Success Stories for Big Bed Transitions (please post link here)

[sarah13h]

We moved ds1 (23mths) into his big bed after having spent a long weekend staying with his cousins.  He'd been sharing a room with them, him in his travel cot & them in their big beds.  When we came back, we asked if he wanted a new bed like them.  Unsurprisingly, he said yes.  So the next day we set up a proper adult single bed, with bedrail, and haven't looked back since.  It's got a roll-out bed underneath, so we just pulled that out when he went to sleep...but a month down the line we've stopped since he's never fallen out.

Oh, but we only transitioned to a bed - he's still in his gro-bag.  We'll tackle that one in the spring, when he's room warmer at night.

[Ryan&HollysMom]

ryan slept in a playpen at his grandparents house, and got too long for it at 25 months. so he switched to a double bed, no problem. then a week later he said he wanted to sleep in the spare bedroom in the double bed. this was going to be his room anyway, but not until about 7 months later for christmas. so he moved in , sort of, just for naps at first then at night too. he loved it and never gave us any trouble. about a month later we bought him the big boy bed of my (oops, i mean his too of course) dreams, about 3-4 feet of the ground with a ladder and an attached desk. and truck sheets!!!! he was in heaven and still is. he can get down himself, but still sleeps in a sleeping bag and will not climb out of bed unless i ask him to.

[ishkin]

Our transition story http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=144554.msg1593458#msg1593458

[babymunkey]

Not posting a link cos its short and mercifully sweet - at 18 months (2 days ago) we took the side off his cot, left the other side on with a bumper, put pillows and duvets on the floor, a stairgate on the doorway and the door open as usual.

Had to put him back to bed once after getting in, and resettle twice before 10 pm (both unusual) - cried out at 2.30am and self-settled, cried out again at 5.45 and self settled, woke up (me that is) at 7.10 with him calling to us from the gate holding his Thomas train and his room a sea of books! No idea how long he'd been awake, but don't really mind off a 7 am wake-up call on a Sunday.

2nd night tonight - climbed into bed himself, did storytime in his bed, kissed him goodnight and walked out - 1 hour later, not a peep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feeling very smug, but also prepared that this might not be the end of it, but here's hoping...

H

[blitz]

About 2 months ago (my ds was then 22 mths) we set up his new big boy room.  We are expecting again in 2 mths and wanted to try to switch before the baby came.  At first he only wanted to play in his new room, but not sleep.  Everyday I asked him if he wanted to try to sleep in his new bed, he answered with a firm NO! I didn't want to press the issue, so i just kept asking.  Well, one day he just said yes and crawled right in.  That night and the next he woke in the middle of the night crying.  I cuddled him a little and then went back to my own bed.  He has slept through the night ever since, he even waits in his bed in the morning until I come get him, even though he can easily crawl out on his own.

[Declans_Mommy]

http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=156172.0

[*Natasha*]

We just put DD2 into a BGB a week ago with no problems she isn't much of a climber and can't even climb onto the bed so i think it will take her a long time to figure out how to get out. She is however not taking so long to fall asleep at bedtime these days and has stopped sucking her thumb at night time 

[Julianne1984]

Hey, we made DS's cot-bed into the bed 3weeks ago at 21months. We've had no problems at all. If anything he sleeps a little better! He loves his bed so much! He reads books in there while I run his bath and he lays on there with his teddies if he's sleepy. Glad we did it x

[runruh]

We moved our 10 month old into a toddler bed as he was climbing out of his crib. We were expecting our 2nd baby in 2 months anyway and would need the crib for the new baby. After a week of him coming to and opening the door (with a gate up) and screaming for us in the middle of the night, we decided to go back to the crib and he never climbed out again. We moved to a new place when he was 16 months old and decided to switch him to the BBB and his new room at the same time. We used the same routine with him as we did with the crib and he has slept in his BBB and new room without any problems. In the morning he gets up and plays until I get up and open the door for him. Today he actually went to his bed and went to sleep for nap without me realizing it! He loves his bed and his room.

[NoonieP]

We took the front off of her crib, just as mentioned above. However, I rolled a blanket up and put it under her fitted sheet making a "safety roll". It stays in place, is easy to remove once she is awake, and gives her support. I also put a large blanket on the floor, just in case there was a fall. She's been sleeping this way, for naps, for over a week. No falls yet. We make the transition for bed time this weekend. Here's hoping she stays in all night.

What a fantastic idea. We're having trouble moving to a big boy bed but this just might do the trick. Think it would be ok if I woke him up to try it?  LOL just kidding. 

[newmom101]

Hi everyone! Well we transitioned our 23 month old son to his toddler bed over Christmas break. We were very pleasantly surprised when he took to it quite well. No issues with falling out of the bed, no issues with getting out of the bed, no issues waking up, nothing! We were so proud of him! We put a toddler bed, (same size as crib but open around 75% of edges) which is only about 8 inches off the ground, and we just put it in his current room. We didn't want to put him in a new bed as well as change his room at once. So far so good, the only thing that he does every once in a while is to kick at the wall since he now has access to it, other than that he sleeps perfectly well!

I am so happy to be able to post this and thankful for all the posts before mine which we read before transitioning him! Thanks to everyone!

[Strawberri]

We are at the begining of our success story but I know its going to be OK! We bought our (then) 2 yr old a big boy bed, and we bought a full size to give him room to grow. needles to say he was afraid of it and for some reason I didn’t even think to look on this amazing web site for support help or ideas. so we just let him sleep in his crib thinking that one day he would want to sleep in his bed. jump ahead to this month our son is 3 and our new little guy is 7 weeks (sleeping in a bassinet as of now) we need that crib soon, so I put the mattress on the big bed and had him sleep on that. he did great the first day. then the second day he was scared, and started waking up at night crying and afraid and we had to lay with him to clam him down and get him back to sleep. Day 3 I had the inspiration to come see what help the forum could offer. When he woke up crying in his bed again i just put the mattress back in his crib. and told him i would check on him in a Minuit then in 2 then 3 then 4 then 5. he fell back asleep and woke 2 more times that night but we did the same thing and he was OK after the 3rd one. today for his nap as the site suggested we are having him sleep in the big boy bed during the day and crib at night for a few weeks. I laid him down and he mentioned he was afraid so i did the same thing checked in at 1 min then 2 then 3 then 4 then 5 and every 5 min after that. it took 1 full hour and 2 leaving the room where i just took him back no eye contact no talking and he fell asleep feeling safe and secure. he is napping right now and i am so thankful for this web sight and all the help you give. thank you everyone! I know we arent done but i can allready tell that this is going to be a compleete success![/font][/font]

[tracyl0826]

I don't have a link either, but just a few things that worked well for us.  First we put his crib mattress directly on the floor.  After a month or so, his new bed arrived.  We set up his whole room while he was at school (all new furniture, new sheets/comforter that he picked out, etc).  I also bought him a special toy (a new train to go with his Thomas set) and had the train sitting on his dresser.  When he came in, he loved it.  Also, because he had gotten used to sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor, we never had any issues with him falling out of the bed.  We did not use bed rails or anything.

[mrsroberts4]

I don't have a link here to a story but will just post it here as we did my daughter when she was older rather than younger.
(reason being my son is a bad sleeper, and we didn't want her disturbing him while we were trying in vain to sleep train).

When she turned 3, we talked to her about taking the sides off her cot bed to have a big girl bed. She chose new covers and stuffed animals to go at the bottom and then that night we put her to bed as usual and she was happy and excited to be in a big girl bed and then turned out the light and closed that door. That was it. we haven't had a problem with her getting out, or fighting it etc. I could be because she was older and ready to listen and understand or because she has always been a good sleeper, but I just *know* my son will give me a harder time.