Sleeping in a non-crib bed

camneely8 wrote: Hi,
What are peoples thoughts and experiences about when a kid moves from a crib to a bed without the railings and so on. My 20 month old moves around his crib ALL night long like some traveller and I cant see him in a bed anytime soon without dropping right off the edge

CantWait replied: Robbie was always a figgety sleeper, and moved around a lot. When I put him in his own bed, he fell out maybe once or twice and that was it.

Anthony is the same way, and he sleeps in my bed which is somewhat high off the ground and has never fallen out. I think it's like an instinct kids have when they get switched to a bed.

1moremakes4 replied: When my daughter was 1 1/2 we moved and decided to put her in a toddler bed instead of setting up the crib again. She fell out a couple times but that's been it. She's slept in a "big" bed a few times when visiting relatives, etc and has never fallen out. The big beds have more room to move around than a crib and if they aren't hitting the sides of a crib, I think they sleep better. But If you're worried about it, you can get the railings that attach under the mattress. I have heard those work well.
Beth

ediep replied: I plan on getting the bed rails for Jay when we get his new bed

PrairieMom replied: We switched The Boy to a toddler bed at 18 months. He got a twin bed at 24 months. we never had a problem switching him over.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: Katy moved to a real bed at 16 months and we put a rail on it at first but she never used it. SHe moved all over in her crib but as soon as she was in a bed that she could easily get out of she slept totally still. Matt always slept still so I never thought twice about switching him.

camneely8 replied: Kewl info..i love this site already Sounds like once everyone makes the move it seems to be easier for the kid that I thought. Ill have to look into setting up the conversion soon then..maybe a new years thing Thanks everyone.

MyLuvBugs replied: I've been told that you should never put a kid into a big person bed until they are 2 years. But I personally feel that you will know when the kid is ready. If the time is 18 months then move'em. Just make sure there are rails on the bed and that it's close to the ground for their safety.

PrairieMom replied: I recently read in a parenting magazine that you are supposed to keep your child in a crib until they are 3 years old, although I have no idea why.
we never intended to switch the Boy so early, but I set the bed up in his room so he could get used to it, and he was so excited he slept in it the very first night! He never looked back.

MyLuvBugs replied:
See...What do those magazine's know. lol He was ready to be a big boy.

mummy2girls replied: i switched jenna to a toddler bed at 2.5 years iold. She fell out of the bed the first night but was fine after that. She even has slept in a high bed with me at peoples houses and she never fell out. I think it is instinct like marie said... you can always buy rails for the side of the beds...

CantWait replied:
I can't imagine Anthony being 3 and still in a crib, he's 2 and a half now and I refuse to put him in his crib. You would think that at that age because they can climb out, they would say that it's time to be moved from their crib.

mckayleesmom replied: I put Mckaylees mattress on the floor first...that way if she fell she would be close to the ground...and waited till she got use to the new space. She did fine..... and she slept in a big girl bed way before she was 2...she kept climbing out.

mckayleesmom replied: I put Mckaylees mattress on the floor first...that way if she fell she would be close to the ground...and waited till she got use to the new space. She did fine..... and she slept in a big girl bed way before she was 2...she kept climbing out.

My3LilMonkeys replied: Brooke is 2 and we just switched her over. She is a rolling sleeper also. The first 2 nights she fell out of the bed - no tears or anything, just picked herself up and went back to sleep. She has not fallen out since and it has been a week (although one of the nights was spent in bed with DH and I b/c she was sick).

If his crib is convertible, I would suggest converting it to see if he is ready. If not, you can always turn the side with the rails against the wall so that it's like a crib again until he is ready.