[sharonla]

I want to buy Dylan a Cars bed but having a debate with dh about whether to get a twin or toddler. What is everyone doing going straight to a twin or a toddler bed. I say toddler, dh says twin......

[Mom2MandyandTristan]

One of Tristan's gift was a toddler bed and it's in storage but we plan on using it. I think toddler beds are best at first. It isn't as high as a twin and most cribs can be changed in to a toddler bed with rails for safety. A twin bed may make more sense money wise but we used Mandy's toddler bed until she was about 4 then switched it and she was older so she didn't roll around as much so the fear of her falling wasn't there.

[kcmour]

DS1 went from a crib to a queen!!! Spoiled little man!!

[mittons]

Were working on getting dd down on her toddler bed. She sleeps like a crazy person (tosses and turns) This way if she falls it is not far for her to go and they do have some railings for saftey as well...

[mlb]

We went from a crib to a toddler bed for Zach and will do the same for Alex.

[futuremom2b]

We just went from the crib to a full size bed with rails on the side. We but the box spring and mattress on the floor so it wasn't so high. We decided on this to save money and because we had the space?

I see your son is 1 (I hope I saw that right, when are you doing this transition), we didnt' do it until DS was about 2?

[MaggieMoo]

With our oldest ds, we went to a car toddler bed but he wasn't in it very long because he was getting almost too long for it, plus, he needed the extra room to move around. So we went to a full size bed and I am so glad we did.

[megsc]

I am so glad you asked this, been laying awake, literally, at night wondering this as I'd love to have C out of her crib soon so we don't have to buy another one for such a short time...and actually, that is better said that we AREN'T going to buy one for such a short time since she'll be a couple weeks shy of 2. I'm pondering kcmour's move as we have a nice queen that I'd like her to move to (with railings) so that we can keep the playroom and have that bed as a guest bed when needed. Nursery has a full bed in it but she'll be movin' on up and outta there. Interested to see what everyone else has to say! When are you going to start the big move?7

[sharonla]

He is almost 16 months, so I was figuring it being a Christmas gift, by then he should be almost ready. Or the bed will be ready at least. I have a 20% off coupon for Toys R Us, so I wanted to buy it this week before coupon expires!

I called and they have a nascar convertible bed, I wanted the lightening mcqueen but think I will take the advice and save money. This will convert from toddler to twin.

[AMKD]

LP sleeps in a twin bed and has for a while because (a) he hated his crib, and (b) we co-sleep so he is used to a bed. We taught him how to turn around and slide off the bed feet first, and he did fall a couple times in the beginning, but he never got hurt. Now there is a foot stool at the end of his bed and he just uses that to get in and out without any trouble.

I thought about getting a toddler bed as well, but we already had this twin set up in the guest room, so we transitioned straight to that rather than buy a toddler bed that we didn't know how long he would be in for.

[cat915]

Meg, we transitioned dd right at 2 because we needed the crib for this guy- my only advice would be to do it enough away from the baby getting the crib so that she doesn't feel like the baby is taking her stuff as much as she's getting big girl stuff first... good luck! the only trick was at 2, they're too young to understand rewards the next day for staying in bed. We were lucky for the first 5-6 months she stayed in bed just fine (stay in bed and the door stays open), but then she started getting up.... we implemented ferber's toddler method which worked wonders and still does--
first night- if you get up, i'm closing the door for 1 minute, then 2 minute, then 4... and then the second night you start at 2 minutes then 4... etc

[mazariee]

Gabriel has one of those 3 in 1 cribs so I am thinking b/w 18-24 months I will set it up as a toddler bed. If we had gotten a regular crib I probaby would have gobe straight to twin/full size bed.

[kcmour]

We moved ds1 into his queen bed just before he turned 2. He was not sleeping well in his crib & this was the trick for us! I started by putting just the mattress on the floor. Then we added the box spring, and once we knew he would not fall out, we added the frame. The reason we put him in a queen was because we had it as an extra bed when we got a new one. I wasn't sure about a toddler bed because I'm pretty sure they use the crib mattress, right?