Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Hammered (and a toddler bed question)

And no, not in the way you are thinking. A few minutes after I posted my entry last night, that storm came raging through. It was such a violent storm that I can't stop thinking about it. We lost power pretty quickly and I was home alone. I couldn't find the flashlight right away - and all I could think was how I would handle it if the babies woke up. Because seriously, what would I say? Cam wouldn't understand that it was weather, would he? And it isn't like I could turn off the storm! Fortunately, both kids just slept through the onslaught, and the power came back on about an hour later.

On a totally different topic - what is the deal with transitioning to a toddler bed? Cam is totally happy in his crib and has never made any attempt to get out. He is close to 20 months old, and about 34 inches tall. Most of what I read says that you should start transitioning when the child tries to get out of his crib or is 3 feet tall (as someone that tall should be able to easily get out of the crib). And besides that he isn't making any effort to get out of his crib... he really likes it. I wonder if it'll be traumatic to take him out? I'm thinking that we'll switch to some fun toddler bed before going to real 'big boy' bed - I have a truck in mind.... but haven't found anything I like yet.

Any advice from those who've already gone through it?

13 comments:

BigP's Heather said...

Glad they didn't wake up!!

No assvice here. Hope you find the perfect bed for whenever he does transition.

Anonymous said...

We set up the toddler bed in the room with the crib still up and let our kids decide what they wanted to do. That is of course unless your kids rooms are piled with toys like mine were :) then there's some creative furniture moving. We let our kids tell us when they were ready. My friend left her son in there til he was 5. That seemed a bit long to me but to each his own.
Good luck whatever you decide to do!
Beth

Serenity said...

Thanks for posting about this - it's fresh in my mind too because O has taken to threatening to climb out of his crib, mostly when he's mad and doesn't want to go to bed. He hasn't yet, but I'm thinking it's a matter of time. And I have NO idea what the plan will be, other than the fact that our crib converts to a toddler bed. We might try that this fall, but we'll see.

My nephew is still in his crib at 3 years, but he's never ONCE made any attempt to get out.

Would love to hear what you end up deciding on and how you manage the transition.

For the Long Haul said...

I say if he isn't trying to get out of the crib, don't move him. Don't mess with something that works. Especially something as important as sleep. My son wasn't out of his crib until he was over 3 years old and NEVER tried to climb out. But he's a little shorty. Still though, unless he is making attempts to get out, leave him where he is. At least that's my advice!

Frieda said...

I would wait til he starts trying to get out. There is a feeling of security for them in the baby bed. When he is ready to transition, he will let you know. It is much easier for you if he is in the baby bed. He can't get up and come looking for you.

HereWeGoAJen said...

I'm with everyone who says leave him until he makes a break for it. I really enjoy the containment of a crib.

Elise Ford said...

I plan to leave my 20 month old son in his crib for as long as possible. Like Cam, he loves his crib and has never tried to climb out. We have zero sleep issues right now and I don't see any reason to rock the boat! Once he starts climbing out we will transition him to a toddler bed. Until then, I am thankful for the containment that a crib provides!

Carrie27 said...

My oldest always asks me to turn off the thunder or rain when she is awake, so if they can sleep through it, that's great!

I didn't use a toddler bed with my oldest and don't plan to with my other two. I moved my oldest at 15 months (had no real choice) and she did great, took 2 nights. These other two are in their cribs and I don't have a clue when they'll get into bigger bed (22 months). Do what you want, there is no right or wrong time to transition them.

Anonymous said...

Hi Cece!

I never used toddler bed for the girls. They never climbed out of their cribs, but they did outgrow them. They were never good sleepers, at all, and they both toss and turn a lot. By the time they were almost two they were smacking themselves on the crib rails so often I decided that it was time to move them into a bed.

Instead of toddler beds I bought two twin mattresses and put them on the floor. I figured if they rolled out of bed, which they did frequently as it turned out, they would be just fine. We did have to be a little careful when we would check on them at night; it wasn't unusual to find one of the girls on the floor in front of the door. ;-)

They loved the mattresses on the floor. We still have one in Heike's room even though she's moved on to an IKEA loft bed. Sometimes she likes to sleep 'downstairs' on the mattress, especially when it's hot.

Brandy said...

We didn't put Aiden in a toddler bed until he was a little over 3 years old. That worked for us and he actually stays in the bed. Livi is almost 23 months and got out of her crib on the next to lowest setting so now we're on the lowest and praying it holds out FOREVER. I would love to keep her in the crib as long as I can and even read this week that 36 months or older is better, as they have a better chance of actually staying in their beds. If he's happy in the crib I would definitely keep it that way as long as possible but again, that's just me. :-)

Ruth said...

We've never used a toddler bed ... the kids have gone straight from the crib to a twin mattress and box spring set on the floor with a guard rail. The older two made the switch around two, my youngest son was four (FOUR!), even though he was far too big for the crib, because he'd never tried to get out of the it by himself and I was afraid of our Killer Stairs.

That said, I think we may use a toddler bed for WB, if only for space reasons. She's a bitty (only an inch taller than Cam, and she'll be three in September), and will be moving into the room with her sister, where floor space is at a premium. I'm planning to pick something up for her at IKEA.

Anonymous said...

with my three I went with if they are not trying to escape isn't it nice to know where they are when you wake up? We didn't move them till night time potty training and there was a legit reason to be out of bed after bedtime so right around three. our crib went to a daybed so we did that first, took our son almost a month to realize he could get himself out of bed(he would cry for us to get him)

Jen said...

Jillian is still in her crib at 21 months, and I plan to keep it that way as long as I possibly can. I have read that if you can wait until they are closer to three that the transition often goes smoother.