So for those of you with older kids, when did you move your toddlers into big beds? I have been going back and forth with the husband and my mom, and right now I am leaning very heavily towards buying a second, less expensive crib. My reasoning is that Thatcher loves his crib, he's sleeping really, really well, and he hasn't made an effort to get out. So why mess with it? And, I don't know if I have it in my to create a new nursery AND update his bedroom right now. Not to mention introduce a new routine when I am 8 months pregnant.
My other question is where one changes diapers once your toddler is too big for the changing table? This may sound like a strange question, but did we buy the world's smallest changing table? Thatcher is not that tall, but he's really getting too big for his changing table. And we are nowhere near potty training, though he does love to say "wet wet" about his diaper, which is funny.
This is a really fun stage, which is another reason why I am not really in the mood to mess with too much. Though if any of you have brilliant ideas for getting your children to taste new food, please share. I sound like a broken record, but seriously we should own stock in Stonyfield. Today I had to send an email to the husband asking if he could replenish the stockpile on his way home. Who has a stockpile of yogurt?!?!
20 comments:
I got pregnant with my second son when Luke was 13 months. We decided to buy a cheap 2nd crib (I think we paid a total of $250 for crib, mattress and shipping). When the baby came, he got the original crib and we moved Luke into the cheap crib and made a big boy room. BEST DECISION EVER! My second is still not sleeping well (he is 7 months old), but Luke is great. We put him in his crib and he is there all night and even hangs out in his crib with toys up to an hour in the morning while I catch a few extra zzzzz's if it has been a long night. Many of my friends have already moved their kids into a bed (they are all about 2 1/2) and many do fine, but many are up and down for naps and will pop up early and even end up in their room in the middle of the night. Until we get our baby sleeping through the night, I am not thinking of moving Luke yet.
This is just our situation though. I know many who went ahead and did the big boy bed and it was a success! Just wanted to share what we did and that it turned out well for us.
Oh, and I change my older son on the couch. We have a blanket covering our couch to protect it from him (milk, juice, pee, etc). We pull up the blanket and wash it when needed.
Without having read the other comments, my suggestion is don't do it!!!!! Don't mess with his or your sleeping. :) I have heard from everyone I know that has moved their child to a bed that the child does not sleep anymore. Shorter naps and waking up early in the morning. Westin is 28 months and has never tried to climb out of his crib (and he is a climber!). He loves his crib and he will stay in it as long as I can. :) I'm just not willing to give up his 3+ hour naps and sleeping all night. That's my 2 cents!
Oh, I change Westin on the floor or anywhere we are.
We ditched our changing table around 9 mos! Now we change her on the floor wherever we are in the house. As for the big girl bed, Lexi just turned 19 mos and she is still in her pack-n-play half the night & co-sleeping the rest. Yes, I realize how baD that sounds but it works for us and she doesn't sleep thru the night- except for one night! Anywho I don't forsee her being ready for a big girl bed anytime soon. I think you should absolutely follow your mom Gut! You need your sleep & your sanity :)
i agree with shannon! we just now moved libbi to a big girl bed (she turned 3 in june) but she slept SO good in her crib that we didn't want to mess with a good thing. she was completely capable of climbing out of her crib, but somehow by the grace of God, she never tried it (i have no idea why, because she is a TOTAL climber!) but for us, waiting until she was ready or even a little more than ready - ha! made the transition SO easy. same thing with potty training.
we just bought laney another crib and had two cribs in our house. no problem! :)
and also like shannon, i would just change libbi on the floor wherever we were and use a changing pad. classy, huh? :)
Happy 17 months T!
W is still in his crib and will be for a while. If we'd get pregnant again soon I would think about a toddler bed but even still would wait a few more months just to see if we would need another crib. I don't mind him being in his crib if he's not climbing out. If it ain't broke....
And the diaper thing, well he still fits on the changing table although his legs hang off but we often change it on the floor too.
Wow, 17 months! We're nearing the 16 month mark and the whole 18 month birthday is starting to loom in my heart. How did this happen so quickly?!
Our toddler bed debate has also begun. Jackson does try to climb out of his crib, but we've lowered it to the lowest setting and right now there's no way he's getting out. Two more months from now, that might be a different story. I do have a feeling we'll have to move him to the toddler bed before age two though. Our current crib turns into a "toddler" bed but we've also got a big boy bed waiting for him in the attic.
Don't feel rushed just because #2 is on the way. I have a feeling Thatcher will let you know when it's time. If that means finding a cheap crib {craigslist, maybe borrowing from a friend for a short period} I wouldn't shy away from that if it's what you think he needs. This is a case of mama {and baby} know best!
We will be switching our son at his 2nd birthday. I love the idea of making it a big deal and something that is all his during this major time of change. He will be switched 3 months before my due date which I think is plenty of time to adapt. There is something in my mind to be said about teaching him he is a big boy etc. I know it's not for some people and believe me when I say he loves his crib. Heck he climbs in and out but I feel he will be fine and comfortable in a bed. I also want to be prepared for the fact that I can not lift him after a csection and he can climb in and out of a bed. But honestly I would make it work I'd I thought he was not ready. We will do a mattress pad vs full mattress as well as still do his favorite stuffed animals etc We are excited as it is a big to do! We change where we are have not done a changing table for a long while.
We have started collecting furniture and ordering bedding for Addie's toddler room which will include a full size bed - i have no idea when we will actually transition her over but i expect it will be around the time shes 2 1/2 or so! As far as changing Addie...we just have a few travel changing mats that we lay down and change her on in various places in the house!!
We are keeping Grayson in his crib. We spent a lot of money on the first crib & he is keeping it. It is a convertible so he will use it as a toddler bed then full bed eventually. He is the same as Thatcher...sleeps great, never has attempted to climb out, & has never fought being in there. Why mess up a good thing? I will say, Griffin's crib is much less expensive. We bought a Graco one at BRU on sale for around $125.
G's nursery stayed pretty much the same & I just added a few personal things for Griffin. I don't have a dresser or changing table in Grayson's new bedroom so I just bought a flat changing pad & it slides under his crib when we aren't using it. I will say, it hasn't been fun changing him the last couple of weeks since I am SO pregnant, but it works. I just keep diapers & wipes in a drawer in his nightstand.
We changed Aiden over at 20 months---it really wasn't bad but it really depends on the kid! He could climb out and we had another one on the way, so we did it:) But I'm totally not ready to try Andrew (he is 19 months)---sleeps great in crib and hasn't routinely climbed out (just once!) and no little one on the way right now so we are good:) But do what works for you---if you think it's easier keep him there because you want to stay sane those first few months with two!
Second---we changed on the floor since he was like six months---does that make me sound like a bad mom?!?! It makes it really easy though:)
Good luck!
-Julie
http://www.thechirpingmoms.com
Milo climbed out of his crib at like 16 months, but Jude turned 2 in March and still hasn't even attempted it. I think Jude will skip the whole toddler bed thing and go right to a twin. :)
Jude is tiny and at 27 mos, we still change him on the changing table. haha! Hopefully he'll be potty trained soon.
Leave him in the crib as long as possible. That keeps him contained... Seriously, no rush to put him in a bed at this point.
We moved Hudson right when he turned 2, he never climbed out of his crib but we just felt it was time.
I would change him on our bed or the floor, if it was just pee i would change him standing up!
I have also wondered the same things....My girls do great in their cribs so I plan on keeping them there for as long as I can. Madelynn and Claire have been getting their knees stuck in the rails and it has been driving me (and them) nuts, so I have thought about a hundred different ways to fix them from not doing it, and ultimately everyone has been telling me to put their mattresses on the floor and take everything out of the room...um, YEAH RIGHT!? That might work for one, but not my triplets....they work together all the time to do things they aren't suppose to, so I can only imagine what they could get into during the night. Needless to say, they will be in their cribs for a very long time.
And we have always changed the girls in their cribs or on the floor. We still have a pack-n-play downstairs for Emily to be in (also use it as a time-out) and it has the changing table on it, so we still change the big girls up there. They always want to move and run away so the changing table gives a little break from me having to hold them down, they realize it's changing time and that if they don't fight me, it will only take a few seconds!
Happy 17 months T!!!!
I had the same dilemma...we did buy a 2nd crib b/c Nolan is like Thatcher and is not climbing out of his crib and he sleeps so well in there! Nolan's bed goes to a full so I figured I would let him keep it and just buy a new crib. I have recently purchased a shelf/bin for Nolan's room to replace the changing table we are moving to new baby's room. It's not very tall, but I am going to put a changing pad on it and see how that goes or use the floor. He is definitely too big for the changing table but he's so good and just lays there I have a hard time messing that up too but at this point his legs are hanging off ha ha!
Right now, I don't think we're anywhere close to transitioning to a toddler bed. Our plan for the moment is to convert his crib if he tries to climb out of it, which he hasn't... yet.
Oh, and I still change him on the changing table sometimes, but lately he's been a squirmy monster during changes, so I just change him on the floor to avoid him rolling off and hurting himself or something.
So funny about the yogurt! :) We actually moved Azalea's changing pad onto the floor when she was 9 months because she just got too wild up on the table. It's not glamorous, but it works!
I am totally making note of all these answers for the future.
as for getting thatcher to eat new foods- hmmm could you maybe get him involved with you in the kitchen somehow that maybe you could get him to eat something different? Like if he had a hand in "cooking" maybe he would eat his peas or cherries?
So we probably won't move P out of her crib until she starts climbing out, which is going to be never considering how small she is. And how much she adores her bed. Ours converts to a toddler bed too so I would totally buy a new crib. Like you said, why mess with a good thing?
As for diaper changes - my friend Amy has a kid who's our kids' age and they do all changes on the floor because he likes to jump off the changing table. I would probably just throw the changing pad on the ground or just do it on the floor without anything. We do that a lot (both on the floor and on changing pad on the floor, or on the couch when we're in the basement, back of the car, you name it).
Post a Comment