Okay moms and grandmas . . . I need some help! Seth will be born around Thanksgiving and Jasmine will be two in December. They will be 23 or so months apart. When do I put Jazzy in a big girl bed? before baby or after? Do I put the matress on the floor or put a rail on the side? I need some advice! This is one of the only things I can't wrap my head around. Please leave comments with your personal advice or some links to helpful info.
Thanks!
Hmmm. We put Caroline in her big bed right at her 2nd birthday. But given your timing, I think that I would leave her in the crib (given she is pretty satisified there) and wait until you catch your breath after the baby (maybe a month or so) to try the crib to bed transition.
ReplyDeleteIt was a month after Charlotte was born that I finally switched Caroline to panties and finished potty training, so I think you'll have the energy by then.
This way you aren't in the midst of trying to do the bed switch.
I guess the alternative would be to switch ASAP - but you'll have to get the other moms opinions about going to a bed before age 2.
Oh, and we use a bed rail. Caroline has a stool to climb up into bed. She still just used her crib blanket and slept on a fitted sheet until very recently when she started using the comforter we have.
Sorry 'bout the long comment : )
Daria is 22 months and we have not transitioned her to a big girl's bed but did take the side off of her crib and made it a day bed. We did it because she kept whacking herself on the side of the crib and would wake up multiple times at night crying. She is doing much better without the side on. We just put pillows on the floor next to the crib. She has fallen out a couple of times and woken up and there are a couple of times where I went in her room and she was snoozing on the floor. If you are up for a small challenge before the baby comes :) I would switch her ASAP because she would need the next month or so to get used to the idea. If not then it won't hurt her to wait until a month or so after Seth is born to start the switch like Margaret suggested.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm not sure I'm the one to give advice. We switched Madelyn when she was about 21 months or so. It was a really awful 10 days or so as we tried and tried to get her to stay in bed. I think I cried one night. She got out of bed and came out of her room over and over. We took the toys out of her room and left just the bed so she didn't have anything to do when she got up. If we didn't need her to get out of the crib to make room for Jack, I might have waited longer. It probably depends on whether you need her to get out of the crib or if you can wait. Of course, all kids are different. I would definitely recommend a bed rail. I've seen them so many times at yard sales (and that's where we got ours). Good luck, girl! I'm sure you'll blog about how it goes!
ReplyDeleteI haven't been in your situation, but I feel the need to give my opinion anyway :) I think you should switch her now because if you wait, she will feel like the baby is stealing "her bed," and it might cause resentment toward the new baby. If you are worried about her getting up and down while she is still little, I think it's a great idea to just put the mattress on the floor until she's a little bit bigger. That's what I would do - take it, or leave it :)
ReplyDeleteAddie loved her crib and never tried to climb out, so I was very reluctant to initiate a move to a big girl bed and "create" a problem for myself of her getting up, falling out, playing with toys, etc. We kept her in the crib and Ryan in the co-sleeper till he was two months old, at which point we borrowed a crib from my sis in law for Ryan and left Addie in hers. Ryan could have stayed in the co-sleeper, or in a pack n play, too. We finally moved Addie to a big-girl bed (on a bed frame) at around 2.5, after we'd taken a trip and she slept on the floor (first time she was not contained at night) and she did fine. We didn't use a bed rail, and surprisingly we had no issues at all with her getting up (but we also keep her room pitch-black so she's not laying in bed awake seeing toys everywhere). Now she has twin bunk beds and she alternates sleeping on the top and bottom. She can even crawl up and down the ladder in the dark just fine.
ReplyDeleteI'd thought about moving her before Ryan came, just like I thought about potty training before he came (what a joke that was!), but I decided to leave well enough alone - it really is easier when the kid is contained at night.
Well, Nate hasn't been doing so hot in the toddler bed. He doesn't want to go to bed, cries when we leave the room, wakes up screaming at night, etc, etc. So I would say that until she starts trying to climb out, leave her in the crib. One baby waking you up at night is enough! I have two waking me up (usually at seperate times!) and it is no fun!!
ReplyDeleteOn second thought, we were given another crib and Nate's turned into his toddler bed, so if Jassy's crib is going to be Seth's crib, you might as well get it over with! Maybe she will get used to it before he comes.
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