When do they out grow a crib?

[crl]

First congrats!

If you can find out what he's sleeping in now, that would be helpful. But if not, I'd buy a convertable crib. That way you have the crib option if you need it, or can just put it to a toddler bed if you find that's what he prefers. Then you son't have to worry about buying a crib he won't use. Or finding he's too little for the toddler bed you just bought.

 

[glass slipper girl]

Congrats!

There is no right answer that is perfect for every child. We took my oldest out of the crib at 18 months. I was pregnant with our 2nd and we didn't want to rush that transition or have a "that darn baby stole my bed!" thing so Santa brought a big boy fire truck bed for Christmas (baby was born in March of the next year) and we had both in his room. We gave him a choice of where he wanted to sleep and he picked the "big boy bed" and never looked back. The fire truck bed had sides that stood up about 12" over the mattress so I think he still felt closed in and secure. We put a baby gate in the door to his room so he couldn't wander. He would get up and look out of the gate but would realize he couldn't get out so he'd go back to bed.

Our youngest came out at about 14 months. He would stand in the crib and figured out how to shake it so it would bang against the wall. Then he discovered if he stood in his bed he could just reach the wall paper border that was about 2/3 of the way up the wall and he would peel that down. We decided to try the fire truck bed again and he was the same way...once he slept in it once, he never wanted to get in the crib again.

We have friends who waited untill 2 1/2 or 3 to take the kids out and theirs threw a fit. They took their youngest out at 18 months and no trouble so they are convinced there is a "you waited too long" point. I think it depends on the child!

I would say see if you can borrow a crib from a friend or maybe buy one at a children's consignment sale. Once you have him home and he gets adjusted you'll have a better idea of what he will be most comfy with.

 

[schlepsnort]

My advice would be to purchase a convertable crib. You can change it from a crib, to toddler bed, and some models even into a twin to full size bed!
We didn't stop using a crib until the boys started climbing out of it. Once they could get out of it regularly I was worried about them falling so we went to a toddler bed. Now they are in twin size beds but the middle one who is 2 1/2 has a pillow next to him to stop him from falling off the bed (he still did this for awhile but the pillow seems to stop him).
HTH and good luck!

 

[Schucraig]

My oldest son who is now 7 climbed out of his crib at 20 months and broke 2 bones in his wrist! He had never tried before that to climb out! He was in a cast for 6 weeks. Needless to say my other son, now 3 was in a bed at 18 months! I was not about to take the chance of it happening again!
With saying that I have lots of friends with kids who have not climbed out until much later and have not been injured! Good luck!

 

[DVCJEN]

Thanks everyone for your input. I do appreciate it. He sleeps in a crib now but he is also already 31 inches tall and I was concerned with him climbing out or falling over the side. The crib that he is in now appears to be a very high sided one compared to the ones I have seen in the stores. Lots to thing about!

 

[lauritagoddess]

I wouldn't worry about his being too tall for the crib. My DS was very tall and stayed in the crib until a few months shy of 3. He was close to 40" when he turned 3, so not far off from that when he was still in a crib. I never felt there was a danger issue in terms of him falling out when the crib rail was up, and of course the crib was on the lowest level. He also wasn't an adventurous child who tried to climb out.

 

[lpandorf]

Congratulations!!

I have a 2.5 year old who is still in his crib. He seems to really like it. He never tries to jump out and plays in his crib and goes right to sleep in it. My daughter was the same way. We finally decided at 3 years she was too big for it and moved her to a bed. On the other hand, I have a friend with a 2 yr old girl who was jumping out of her crib so they had to move her.

Lisa