Toddler Bed Transitions

When the time was ripe to move our eldest son from his crib to a big boy bed, I didn’t know enough to be concerned.   So we took him along when we bought the bed, and told him it would be his new bed (he seemed very excited).   We then took it home, set it up in his room, and took down the crib, all in one afternoon.  That night, he had his first sleep in the big bed, and amazingly, we had no problems with the transition.

Now that I have been a parent a bit longer, I know that not all kids deal with change this easily.  My youngest son, while a very placid, happy, charming boy, does not like big changes in his personal environment, and has been like this from infancy.

So when it came to transitioning him from the crib at age 2 years 3 months, we knew we needed to take it in baby steps.  I hope these will help you if you are dealing with a child like ours who doesn’t like change!

Crib accessories and sleepsack

From infancy, I have kept the same soft toys in our son’s bed.  These are familiar and comforting for him. The most important is his yellow teddy bear, which goes with him wherever he sleeps. 

I have also used the same sleepsack for naps and bedtime for more than a year, and this is another clear sleep-cue for my son.

‘Where’s teddy?’ game

When we planned to transition him from his crib, we introduced a game called ‘where's teddy?': 

• We placed the teddy on his bed, then went looking in lots of different places for it.
• When he found it, there was a big “Hurray! Here’s teddy! On your bed!”
• We played this each naptime and bedtime.

Sleep rules

At this time, we also introduced the sleep rules. I recited these rules each naptime and bedtime from then on as the final part of his sleep routine. The rules are:

• lie down
• eyes shut
• stay very quiet
• go to sleep

Phase 1: modified crib

• We took the drop-side off his crib, and replaced it with a bed-rail.
• He spent a few weeks in his modified crib, and learned how to climb in and out safely.
• Fortunately, he never tried to climb out during sleep time, but I had to discipline the older ones many times for playing ‘babies’ in the crib!

Phase 2: new room

• After a few weeks, we needed to move him to a new room. I thought a new room and a new bed at the same time would be too much change, so we put the modified crib into the new room along with all his familiar crib toys, mobile, etc.
• We then played ‘where’s teddy?’ during the day to introduce him to his new room.
• We pretended that teddy was going to sleep, and told him that he needed to sleep too. As a game, we encouraged him to get up on the crib and lie down, although he quickly ‘woke up’ again and wanted to get off.
• His first sleep in the new bed was at bedtime, as I find my children sleep more soundly at night and are less likely to make a fuss about changes. We recited the sleep rules, and he lay down for sleep.
• He fussed quite a bit that night, and for about two weeks following, but gradually became accustomed to the new room.

Phase 3: new bed

• After a couple of months, we set up the bed in the room, and put the bed rail with it, along with all his crib toys.
• We tried to make it as similar to the old crib as we possibly could, including moving the mobile, putting similar colours around his bed, etc.
• As before, we played ‘where’s teddy?’ during the day to introduce him to his new bed
• His first sleep in the new bed was at bedtime. We recited the sleep rules, and he went to sleep without fuss.

Phase 4: sharing in a new room

After a few months, we had to transition him into sharing a room with his older brother.

• Again, we made the new bed (lower bunk with bed rail) as similar as we possibly could to the old bed.
• Again, we played ‘where’s teddy?’ to introduce him to the new bed during the day.
• Again, his first sleep in the new bed was at bedtime. We recited the sleep rules, and by then, he was a pro at being moved around, so he settled straight away. 

Phase 5: sleeping at daycare

The last transition (very recent) was at daycare, which has gone really smoothly. I think this is due to him being more tired from all the socialising, but also because he has become a lot more adaptable that he was a year ago.

Have you transitioned a child out of the crib? How did it go? Please share any tips you learned in the process!