lws@hou2d.UUCP (lwsamocha) (12/04/85)
* >I am curious if any one has suggestions about when to >*introduce* a child to a normal bed- i.e. mattress and >box spring. >Our little girl is almost 30 months and with another >due in march, I have already purchased a good quality >twin, but have not put it up yet. >The new baby will get her crib. This was my original posting. So many of you desired info that I am posting a summary of replies. *********** We put our daughter into a regular bed about the same age as yours (2.5 yr.). The first time we attempted it she fell out, so I highly reccomend you get one of those guard railings that slip in between the mattress and box spring. Outside of that we had no problems getting her to make the transition, we told her she was getting a big bed just like mommy and daddy. Be prepared for middle of the night excursions into your bed, though. *********** You should have no trouble at 30 months going to a regular bed. You can buy rails for the edge of the bed to keep her from falling out - the main benefit of the rails is peace of mind for the parent. Our crib converts into a youth bed (with built in rails on the top half.) At about 18 months we converted it into the youth bed, and Matt didn't have any trouble (but it was different so we had to make it clear that this is a "good thing" - sort of a promotion.) We wanted him to get used to a regular bed before Adam was born, so at shortly over 2 years we put him in a regular bed, with rails. The rails came off a few months later. He now has one of those "tent" sheets which he thinks is neat (he just turned 3, and has had the tent for 4 months or so.) Every once in awhile I'll be working late (my office is in the bedroom next to the kids) and I'll hear a "thump" from their room. He gets right up and goes back to sleep with no complaints and no help from us. Falling out doesn't seem to bother him. *********** We bought a ChildCraft convertible crib/youth bed. The included instruction book said to go to the bed when the kid hit 36 inches. I suspect their advice had more to do with space limitations than physical or emotional age. Using a growth chart (mine's at home) you can easily project when this will be in terms of age. *********** It seems like family circumstances dictated our decision to move our son to a regular bed. He still fit in the crib, but was getting big. And our second baby, while still several months away, was "under construction". But the main reason we moved our son to a bed when he turned three years old is that we were going to be moving in four months, and thought that if the move was going to be unsettling, we'd better get him used to a new bed BEFORE we moved, so that when we moved, at least his bed (if not his bedroom) would be familiar. By the time we moved, he would have certainly been too big for the crib, and his sister would be needing it! *********** We moved my son from a crib to a twin bed at about 34 months. He was also moved from the first floor to the second. It took him a few months to really get use to it, he would come down and sleep on the couch. We got him a bed rail to make sure he couldn't fall out and since his bed was against the wall it also served to make him feel more secure; having something on both sides rather than wide open. If you decide that you're going to move the older child out of the crib, do it well before the baby is born (at least 2 mos. or so), so the older child won't feel that he/she was displaced by the new baby. *********** Our first two were 2 years apart (2yrs+1day to be exact), and about 3-4 mos before the second (Julia) was born, we bought a twin size bed and set it up in Daniel's room. Upon seeing the bed, Daniel had no desire to sleep in the crib, and within a few weeks we took the crib down and stored it. By the time Julia was ready for the crib (about 12 wks of age, younger than that she slept in a basket), we put up the crib, and Daniel did not remember it as being his, so he didn't feel displaced. HOWEVER, if we had it to do over again -- If your older child still does well in the crib (i.e., doesn't climb out so you're not afraid of him/her hurting himself/herself), consider buying a second crib. It's not that great to have an infant PLUS a two year old who refuses to stay in bed. *********** We bought our daughter a twin bed around the time of her second birthday, primarily to spare our backs the strain of picking her up and putting her into the crib. By that time she was old enough to climb up into the bed herself. She loved it (and still does). She even commandeered my pillow when she realized Mommy and Daddy had pillows but she didn't. I think that if it can be presented to your daughter in a way that stresses this is *her* (new) bed, bla-bla-bla, rather than that she's *giving up* her crib to someone else, she'll probably be as excited by the transition as our daughter was. (By the way, we have a foam mattress on the floor by one side of the bed in case she should fall off at night, but so far this has never happened. The other side is against a wall.) *********** My daughter was 12 months old when we put her in a twin size bed, she fell out aprox 3 time a week for the first 2 weeks, but from then on whe has done really well, she moved up to a full size bed when she was 2, with no problems at all. Thanx to all who replied! LWS hou2d!lws *