Is it the right time to transition...toddler bed delema

[Grace's Mom]

Ok, so we weren't planning on transitioning to a toddler bed until Grace turned 3....one year from now as she just turned two on April 2

Well, my BF is getting married in August.
she is getting married in Maine, so we have to travel.
Grace is super tall and I don't think she'll fit in her play pen anymore.
At 18 months she was almost too long for it and since then she's grown 4 inches

Should we transition due to the wedding?
Or are there other options?
We aren't staying in a hotel, or we'd just use their portable crib.
We are staying in someones room....all 3 of us    Not sure how I'll sleep, but that's another story.  

My fears....1. she's spirited and I am afraid she won't stay put.  2.  She's never slept in a bed before...never with mommy or daddy....only ever in her crib  3. she won't nap anymore

Good thing....1.  our crib turns in to a toddler bed, so three sides of it will be just like her crib now, only one side changes   2.  It will be easier to travel with her   

What do you think??

How do we transition?

She is an early riser (6/6:30) but we usually keep her in there for 30 min. -1 hour after waking...usually up at 7am.  With her being in a toddler bed I'm sure she'll want out.
Any tips?

thanks.
Melissa

[marensmama]

My DD1 has been in a BGB since December.  She was 29 months old and I was in no hurry for her to be out of the crib.  She had some sort of GI illness in November and threw up in her crib and didn't want to be in it again, tantrums every night.  We went out, bought the BGB and DH assembled it in the garage.  She then informed us that she wasn't ready for it.    About 2 wks later she informed us that she had thought about it and was ready to make the change.  We put the bed beside her crib for a week and gave her the option of where to sleep, she always chose the BGB.  We have only had 2 nights of her getting out of the bed, and that was a couple months after we initially made the change.

Sure, now she is transitioning out of naps, and she does spend some time in her window seat (located right next to the bed) every night before she settles, but honestly this is all developmentally appropriate and we'd be dealing with no nap days even if she was still in the crib.  TBH, I thought that we would have more of a battle with her than we did.  She is also an early riser (6:08 to be precise ) but she doesn't get out of her bed, she yells for us to get her.  We do have a safety rail on the side of the bed, but when she has slept away from home on a regular bed or naps on our bed she doesn't move at all.

Do you think she'd need to have experience with a BGB before the wedding?  Doesn't sound like you're going to get any sleep anyways!  Just a thought! 

[Grace's Mom]

Well, good news...DH went over to his parents and brought over our play pen
We laid her in it with her pillow and blanket and she fit....just barely but still fits.
Now if she grows another inch or two before the wedding we'll be in trouble but I think we are good to go...for now.

Thank you so much for your response. 
glad your transition went well.
It's good to hear success stories.

Of course if she'd like to transition prior I'd let her....maybe   
Since our crib turns into a toddler bed, we wouldn't have the option of having to beds...crib and toddler bed so once we transition that will be it   

Melissa

[marensmama]

Perfect!  Here's to no major growth spurts and to making the transition on your timetable!

[Grace's Mom]

Thanks 

[Colin Macs Mom]

FWIW Melissa, we switched Colin over one week after his second birthday and it was fine

[Grace's Mom]

That's good to know.

Did you find he got up a ton or didn't want to stay in bed like he use to after waking?

Melissa

[Colin Macs Mom]

Actually it didn't seem to occur to him for about two weeks that he could get up on his own. We had no problems at all until we were a couple weeks into it and then we had about three days of putting him back in bed at night a bezillion times.

I had been expecting the worst but it was a piece of cake!

[Grace's Mom]

Thanks again

I think for now we'll wait as she isn't trying to climb out and loves her crib but I feel better about the process now.

***Do you think it gets harder or easier to transition as they get older?

[marensmama]

Melissa, I think it's more their temperament as opposed to age that makes the transition harder/easier.  I think a textbook/angel child (as Maren is) will make the transition easier and wait in bed to be 'gotten up'.  A spirited child might be a bit more apt to explore and be unable to resist the sudden stimulation of freedom IYKWIM.  I waited as long as I could because I was afraid her nap would suffer, also we had another LO on the way and I didn't want her to have any other major change in her life at the time.  But tbh, I don't think the outcome would have been any different regardless of how old she was when we made the transition.

[Grace's Mom]

That makes sense 

[Colin Macs Mom]

I agree - we knew we would have to do the put-back-in-bed thing but we were thrilled it was only a few days

[Grace's Mom]

Grace picks up on things pretty quickly so I am hoping it will be easy when the time comes.

Did you find they ended up sleeping better over all after the transition?

She does fine now (10-12 hours at night and 1 hr. average day time sleep), but I have heard that some toddlers end up sleeping better.
Is that what you found?

[KathrynK]

Hi Melissa
have only just seen this post. We just returned from a week's vacation yesterday and had exactly the same problem, Sophie is too big for her travel cot but still has a cot at home. I bought her a "ready bed", don't know if you have these where you are, here's a link so you can see:

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Product.aspx/TruHome/BruKidsRoom/BruKidsRoomCoOrdinatedDecor/BruKidsRoomCoOrdinatedDecorITNG/443018?ref=Search
(hope that worked)
anyway it comes with a footpump and takes about 5 mins to inflate. I was very nervous about her sleeping in it for all the same reasons as you. For a couple weeks before we went, I had it in the spare bedroom so she could "play" at sleeping in it while I was running her bath, etc. I think this helped the novelty to wear off a little before she had to sleep in it for real. She also sleeps in a grobag and that helped as she couldn't get up properly.
Whilst we were away, the first night we were there she was really tired as she'd had a short nap due to travelling. She rolled off a couple times before I left the room and sat on the floor, but I just put her back and then left. She fell asleep really quick and slept all night long in the bed. Every night was absolutely fine, she went to sleep in it ok. Only on one night I had to go in when she cried at 5am, she had rolled off and managed to roll under the bed in the room and was shouting "I stuck, mummy!"
Naps- we had 4 good naps out of 7 days, the other 3 days she stayed in her room just fine for over an hour but didn't actually sleep, I think that's more to do with the vacation than the bed. I just gave her a slightly early night and tbh that helped her to go to sleep quicker as she was more tired than normal!
Lots of praise in the mornings for sleeping in her bed all night long helped too.
hope this gives you some hope and helps a little! xx

[Grace's Mom]

Wow, what a great story.
Glad it went well for you all.
And, she had never slept in it prior to the vacation? 
Amazing.
I have never seen these here but it's something I'd love to look up.
Thank you.