At what age do you transition into a bed?

amother

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 1:08 pm

Ds is around 27 mths, and IY"H I'm due in February (not telling yet, hence the anon). So, we're trying to figure out what to do once baby comes. At what age do you put your kids into beds? Ds will be 2 1/2 when baby is born, is that old enough for a bed? Do we get a bassinet for the first 3 mths of the baby's life and then switch at that point to the crib and then bed (isn't the bassinet a huge waste of money? Do we use the pack n' play? Ds is totally not ready for a bed yet, he turns and turns all night. Plus, he's not trustworthy - he would run and destroy the house at night.

Twizzlers

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 1:58 pm

we use a pack n play for the baby. right now he's in the top bassinet part (comes with the pack n play) and hopefully by the time he's out of that, older ds will be ready for a bed.

drumjj

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 3:38 pm

I just put my daughter into a bed and she is three and a half but she has a massive crib and she is small and was happy in her cot so I never bothered till now. but my younger one I did at two and a half bc I needed the cot for my next one

amother

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 4:08 pm

Not OP, but I had the same question.

DD is 21 months. Baby is 7 months and still in a pack and play. We are moving in a few weeks. Is DD too young to be moved to a bed so my baby can sleep in a proper crib?

Has anyone put a child that age in a bed?

Helani

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 6:42 pm

My first I put in bed at 18 months. She was very verbal at that age and could get the concept of stying in bed. Second got moved when he was 2.5 and he kept coming out. I think it really depends on the child. I do know of some people who co-sleep and never put a child in crib at all. They just move them to their own bed at a pretty young age.

Atali

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 8:32 pm

Both of my children could climb out of a crib before age two, so they both slept in a bed before then.

However, in your case I think a bassinet sounds like a great idea. You can buy a used one cheaply on craigslist and resell it when he out grows it for about the same price. We use a 5 in 1 bassinet for DD and find that it is really convenient, especially since the top part os portable and travels well.

RachelEve14

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 11:28 pm

My twins moved into beds when they were a bit over 2. Rivka moved into a bed at 15 months becuase her sisters slept in beds and she refused to sleep in a crib anymore.

OP I would eiether move your ds to a bed NOW so he won't associate it with the baby, or I would be prepared to leave it after teh baby if he's not ready. I had 2 neighbors who tried to move their kids to beds in the 9th month, and one after teh baby, and both were disasters of the toddler being attached to his crib and not wanting "that baby" in it.

Can you borrow a crib for a few months if you feel he really needs it? Or start looking on craigslist or freecycle for a second crib ? If you think your 2yo still needs one.

sky

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 10:06 am

I don't know when to move a toddler to a bed (haven't done it yet)

My baby sleeps in a pack 'n play because I didn't want to buy a second crib. You can buy a regular crib mattress to fit in the pack 'n play if you don't like the idea of the baby sleeping on the thin mattress it comes with.

greenfire

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 5:13 pm

amother wrote:

yup my sonny boy was a big baby and could only stay in the cradle for a short time ... so I put him in the crib and dd on the couch (we had a 1 bedroom apt at the time) but I bought cute bedsheets and a bed rail ...

montrealmommy

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 5:51 pm

when I was due with dd, we took ds out of the crib when I entered my last trimester, and then dd didn't go in it until she was about 6mo. so there was enough time in between to not -vely associate teh crib with his new sib!

It still took us almost 4-5 mo. before he really stayed in bed all night. In retrospect, I don't think he was ready. dd on the other hand we tried on a matress on the floor when she was about 15mo - she was climbing out of her crib already and loved sleeping in ds's bed. But she ended up sleeping on the floor as she wasn't ready, so we took out the pack-n-play and that's where she slept for the enxt few mo. This past Purim time she was 23 mo - we tried againa and voila -she loved her new bed and for the most part stays in it. We also out a pressure gate outiside their b-room - I hate closing bedroom doors with kids in side. It works great. She's now 27 mo and sleeping all night in her bed

Marion

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 8:47 pm

We moved DS#1 at about 23-24 months. DS#2 was born when he was 20 months, and DS#2 went into the playpen in the "spare" room. We went away for 6 weeks after Chanukah, and while we were gone Abba took down the crib. He slept on 2 piled-up mattresses on the floor from 23 months (when we got back) until the bed arrived sometime just after his 2nd birthday. He never had issues staying in bed. (I attribute this to the fact that he had been sleeping at daycare on a mattress.)

flowerpower

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 10:16 pm

dc1-by age two slept in a regualar bed
dc2-still in a crib and he's over three, I don't mind him being there because he sleeps better in a secure places.

By age 2 1/2 is a normal time to transition.

Nicole

Tue, Aug 19 2008, 10:25 am

You have quite a variety of answers here. One thing I would suggest is that it's probably not a good idea to switch into a bed right when all the new baby chaos is going on. It's a lot for a kid. I would start the bed either a couple of months before, or after.

cubbie

Tue, Aug 19 2008, 1:29 pm

My older dd was 2 1/2 when I made the switch, she was 2.2 when dd2 was born. The first 3 months she was in the bastinet in our room, then I put her in dd1's room in the basinet for a week, so dd could get used to sharing a room which until then had just been hers, but still be in her crib for the safety of dd2 (she was attacking her alot at that point - and had never learnt to climb out), then after a week we switched dd1 to her big girl bed, but kept dd2 in the bastinet for another 2 weeks and kept the crib empty so that dd1 didn't feel that she wasn't being kicked out of the crib to give it to her sister.