How did you know it was time to ditch the crib?

[CloudBee]

If we had a baby today, I would buy a 2nd crib, or throw the new baby into a PnP bassinet attachment.

DS is 21 months and showing NO signs of wanting to sleep in a bed. He's an amazing sleeper, and we're going to stay with the crib until it becomes a hazard or he voices his opinion. I kind of hope he's in the crib until age 3, because his bedroom is so far from ours.

[Deleted]

I kicked DD out of hers because I needed it for the next.
I did a bit older than 20.5 months, but not much.

We never had a problem. I just took her crib out, gave her a bed, told her how awesome it was and didn't really play it up too much more.

She was closer to 2.5 before she ever figured out that she could get out of it on her own.

She was also a crib jumper but I can count on one hand the number of times she's fallen out of bed and she's now 3.5.

[olivesyou]

We are ditching the crib at 2yrs 4months probably. Baby 2 is due when littleOlive will be 2yrs 5months, and I don't want to buy another crib. We'll transition him to a bed in a new 'big boy room' about a month before the baby comes. I am praying it goes smoothly! He has never tried to climb out or anything, I hope he has the same desire to stay in a bed!

[carolinagirl831]

DD is 22 months and has no signs of being ready for a bed. This baby will be born when she is 25 months old. I think we're going to buy another crib. I do not want to mess with DD's good sleep. $200 is worth it to me!

[thebreakfastclub]

We transitioned to the toddler bed at approximatley 9pm on Monday night, LOL. DS is not quite 23 months.

He had been refusing to sleep in his crib for the previous 9 nights. He needed to be rocked and put down asleep, which is totally unlike him. Being put in the crib was causing massive screaming, crying and 2 throw up incidents. So we decided to give it a try and see how it went.

He still needs some coaxing to go to sleep now, but he got right in and laid down on it. He is calling it a "big bed crib" and it's going well. He has STTN without a peep.

I think he is realizing now that he doesn't want to miss out on things by going to sleep, and the bed has made the transition a bit easier.

I don't know what I would do with an 18 month old though. 5 months makes a tremendous difference at that age.

[mrshandy]

We ditched at 24 months, not voluntarily. DS was climbing out, even in a sleepsack. It was kind of a nightmare, he slept on the floor for a few weeks.

My advice is don't fix what's not broken, keep them in there as long as they will stay.

[lostlenore]

DS1 was 21 months when Ds2 was born. He did not seem ready to be out of the crib yet, so I planned on buying another one. Luckily, I family friend was getting rid of theirs & gave it to me (bonus that theirs was way nicer than anything I could afford!). DS1 ended up staying in his crib until almost 3, so it would have been worth it even if we had needed to buy another one.

[oswin]

We'll have about that spacing and we were planning on transitioning DD to a toddler or twin bed. But today, after scrubbing her crib and sheets free of vomit, I'm having images of scrubbing her entire room of poop or vomit, and I'm starting to wonder. I'm surprised DD hasn't tried to climb out of her crib yet - I figure if she does (and I think that's likely, she climbs everything), then we'll go to a big bed anyway.

[noodleskooze]

DS is 18 months, and he is no where ready for a bed. He moves all over the place, and he has never attempted to climb out of the crib or anything. I'm keeping him in there as long as I possibly can.

[noodleskooze]

Also, mekiakoo I bought a "Big Brother" shirt from Target in size 18 mo. Do you want it? I don't think we'll end up using it after all.

[brady2012]

Jan 15, 2015 13:15:59 GMT -5 mekiakoo said:

If everything goes okay, this baby will be born when E is 20.5 months old. I have no idea what it'll be like by then- but right now I'm thinking we should at least buy another crib.

Or is this stupid? Should we transition him to a bed? Or when? Right now he likes to stand in his crib and dance. I'm just envisioning him doing the same in a bed and falling off. 

Mine are 22.5 months apart and I refused to buy a second crib.  We moved DD to a twin bed with a rail at 20 months.  Instead of a box spring we put a bunky board under it to make it lower so she could get in and out with a step stool. Her sleep improved 1000 percent the night we moved her to the bed.  She didn't even think about getting out of bed on her own until a full year later.  She really only gets out once every 3 months.

I will probably move my son at the same age even though we don't need to.  I don't know if it made a difference but both are in daycare and were transitioned to cots for naps at 1 year.

ETA:  My perspective may have been different if she was a good sleeper, but she terrible so I wasn't risking anything.  I actually think she hated the crib mattress based on the fact she slept better from day one.

[Deleted]

Will the baby be in your room for a while at all? If so, I would just wait and see if you need a crib once the baby is here based on if he seems ready then.

[Deleted]

J was 21 mos when the girls were born and we bought them cribs and kept him in his. He was not showing any signs of climbing out etc. And we wanted to keep him in as long as possible.

He will be 3 end of May and we are just now moving him to a full size bed. We had planned on waiting until he was 3 because he still isn't climbing out or showing signs of needing to be out of it but, I am planning to night wean the girls when they are just over a year old. I can only handle one major sleep disturbance at a time lol. so I'm moving J now so that he is settled by the time I am ready to night wean the girls.

[anna7602]

DD told me so. She kept saying she wanted a bed and insisted on sleeping in my bed until we went to IKEA and let her pick out a bed. She was 2 years old and about 2 months at the time. Never had any issues with her wandering off during the night or not staying in bed, but every kid is different. It's hard to know in advance.

[honeybadger]

Jan 15, 2015 13:19:30 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I kicked DD out of hers because I needed it for the next.
I did a bit older than 20.5 months, but not much.

We never had a problem. I just took her crib out, gave her a bed, told her how awesome it was and didn't really play it up too much more.

Ditto this.  We transitioned DD out of her crib at 21 months (2 months before DS was born).  She wasn't a climber or anything--just needed it for the next and I refused to buy another crib (I'm cheap and I didn't want more stuff in the house).  We haven't had any problems-had one tough night the first night of the transition, but we just put her back in her bed when she'd get up.  Now she just goes down on her own, just like when she was in the crib.

One thing I'd keep in mind is what you plan to do re: where the baby will sleep.  We plan to keep DS in a RNP/PNP our room until 6 months--so we could have transitioned DD later if we wanted to.  

[penguingrrl]

None of mine made it to 18 months in the crib. Two climbed out (16 and 17 months) and the other screamed nonstop until we changed it to a toddler bed after sleeping in a sleeping bag for a few nights at Christmas. It was honestly a very easy transition for us with all three. We went right to twin beds and never used a rail, each fell out two or three times ever then were fine.

[havarti]

I think I would use a PNP and/or RNP for the new baby and trasition E when he's a little older.

[Deleted]

We converted to a toddler bed around two, and he did fine. If you're going to convert the crib, I like the toddler bed size personally. We just switched to a full recently and it's SO BIG.

[biscoffcookies]

I am Team Crib for As Long As Possible. DD just turned 3 and is still in a crib. She's never tried to climb out, although she has recently started asking "can Daddy knock the bars off?"

We're going to move her to a bed when we move to our new place within the next few months, as Baby #2 will come this summer and needs the crib. I think she will be fine not just because she's asking but because she sleeps like a normal person -- by which I mean, she's already using a comforter and pillow, she doesn't turn and roll every which way like she did when she was younger, etc.

[speckledfrog]

DS1 was 26 months when DS2 arrived. We bought a second crib. He was happy as a clam in his crib and I didn't want to change too much stuff. He just transitioned about two months ago (33-ish months).

[hopecounts]

Either way is fine.
One of my friends has 3 kids all 18-20 months apart and she transitioned the youngest out of the crib for the baby and it worked really well.
Essentially the kids were so little they didn't get that they could get off the bed and by the time they did realize it staying in bed was so in grained they never really tried it.

Another friend had 3 under 5 and got a crib for each kid and that worked well for her.
So my anecdotal take is do what makes you comfortable and it'll be fine.

[shellbear09]

My dd is that age and I have no interest in ditching the crib anytime soon. If she were to try and climb out then I would.

[cinco]

Jan 15, 2015 13:19:30 GMT -5 @justdairy said:

I kicked DD out of hers because I needed it for the next.
I did a bit older than 20.5 months, but not much.

We never had a problem. I just took her crib out, gave her a bed, told her how awesome it was and didn't really play it up too much more.

She was closer to 2.5 before she ever figured out that she could get out of it on her own.

This for DD1. DS was close to 2, but I don't even remember our reasoning. DD2 was just shy of 3. We just felt it was time. She has been sleeping in longer since we switched. Sometimes she curls up on the floor and sleeps there instead. I don't care as long as she sleeps!

[liveintheville]

Kid 1 we kicked out when we needed it for kid 2. So around 2.5. He had been able to climb in and out of it since about 1 though. Kid 2 we kicked out at 1 when we climbed out and landed on his head. I remember panicking and running to sleepys to buy kid 1 a mattress THAT day so kid 2 could have the toddler bed.

[Marmee]

My babies always slept in a bassinet/RNP/swing the first few months & they all were out of the crib by 2.5yrs old.  Some before 2yrs old (into toddler bed or a trundle or bed with bedrail).  I would not buy another crib.  DD1 was crawling out by 11mo & anyway I feel bad putting them in a crib after we start seriously potty training.  When I was a kid, I REMEMBER sleeping in a crib...lol.  I think they finally bought me a bed (awesome double canopy!) at like 3yrs old, I remember the day it was delivered & set up.  

[mrsGreeko]

Ditched the crib for the first because we moved and I was pregnant and she was 26 months.

Ditched the crib the second time because I was pregnant and she was 27 months.

Ditched the crib the third time because he was 28 months and I'd promised it to my bro and SIL (their baby was 4 months old at the time). He also looked like he could climb out of it and would try. I never felt like my girls were going to try, but DS definitely would have. We actually kept the crib in his room for 2 weeks after putting up tr big bed and I tried putting him in it and sure enough he climbed right out so we moved him in the nick of time.

[whitemerlot]

My older one was climbing out of his crib in the middle of the night several times a night at 17 months. My second started at 19 months. Once they do that, it's dangerous to keep them in the crib. I would have led them in as long as possible.

I would probably start the new baby in a pack and play if your ds in still in his crib when the baby is born.

[hocus2]

There is a wide range for the crib to bed transition. 

I transitioned my DD around 3.5 or so. DD will get a big bed at 4.  I don't want him up playing with toys all night. He's 3.5 and he has slept in a bed on vacation so I could probably do it now if I wanted to. My cousin moved both kid to beds around 18 months.

[irishbride2]

DD was in the crib until almost 3.

DS is still in the crib and will stay there until he climbs out or we can trust him to stay in bed. (which might be never)

[BlueNotebook]

We moved DD at 2.5 because we were expecting DS. She did great. DS will be 3 in March and he's still in the crib. He hardly has any room but he sleeps great, and goes to sleep well on his own at naps and nighttime and I'm terrified of messing with that. But...he's a big kid and could climb out in a heartbeat if he tried. He can nearly climb in. We'll be moving him in the next month.