Transition to BGB

[scucci1979]

Number two is due in August and we have Madi's big girl room ready.  She is now 16.5months and was planning to begin the transition in July as I wanted to use her crib for number two.  She seems to be showing me signs that she needs more room to sleep. I plan to move some of things from her old room to the new room so it looks familiar.

I am concerned on how to begin the transition.  Should I begin with naps?  Any tips on how to make the transition easier? Should I use a reward chart?  She will be 20 months when I begin the transition, is this still too young? Should I wait until she is 2 years old to transition?

[*Becky*]

bumping up....and listening in x

[skatty]

You still have time to move her so what I recommend is starting to get her interested in BGBs. We didn't have a deadline but we talked about beds and took Leorah to Ikea many times so she could jump in and out of beds and she was desperate to have a BGB in the end, it started when she was around Madi's age, in her books we talked about how cosy the characters were in their beds and she loved her older cousins bed, by the time she transitioned around 2½ so older, it was no problem, no getting out or anything, she understood completely and I am sure she would of around 2 but we waited until she was absolutely obsessed! I advise don't rush it, if she chooses herself that she wants a BGB you don't have to worry that she feels the baby took her bed, she will just be happy with her new bed, especially if she helps choose it and the bedding. Obviously I have no experience of a new sibling coming into the mix but this transition was so easy for us 

[Texomamama]

Listening in too.....

We are in the process of transitioning our 2.5 yo into the BGB.  The only thing that triggered the move for us was that my husband wanted to take over one of our guest bedrooms and turn it into a work out room, so he wanted the bed that was in there out, hence it is now hers. 

We moved it up into her room 2 weeks ago.  I took her with me and let her pick out (from 2 acceptable alternatives) the bedding.  For the past two weeks, we have been reading our bedtime stories in it.  In fact, if I lay down on it, DD shouts "No, jammies and stories only".  I just bought safety rails yesterday and plan on installing them tomorrow.  Then, I am going to start with naps and do just naps in it for a few weeks before nights, assuming all goes well.

Good luck to you

[brenda2]

dd2 was born when dd1 was 21 mo.  dd2 was in a basinette/cradle until she was 5 mo because dd1 was still in the crib.  i tried to transition before dd2 was born but it was a disaster (lasted 4 days, terrible) so we put her back in the crib and decided to wait.  we bought a bgb and set it up in her room when she was about 2 years and 4 mo.  it was in there for about 2 weeks and we just kind of kept talking to her about it and she would nap in it and had a few nights in it and then would ask to sleep in her crib so that was fine, we let her do that. and then she just kind of decided she wanted to sleep in the bgb so we asked if she would give the crib to the baby and she said yes and so we moved it out and she's been in the bgb ever since.  it was so easy because she was ready.  she has never gotten out of it or cried or anything, it was easy.  she was not ready at 20 mo when i first tried it.

i would wait.  i would get a basinette and postpone the bgb until she's a bit older.  you could buy it now and have it in the room if you wanted but i would really wait.  it'll be easier when she's just a bit older and the baby can be in a basinette for a few months anyway.  we had the baby in our room in the basinette which is easier for nursing etc at first.

[Julianne1984]

Hey, I moved my DS to a BBB @ 21months. I just did it, he loves it and we've not had a single problem, infact, that along with removing his dummies is the best thing we've done and he sleeps so much better. If you think she's ready just go for it good luck. Xx

[scucci1979]

thanks for the advice.  Her BGB and room is ready. I take her in there every day and keep telling her that this will be her new room.  I will give it a try when she is 20months but won't force it if she is not ready.

[Julianne1984]

I bet she'll love it! You'll prob find that she asks to sleep there by then. Its surprising how adaptable they can be. Forgot to say congratulations!! Next christmas will be exciting for you, with a new baby! X