OT- Age for Big boy bed???

[bartleby1]

My oldest and middle children were switched to a twin bed with railings around 2-1/4 yrs because I needed the crib for the next baby (there's 2-1/2 yrs between my kids). I didn't see the point in wasting money on a toddler bed that they were only going to use for a short time.

My third (and final) child is desparately waiting for her big girl twin bed to be delivered. She is 2 yrs, 8 mths and we ordered a bed 2 weeks ago. She tells me every night that she doesn't want her crib anymore because she is a big girl now. It probably won't be delivered for another 4 - 6 weeks and now I'm thinking we should have done it sooner. We procrastinated since we didn't need the crib for another baby this time. I feel so sad for her every night now because she recently potty trained, learned to swim with her swimmies on (she was afraid of the pool so this was BIG for her), and now she wants her big girl bed to be like the big kids (her brother and sister). I'm sure the wait seems like a lifetime to her!

I'm kind of surprised that so many of you went to queen beds. That never even crossed my mind for a child since I slept in a twin up until I got married, lol! I really thought that was the norm? I'm not saying that getting the queen is wrong (I'm all for whatever works for you!), but I never would have even thought of the idea of getting anything but a twin.

BTW, my parents kept me in a crib until after I started kindergarten! I SWEAR that this is the reason that I continued to fall out of bed right up until COLLEGE!! I think I missed the age of learning not to fall out. I finally learned my lesson after I fell out of the top bunk one night in my dorm room. Boy, was that smarts! It never happened again after that incident.

 

[Elmo888]

DD7 went from the crib to a queen at 3 years old. I don't understand toddler beds, either. They seem like a waste of money. And I agree that I wouldn't move a child out of the crib unless he/she was climbing out. I am so happy to read here that some kids went to 3.5 and 4 in a crib. I thought waiting until 3 was late. I might go longer with DD2. DD7 went to a queen (rather than a twin) because that was the free bed (hand me down from FIL) that we had in the guest room. For DD2, I'll move her straight from the crib to a regular bed, also. (I'm not yet sure if that will be to her sister's queen bed or her own twin.)

My feeling is that some people move kids to queens because it can double as a guest room. We only have 3 bedrooms - master, DD7's bedroom and DD2's bedroom. Having a queen for guests is handy. DD7 sleeps on the floor when my parents visit. If I get a twin for DD2, I'll get a trundle for her guests and for when her sister might need to vacate her room for overnight guests.

If your child is already in a toddler bed (not in a crib), I don't see any reason to wait for a regular bed.

 

[northriver]

My oldest child climbed out of his crib for the first time at 18 months - and broke his arm.

My second child was still sleeping (or not sleeping much at all) in a co-sleeper in my room at 9 months. I HAD to get her to sleep through the night in her own room, and it seemed silly to move her to a crib in her own room, them move her to a toddler bed, then move her again to a real bed.

So at 9 months I moved her to a twin futon mattress on the floor. Crazy - sure. But it worked like a charm. We put the futon on a regular bed frame at 12 months. She was confined to her room with a baby gate until 18 months. She is two now and yes she gets up and wanders around a bit, she actually dumped a glass of water on me in the wee hours of the morning just yesterday. But it is better than a broken arm IMO.

 

[ujpest_doza]

My DS had a crib that converted to a toddler bed & we needed the crib for his baby sister when he was almost 3 so we bought him a full size bed. He has been fine with it & it's helpful for nights when we hang out a little longer (i.e. fall asleep until midnight) & each night when we read to him, etc. but I would really think long & hard about getting a twin. I SO wish we had gotten a twin! It would have allowed him so much more space in his room & the bedding is more available in twin than any other size.

I personally slept in a twin size bed through high school & then in college. Didn't have a full until I got married...I think it's just whatever you get used to. Bunk beds are also a nice option that I wish we had considered for DS. Although he may not need all of that now, he may in the future. When my DD outgrows her current toddler bed, I will definitely get a twin!!

Snap.

Daughter number 1 moved from a Convertable Cot/Bed to a proper sized single bed when she was 3 just before christmas alst year in order that her soon to arrive baby sister could have the cot set up in her room ready for her arrival in February.

Baby sister (20 weeks) has this week moved from her Moses Basket in our room to said cot in her room.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Ds was moved from crib to toddler bed on his 2nd birthday -- dd was on her way and I wanted him out of the crib for a while before she arrived (didn't want him to get the idea that the baby took his bed). He was in the toddler bed 4 months before it broke and I bought a twin sized bed. When dd was 17 mos. we moved her out of the crib to the bottom bunk of bunkbeds and put ds on top. Now dd3.5 is on top and ds6 is on bottom.

 

[2poohbears]

Besides, setting up for Santa Claus and the Easter bunny are WAAAAAY easier and less stressful when they are still in their cribs.

W'dya mean - "setting up" for Santa and the Easter bunny? Don't they just show up?



My twins are going to be 4 in Sept - one of them is getting too long for the toddler bed & I'm afraid he won't be comfortable in it much longer. (we put them in toddler beds at age 2 because they were flipping themselves out of the cribs. we found the toddler beds for $20 a piece, so worth it, IMO, since bigger twin beds would take up a lot of toy space in their bedroom). We're building a new house where they'll have their own rooms, so I was hoping to wait until a month or so after moving in to switch them to twin beds. I'm not sure we'll be able to wait, though.

 

[2forMe]

Well both of my dks went straight to a single bed from the crib .. both around the 18 month mark.. with no problems. Their rooms aren't really big enough for any other size so we never thought of a bigger sized bed

 

[daisyduck123]

Both of mine went straight from their cribs to twin-sized beds before they were 2yo. No problems at all.

 

[LOLA2]

DS moved to toddler bed when he was 2 it is like a little firetruck bed. He is now 5 almost 6, he is still only half the size of the bed. I do want to get him into a big boy bed probably a bunkbed but we are trying to sell our house and no point of getting a big bed to move. So answer is probably sometime in his 6th year. He did have a gate on his room until about 4 months ago.

 

[adoptionmomma4]

My little princess moved to a "Big Girl" bed last night (sort of) She is 2 years 5 months and is now in her crib converted to a toddle bed. I heard her call "mommy" yesterday morning and when I went in to get her she was sitting on the railing of her crib. I asked her what she was doing and she threw her hand over her head and shouted "Stars" (her big sister cheer team) DH took it apart last night since we didn’t want her falling out and getting hurt. It was so sad for me... this is where the sort of comes in... I went in to check on her before I went to bed and she was fine, but looked so little in that big girl bed that I moved her to our bed and snuggled with my baby one last time. At least I think it is one last time she is currently napping in my bed . I may have started a bad thing here.

Good luck. BTW- how old is your little one?

 

[mericletwins]

W'dya mean - "setting up" for Santa and the Easter bunny? Don't they just show up?



My twins are going to be 4 in Sept - one of them is getting too long for the toddler bed & I'm afraid he won't be comfortable in it much longer. (we put them in toddler beds at age 2 because they were flipping themselves out of the cribs. we found the toddler beds for $20 a piece, so worth it, IMO, since bigger twin beds would take up a lot of toy space in their bedroom). We're building a new house where they'll have their own rooms, so I was hoping to wait until a month or so after moving in to switch them to twin beds. I'm not sure we'll be able to wait, though.

I think you'll make it. We did the same for our twins when we moved. If they really don't fit, they can have "sleepovers" on the floor in sleeping bags or on top of some comfy blankets or get rid of the toddler beds and keep the mattresses and shove them against the wall. That way they can hang their feet over the ends and not hit the end of a bed.