We're going to transition Henry (17 months) from his crib to a twin-size bed this weekend. The bed is the bottom part of a bunk bed, without the top part set up. We're able to use the mattress without a box spring, so he can climb in and out of the bed by himself. We set up the bed two weeks ago and have been moving his toys and things into the new room and letting him play in the room and bed. I put up a bunch of animal decals on the wall and he loves them, so it's his new favorite room. He's always wanting me to go in there and look at his monkey on the wall.
I thought about doing something with his crib in his new room or his new bed in his old room at first to make the transition easier in two steps, but we decided to just do it in one step because assembling the furniture multiple times would be a big pain, and we don't want it to take too long as my baby is due in 6 weeks and my mom will be arriving in 3 weeks, and because he's adaptable and a good sleeper and we hope it will go pretty smoothly.
I've tried to get him to nap in the new bed a couple of times without success. Yesterday I put him on his bed with some books when he was good and sleepy and left him. He was quiet for 15 minutes and I thought he was going to sleep, but he got out of bed and came looking for me, so I put him in his crib. Today I moved his blanket, pillow, stuffed animal and white noise from his crib to his new bed and had him lie down on it, then I left and closed the door. (He sleeps with his door closed and can't open doors yet.) He cried for a couple of minutes when I left, I went in once to reassure him for a couple minutes, then he settled down to his falling-asleep moan and I thought that he was going to sleep. But then I heard him get out of bed and start playing with his toys.
So I put him in his crib again.
Now between the two beds he's been down for an hour and a half and is still not asleep. He's gently whining in his crib right now. I still think he'll fall asleep eventually, because he always does, but I'm afraid that with his nap so late it's going to make bed time in his new bed even harder! I usually don't cap naps and he sleeps 2-3 hours, but today I might wake him up at 4 or 4:30 for 9:00 bed time. (It's usually 8, but he's shifted onto a late schedule since we were sick and I'm just letting the bed time alone until we've got the new room settled.)
I need some kind of game plan for the switch.
-If he starts crying when we leave him there tonight, obviously we comfort him, but how much? For how long? How long do we wait?
-What do we do when we hear him get out of bed? He can't get out of his room. I don't want him to end up sleeping on the floor, which is what happened with his "Montessori floor bed" when he was 9 months.
-What if he just won't go to sleep? Do we give up and put him in his crib in his old room at some point, or keep going for as long as it takes?
-What happens if he wakes up and cries or gets out of bed during the night? He never has NW anymore, so we don't have a usual response. I don't want to make any bad habits of him getting attention in the middle of the night, but I also know I can't just neglect him if he's scared in his new bed and room.
Sorry, I know this is a long post. I did read some of the transition success stories and found them helpful, though most of them are with children older than Henry. He's a Spirited toddler, if that helps, but a great independent sleeper from 5 months on and very adaptable. Changing his bed and nap times by 30-60 minutes never bothers him much. His sleep needs are high end of normal.
