out of the crib at ages 19 mo., 16 mo., and 18 mo.

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