When to switch to toddler bed

[maggie2]

We're pregnant with our second lo and I'm wondering how we should go about sleeping arraingments.  DS is 16 months right now - doesn't seem anywhere near being able to sleep in a toddler bed as he still flops around like a fish all night long!  But I'm wondering where he'll be when the baby is born - he'll be about 23 months at that point.

We want to move him into his new room well before the baby arrives - just one less thing he'll have to adjust to when we bring the new lo home   When did all of you transition to a toddler bed?  I was thinking that we would just move his existing crib into the new room and use that until the baby is ready to sleep in the crib.  But that comes with it's own problems - I'd have to disassemble it each time I moved it from room to room - not crazy about that as I think it may start to get wobbly/unsturdy.  I also don't want to have to take ds's crib away from him and give it to baby.  I'd rather him get used to his own bed or new crib first.

What do you all think?

Thanks!
Maggie

[Wilsmon]

We moved our daughter at 22 months and regreted it!!  I would wait until at least 2 1/2 - 3 yrs.  Can you afford to just get another crib?  I really think that would be the easiest and best solution. 

If you move your son too early you will probably find yourself up all night putting him back to bed.  If you take the crib away later he may end up jelous or hurried at that point. 

If you can't afford a new crib I would at least wait until the baby is born.  The baby will probably be in a bassinet or co-sleeper for the first few months?  At that point you could move the toddler and still have 2-3 months of adjustment time before you need the crib for the new baby which should be long enough.

[Florencia]

First off, congrats on your pregnancy! i hope it goes smoothly and healthy.

My advice would be to switch him to the new room as soon as possible (if you have it ready by now, better since he'll get a chance to spend a full 6 months in his new room without blaming the new sibling) even it this means the whole arming/disarming tango.

I'd say your ds is still very young to switch to a toddler's bed but some moms around here have found success at that age, i guess it all depends on how sensible your toddler is to changes. If he's a spirited/touchy/grumpy one, i'd suggest you to take baby steps (that is first, move him from the room, then a couple of months later to the bed and then leave a good 2 month period until baby arrives), but it all depends on your timings. Some moms have had to do the switch all at once and even if it was not a pleasant process, it lasted shortly and the lo's got used to their new surroundings quite easily.
HTH and good luck!

[* Paula *]

We moved our DS at 13 months old.  The only reason we moved him this early is cause he was born with Talipes, and has to wear a pair of boots with a bar between them and everytime he turned over, he would get his feet caught in the bars and he would wake up and ended up disturbing his sleep more than anything.

We started out by buying him an air bed and he took to it the first night, and absolutely loved the freedom of it.  He slept much better, and started to sleep through the night again without any disturbances.

DS is now 16 months and has since outgrown his airbed and started waking in the night again as there was not enough space to move about in.  Yesterday we put him in a toddler bed for the first time and he loved the fact that he could climb onto the bed himself.  He slept all night, and goes down like a dream on it.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Paula x