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From Crib to Bed
Helping Toddlers Make the Transition to a Big Bed
By Keath Castelloe Low
Cheryl Mills from Cumming, Ga., knew it was time to move her first child from a crib into his own bed when he started climbing out of the crib. "He was also an early talker, so before he started climbing he would holler out to me in the morning, 'Mommy, it's time to get up now!'" she says.
Mills' second child was more of a chewer. "He noshed on the rail of his crib and ended up with elevated lead levels (though it was nothing serious)," she says. "We ditched the crib and since he had a baby sister coming along within the month, we decided to buy him a big boy bed and buy a new crib."
Her third child was simply "kicked" out of the crib. "We needed the crib for baby No. 4," Mills says. All of her children were around 18 months old when they made the move.
Terri Dunlop from Walled Lake, Mich., knew it was time when she walked into her son's room and he was sitting under the crib mattress trying to undo the springs. "He was 2 years old and we had a lot of safety concerns," Dunlop says. "We got him a bed built like a rock, a solid and strong bunk bed that was shaped like a T. He had the bottom bunk, which was enclosed halfway like a tunnel of sorts. We felt safe knowing that he would be less apt to fall out and maybe would feel enclosed enough to stay put at night."
Unfortunately, the move was not the easiest. Dunlop's son earned the nickname "monkey boy" from all his swinging and wild play in his new bunk bed.
Heidi Meno from Houston, Texas, says that her first child helped her second child out of his crib. "I'd find them both standing by my bed at 1:30 a.m.," Meno says. Eventually, she moved them both to beds and resigned herself "to more sleepless nights" as they each adjusted. Both were approximately 28 months old when they made the move.
