Moving beds - not sure what/when to do it?

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Now, I know this is still a ways away but I blame a Type A personality plus pregnancy as to why this is keeping me up at night already!

Austin is still in his crib and we both seem to like it that way.   I really don't want to move him out for a while, he seems perfectly content in there and I like not having to battle with him being able to get out.

The thing is, we have a few things going on this spring that have me thinking about how to handle this transition.  The new baby will be born in April.  We do have a co-sleeper and she'll be staying in our room for probably the first couple of months.  We're also moving in May and I know that's going to be a big transition for Austin, so I'm hesitant to change his bed situation too close to the new baby change or the new house change.

So baby girl will need a crib probably in July, I'm guessing.  Do you think that's enough time for him to get used to the new house before I move him?  And should I go to a toddler bed or just to a BBB?  Our crib now is convertible so I could use it to go to a toddler bed for him, but then I end up buying another crib for baby.  Alternately I could just buy a BBB for Austin and keep the crib for baby.   

Any thoughts?  The idea of moving him out of the crib just makes me nervous in itself and then with all these other changes I'm just worried!!!

[~inbalance~]

Well Kate, I can't tell you what the best way to go about it is, but seeing as how we just went through the exact same scenario, I'll tell you how it played out for us.

I had no intentions of moving T from his crib for as long as possible!  We actually got a second crib from my cousin, so there was no pressure to get him out of his. 

F was born end of April, T was 20mos.  We moved the first time a week after F's birth.  For two months F slept in the bassinette next to me and T slept in his pack n' play, so still 'crib-like'.  We moved the second time in July and put T back in his crib, intending on him staying there for awhile still.  Within weeks his sleep went to crap so we said to heck with it, took his mattress out and trialled him sleeping out of his crib on the floor.  That went ok, so initially we converted his crib to a toddler bed, but it was pointless really.  In September just after he turned 2, we got him a BBB, just a normal twin bed with a bed rail.  He loves it, sleeps like a champ!

So yeah, it all worked out even though we had no plan and no idea what we were doing.  Is Austin the type who will get out of bed and wreak havoc, or is he pretty easy going?  I might be tempted, since there are so many changes anyway, to just put him in his BBB right when you move.  Things will be out of whack anyway.  But then again you will have a baby to contend with.  I don't know, I just know it worked out for us because T never gets out of his bed!  lol

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Oh, Martina, you're my hero!  I didn't know you've moved twice since F was born!! I'm nervous enough about doing it once.  And now you're moving again??  Oh my. 

Hmm.  I guess I could just go straight for the BBB when we move.   Maybe start with the mattress on the floor since we can make it so there's hardly anything in the room anyhow when we first move?

I just don't know if Austin is going to be a wreak havoc-er or not.  He does tend to get into things and loves opening dresser drawers, pulling clothes out, etc etc.  So that makes me nervous!

[~inbalance~]

Oh, we're not moving again.    We've moved like a zillion times in the last 5yrs - moved when I was 8mos pregnant with T, moved again when he was 6mos old, and then again twice after F was born.  I'm ready to stay put for now. 

I always thought T would be a disaster out of his bed, but he so wasn't.  His room is pretty bare, there is nothing he can get into really.  but I have to admit he did surprise me with how well he transitioned.  Guess we just got lucky with him. 

How old will Austin be when you move?

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Oh, guess I got confused there!   Glad you're staying where you are for a while!

Austin will be 22 months when we move.  So you don't think it's too much to expect him to deal with a new sleeping situation and a new house?  I suppose he could sleep in the travel crib for a few days in his new room and then go to a mattress on the floor?  He's certainly used to the travel crib after all we've used it lately!  At least that would give him some familiarity and then we could keep his room bare as we try out the mattress?

Now I'm thinking about just getting a platform bed as a BBB.  Then it would be a little lower for him.  Plus they're less expensive so I could spend more money on a really good, organic mattress.

[~inbalance~]

Honestly, I think you will be the best judge.  T has always taken change in stride, so it didn't worry me as much.  I did go through the dilemma of wondering if we should switch him when we finally got into our house, and believe it or not the decision was to keep him in is crib for awhile longer.  It's just, he was teething, and resisting bed, and things were already stressful, so one night I just said to DH forget it, if he's going to scream in his crib just let him sleep on the floor.  And he was happy out of his crib, and that was that.   

TBH, I think most people would tell you to stick it out in the crib a bit longer!

If you think of it most simply though - if he is not trying to get out, why would you move him?  Of course you will have to wait and see what he's like by then.  But think of it this way, if he stays in his crib, in reality it will be SO much easier for you with a new baby.  So I guess it really depends on him, and whether or not he's happy enough to stay there longer!  2yrs is pretty early to be in a BBB, I didn't expect it to happen so soon!

I did want to share our experience though, just so you know it can be done, and it doesn't have to be scary. 

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Thanks, Martina.  It is really good to hear that someone else did it relatively early and it wasn't too traumatic.

I guess I'm just hesitant to buy another crib when we're so close to BBB-ville.  Hmm.  I know I won't know for sure how it's going to go before I do it, it's just so hard to predict!  He does usually do well with change, though, that's a good point.  So I suppose I have that to go on.  I guess I'll just have to make a decision and go with it.  Eeek!

[~inbalance~]

How long do you plan to use the co-sleeper for the baby?  I guess that would be another factor.  I mean, if you think she'll be in it for several months, then you can put Austin back in his crib after the move and still get a few more months out of it, to give him more time to mature so he's ready for the BBB.  But if you think you'll want the crib for when she's like a month or two old, well then it's seems a little silly to have him in it for such a short period of time.

So many decisions! 

I guess another question is, will you have lots of overnight help from DH or other family?  Because if you do, then maybe it would be ok to make the switch knowing that DH can deal with Austin while you deal with the baby.  But if it will be mostly just you at night, that's another story.  Then you might want him confined a bit longer!  I was fortunate and DH was always available to go to T in the night if things were rough.

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

So many decisions! 

Exactly!!

I guess I'm not totally sure about how long she'll be in the co-sleeper.  I didn't move Austin until he was around 5m but we didn't start BWing until 4m so I figured out that it was harder to do in the co-sleeper.  That said, I really do love the co-sleeper for nighttime BFing so maybe we would find a way to make it work.

Good point about overnights.  Actually, when there's just one parent around at night it'll be DH!    I'll be working nights probably 1-3 nights/week starting in July so he'll be on his own a fair bit.  That is an argument for keeping A in the crib longer, that's true.  So maybe we just need to keep baby girl in with us as long as we can.  Hmm.  This is such a tough one!! 

[~inbalance~]

Ok, so what I think is this.  Keep it simple.  Plan to put Austin back into his crib after the move, baby girl into the co-sleeper and carry on that way as long as it works.  If it doesn't, well then you improvise and figure something out, but whatever happens it will all be ok. 

At least if you plan it this way for now, hopefully you won't need to lose sleep thinking about it. 

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Sigh.  That sounds like a good plan for now, Martina.   I guess I'm just so stressed about all the changes coming this spring that I want to have it all sorted out, you know?  But you're right, if I keep baby in the co-sleeper I can just keep A in the crib and not rock the boat until it's not working....

[*Becky*]

i am planning on moving henry before our new baby is born (june) as he will be a month over 2.5 and he is tall. I am going to move him around april buy him a toddler bed and give the crib to the new baby.

[betsysmum]

We too are expecting a new baby in late Feb and had planned to keep Betsy (now 20 months old) in her crib until next summer when the new one is ready to move out of our room and into his nursery. 

Sadly she had different ideas.  She's quite an inquisitive girl and 2 weeks ago figured out how to climb out of her crib, which resulted in her breaking her left arm (two bones).  We've been devastated for her and very confused since we really didn't want to move her out of a cot quite yet.

2 weeks in and she's doing ok.  Before we came back from 2 nights in the hospital my husband converted her crib into a junior bed so it was straight into the new bed.  It's only been in the last 3 nights that she's realised she can get out of her new bed.  So we've had 3 nights of a visitor to our room at 4am.

We've been trying to stay firm with putting her back so that she learns that she needs to stay in her bed, but with a full cast on and her being in pain it's a struggle.

Suppose the point of my post is to just say, look for signs within your child as to whether he is ready to make the move.  I wish we had made the decision to convert her crib the minute she escaped from her travel cot on vacation 2 days before she broke her arm.  I foolishly thought that she would never try it at home.  But she did.

[Love, laughter, & PJs]

Oh betsysmum, I'm so sorry that happened!    Poor girl.  That's definitely a good reminder to watch him and not assume he'll want to stay in there as long as I want him too.  I hope Betsy recovers quickly and you sort out the bed shift soon.