We hit another milestone with my youngest child – he’s out of the crib! We took the side off his crib, making it a bed. My toddler is 3 1/2, so we felt it was time. My toddler disagreed, but he’s been hesitant to do a lot of things (potty training has NOT been easy). He also has a speech delay, which also makes it harder to see if he understands things.
Here’s how the first night went.
7:55 PM Tucked him in with his two blankets and his stuffed Thomas the Tank Engine. Congratulated myself on the pool noodle hack — I cut a pool noodle and put it under his sheet, so he couldn’t roll over.
7:56 PM He starts crying because I didn’t put his night light or sound machine on. I quickly fix that and go out again.
8:05 PM Skylar comes out merrily and wants to read a Dr. Seuss book. He sits on the couch and starts to read. My husband and I look at each other and I grab Skylar and place him back in bed.
8:10 PM We hear a thump and then crying. He fell out of the bed (the pool noodle hack did not do its job). I pull out the blow up bed rail that we used for my daughter. The fabric needs to be washed, but at this point, I need something to protect Skylar from falling out of bed.I try to attach it to the bed but the room is dark and I can’t attach it properly with the clip. So I tie a big knot, securing it to the bed. It’s not the best fix, but it will do..
8:15 PM He comes out again. Looks confused as I put him back in bed again. No partying dude, you’re supposed to be sleeping!
8:20 PM He comes out again and tries to run into our den. This time I refuse to speak to him and I put him back in bed. I realize that this could be happening all night. I put my husband on watch (he’s painting on his latest canvas) and go into the other room.
I hear loud singing as Skylar sings “Laurie Berkner’s Here Comes the Dinosaurs”. He finally quiets down around 8:40pm and luckily does not get out of bed again.
My husband check on him at 11:30. He finds him sleeping peacefully on the floor. He comes and gets me to see. As I go into his room, Skylar slithers back into his bed and seemed to still be asleep. Kind of freaky!
I check on Skylar at 1 am. I’m still worried that he’ll fall out, so I unearth a Toy Story sleeping bag and lay it on the floor next to his crib.
To our surprise, there’s no further peep.
I hear him at 6:21 the next morning (hello Daylight Savings time, it was really 7:21). He actually stayed in his little bed and waited for me to get him.
Wonder what tonight will bring?
Tips for Transitioning Your Child from a Crib to a Bed
1. Wait until your child is ready.
2. Use a bed rail. You can get one like this dexbaby Safe Sleeper Convertible Crib Bed Rail -just make sure it will fit on a crib or toddler bed, some bed rails are only for twin beds. Or you can choose a inflatable bed rail like this The Shrunks Sleep Secure Inflatable Bed Rail
3. For extra piece of mind, pad your floor. We had foam mats down and then I put a sleeping bag down on the floor. When we transitioned my oldest child to a bed (he had just turned 3 and we needed the crib for my daughter’s impending birth), we had a futon mattress on the floor next to his bed.
4. Your toddler is going to get out of bed, after all, no more crib rails to keep him/her in. Have a plan on how to deal with it. Don’t laugh to engage them, just put them back in their bed. You may have to do this a lot, especially the first several nights.
But it will get better. Trust me. Tips for Transitioning Your Child to a Toddler Bed
Products that can help:
Why we did it – http://www.themamamaven.com/2013/02/23/my-toddler-jumped-out-of-his-crib/
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