Transition to Toddler Bed.

I've been requested to describe our transition to using a big boy bed with Bee. Our little guy is 18 months old and this month we made the leap!

First things first is our reason for switching him so early. We will be having another baby in two months or so and didn't want to buy a new crib for the baby. So in about 8 months when Baby Boy 2 is ready to move from our room to the crib Bee needs to be out of it.  With that in mind we also didn't want to have to buy a toddler bed since our crib converts to a toddler daybed by removing the front side. So we realized we needed to make the change before Baby 2 arrived in case of sleepless/stressful nights and to give Bee enough time to acclimate to sleeping in a toddler bed. The eventual goal being in about 8 months to by him his even BIGGER bed that will last him him through much of childhood.

So, that was our reason for switching to the toddler bed. A part of our routine in his crib was that when he woke up in the morning or after a nap I wouldn't go get him right away either. The time started with five minutes and gradually increased to between 10 and 15 minutes between him waking up and me getting in there. This was done for two reasons, first so that he would be comfortable in his crib and second so that if he wakes up early I can squeeze in a quick shower. You may be wondering why I say all of this but I think it's an important part of our smooth transition.  Bee felt comfortable being in his crib and being by himself (granted not for long but at least for 5-15 minutes). Also, we have always had Bee sleeping with his bedroom door shut, so it being shut now isn't new to him.

So to make the switch we baby proofed his room by removing lights that could be pulled down, putting a lock on his closet, and removing the books. I didn't want to come in one morning to all his books ripped apart!

THE CHANGE:

The day of the big switch I was a nervous wreck! We removed the side of his bed with him in the room and talked to him about how we were changing it to his big boy bed. Worked with him on climbing in and out of the bed (which is only a foot off the floor) and showed him how all of his usual things are still there. A very small pillow, his puppy, and blankets. I wanted everything that could be the same to stay that way so we delayed changing his sheets for an extra week too.

That evening for dinner, knowing he might not sleep well, we made a dinner that he would eat all of so being hungry would not be an issue. We started our bedtime routine a little earlier in anticipation of a longer goodbye before leaving but otherwise stuck to our routine perfectly so as not to change anything else! Then we put him to sleep. Oh boy was he unhappy! We put him in his crib and talked to him a bit about how it was his big boy bed and everything was still there. But the crying was not fun. We left the room for about 10 minutes and went back in (I thought he would be at the door but he wasn't... he was still in his crib but definitely not happy. When we went back in we sat next to him on the floor and talked to him and gave him lots of hugs and got him to the point where he was calmly laying down/partially hugging me but not crying in his bed. Again, we left the room and more crying. I was really worried that our attempt would not work and we were going to have to wait longer and buy more beds. But within the next 10 minutes he fell asleep. That night he woke up a couple of times but fell back asleep on his own.

Day two, I was worried for nap time, but it just involved a little bit of crying, I went back in once did the hug and talking thing, then he fell asleep again within 10 minutes.  That evening we again stuck to our bedtime routine and when put him down for bed were surprised that we never had to go back in. He cried a little bit but it was more a whine than a cry. 

Everyday got progressively better. I kept waiting for him to just freak out but it never happened. I also kept waiting for him to get out of bed in the middle of the night or when he woke up.  He still (3 weeks later) has only gotten out of bed once but was back in bed when I went in to get him. The one time he got out of bed he got out to get a stuffed animal that was across his room and has become a favorite recently (Mickey).  But when I went to get him to start our day he was waiting in bed for me to arrive. As soon as I open the door he sits up and climbs down and gives me a hug. While waiting for me to get him I've heard him turning his night light on and off (It's right by his bed), singing songs, and talking. All of which I am perfectly happy with.

I know that this is NOT at all a typical experience with transitioning children to toddler beds. I think there are a couple of reasons why this worked so well.
1. We weren't changing him to a completely different bed (only his bed slightly modified). 
2. We have had a great bedtime routine in place for months that he understands and loves.
3. He hasn't been trying to jump out of his crib at all. We never had an escape artist on our hands.
4. He's still pretty young and while that seems like it would be a downfall I believe it actually made it easier because he's had less time to get super attached to things being one way.
5. Finally, he was used to our method of letting him cry then going in, then crying some more, then going back in. That has been our routine with him from the beginning when we started his bedtime routine. So consistency was on our side.
6. As mentioned above he felt comfortable being in his room for 5-15 minutes without someone else, playing on his own, and with the door shut.

I am amazed at how well he did and hope that our transition can help some other people with the change too. It's so hard because every child is different and you don't know what you're going to get until you just do it. But maybe something we did might make it easier for your little one too.

 This was Bee this morning when I walked into his room!

A better view of the bed area. We have no toddler rail but as I said the bed is only a foot off the floor. He hasn't rolled out at all but I have the blanket there just in case. : )