nd2k@homxa.UUCP (A.SCHWARZ) (07/20/84)
I would appreciate any information, advice and
the trials and tribulations of transferring a child from a crib
to a regular bed. We have a daughter about to turn three; is
this about the right age?burton@inuxd.UUCP (Thomas Burton) (07/20/84)
<one small bug for netnews, one giant bug for netland!> We moved our older child to a bed just prior to his second birthday. The reason was because the younger child was rapidly outgrowing the basinette he was sleeping in, and we didn't want to buy another crib. The main problem we had with Timothy was he had a little trouble adjusting to his new "freedom"; he wanted to get up a lot and walk around after we put him to bed. We only had one case where he actually fell out of bed (we don't have any railings for the bed), and we remedied that with some big pillows placed along the edge (so that when he rolls around at night, his subconscious stops him when it encounters an obstacle -- the pillow -- and keeps him from rolling off). The solution we used to limit his wandering was to put up a gate in his door, so that we wouldn't have to keep the door closed. He hasn't figured out how to open the gate yet (it's a pressure type), so he's stuck in his room, and eventually he settles down and goes to sleep. We also had to limit the number of toys in his room at night (especially loud ones). He's adjusted quite well now to his bed; he even insists on having the gate up at night (I guess kids insist on a regular pattern to things). One problem we've encountered with the gate: we've just started to potty train Timothy, and even though he still sleeps in his diaper, sometimes he wants to go potty after we've put the gate up. Last night I found him standing at his gate, with his diaper and all his clothes on the other side of the gate, waiting for me to let him go potty! (It was mildly amusing). Doug Burton ATT-CP Indianapolis inuxd!burton P.S. About potty training: has anyone noticed what a wonderful aid to potty training these new refastenable tabs on Pampers and Huggies are? Now instead of having to wash training pants when Timothy goofs, we just throw out the diaper. And Timothy really has the hang of taking off his diaper; those refastenable tabs make it really easy, plus you don't waste a diaper every time he wants to go potty.
elt@astrovax.UUCP (Ed Turner) (07/23/84)
If you have enough room to set up the child's bed-to-be without taking the crib down first, you can make the transition slowly and without undue stress. We did this with our son and it worked very well. He started out taking his naps in the bed occasionally and progressed to preferring it to the crib in a few weeks time. The advantages of being able to easily get in and out of bed by oneself become apparent to the child pretty rapidly, so the crib soon loses its appeal. Of course every kid is different and this might not work well for you. Ed Turner astrovax!elt
pking@uiucuxc.UUCP (07/23/84)
We moved our first two childern from cribs to bed about the time they were two-- With the first child we moved him from his crib shortly after becoming pregnant with the second child-- We made a big production of it with the first child, and told him what a "big boy" he was, etc. He loved it, and we had only a few problems with him getting out of bed, roaming around, after being put to bed for the night-- The second child, asked to be moved to a "big bed" about the time she was two, because her brother had one-- again we had no problems When child number three came along, (four years between number 2 and number 3) she stayed in a crib longer, first because she was more of a roamer, second because just before she was two we moved from a ranch style house to a bi-level and we were more afraid of her falling down the stairs (before she learned how) (her bedroom is on the second floor and there are two flights between her and the kitchen downstairs) -- she was approaching moving this summer, we were holding off for her third birthday, but she decided for us by learning to climb out of her crib, and the danger of falling out of a crib far out weighed the other considerations, so we moved her into a bed--her bed sits fairly close to the ground (a firm mattress without a box spring, helps this problem) and she is just fine--she does not get out of bed without coming into our room first, before she goes anyplace else--- I have always felt, even before my kids were older that the child should in some way let you know he/she needs out of a crib, either by asking or by climbing out of the crib-- I have also found that if you're afraid of the child falling out of the bed during the night, for less than $10 or so, you can buy railings (portable) that slip underneath the mattress-- usually they only go part way down the side, but for a small child this is fine--I also recommend these for small kids, because they work great on couches, if you go visting etc. Years ago, you could order these side rails from Penney's and Sears catalogs, and they were great devices to have-- pat king uiucdcs!uiucuxc!pking
sml@wdl1.UUCP (sml ) (07/23/84)
#R:homxa:-28800:wdl1:6900001:000:433 wdl1!sml Jul 23 09:22:00 1984 We got my daughter a "big bed" at age 2 1/2. Of course, kids vary. Problems were few. We made a big deal of the fact that she was getting a big bed. At the beginning we placed pillows and such to assure a soft landing when she fell out. This happened only a couple of times. Good luck. Steve Lazarus Ford Aerospace MS X-20 3939 Fabian Way Palo Alto, CA 94303 (415) 852-4203 sml@ford-wdl1 (ARPA) ...fortune!wdl1!sml (Usenet)
essachs@ihuxl.UUCP (Ed Sachs) (07/24/84)
=============================================================== The "freedom" of being able to get out of a bed may be nothing new to an active child. We decided to move our youngest from a crib to a bed at 22 months when she started climbing out of the crib. We felt she was safer in a bed (shorter distance to fall if she slipped while climbing out). -- Ed Sachs AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxl!essachs
johnhi@tekig.UUCP (John Higley) (07/25/84)
We moved our boy to a bed when he started to climb out of the crib (as did most of you). He was less than 2 years old (My wife remembers dates, I don't). We did not worry about him rolling out of the bed because he went straight from crib to waterbed. The water bag combined with padded rails prevents him from falling out. Our second child (now 3 months) will move to her waterbed as soon as she wants to (climbs out of the crib). As an aside, our son recently fell out of the bed for the first time. It seems that I was a little to quick to get onto his bed and the wave that I created tossed him over the edge. John Higley ...tektronix!tekig!johnhi
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (T C Wheeler) (07/27/84)
It's a funny thing about kids and beds. Whenever one of our three graduated to a bed, rolled over in the night and fell out, my wife and I both would sit bolt upright and dash to their room the second we heard the thump. It didn't seem to matter haow tired or fast asleep we were, we would both hear the thump. Often as not, the child would still be sound asleep, curled up on the floor. There must be something in the human makeup that triggers a 'kid fell out of bed' alarm to wake us up. Anyone else had the same experience? T. C. Wheeler
adm@cbneb.UUCP (08/01/84)
We moved our 18 month old daughter from a crib to the bed much too early. She had returned from a stay at Grandma's and seemed to suddenly hate the crib (of course, love-hate relationships at this age are not unusual). Since we were expecting a new baby in three months times (and we were terribly naive), it seemed like a reasonable time to make the switch since then then wouldn't feel like the new baby took away her crib. Well, it was OK for awhile. We simply placed a mattress on the floor so we didn't have to worry about her falling out of bed. She was getting up in the middle of the night alot more than she did in the crib, but I wasn't sleeping well anyway so it was tolerable. Her getting up seemed to occur in spurts. Anyway, after her brother was born - it took a turn for the worse. Both kids were getting up twice each night (of course, they never got up simultaneously). We were exhausted, and didn't quite know what to do. In a moment of desperation, the solution occurred to me. We removed the mattress from her room and replaced it with a small tent (we are tent-campers and used this tent in our pre-children days). We decorated the tent by lining up on both its sides and back all of her favorite stuffed animals and dolls. Foam pads made it quite comfortable for sleeping. Then, we took her shopping to select her own sheets (cabbage patch dolls, wouldn't you know). She thought her 'new' room was really great!! All of her friends loved it too; they always wanted to play in her tent. There is a happy ending here. With the tent, she stopped waking up on a regular basis!! I guess this arrangement was alot more secure for her. About a month ago (she is now 2 years and 8 months old), we took down the tent and brought back the mattress. Haven't had any problems at all. Her brother will be one year old next month and we are really enjoying sleeping through the night. Needless to say, he will stay in his crib well past 18 months old. We pitched the tent outside for playing purposes, and brought back her bedroom furniture. A two-person pup tent looks small and obscure in a large campground but it sure fills up an average size bedroom. Oh well, that's the end of my story. Good luck in making your crib-to-bed transition. Audree Thurman AT&T Bell Labs Columbus, OH P.S. Just an addendum on potty training. Once we removed the night-time diaper, it was amazing how dry her nights became.