I finally bit the bullet this week and decided to test out Millie in a toddler bed. We have been debating whether or not to transition her out of her crib before the new baby came. I have been so nervous because she is barely 17 months old. I have heard of a lot of moms who have transitioned their little one’s out of a crib around 20 months with great success. But I just kept thinking about how little she is. Ultimately, my husband made the final decision. So when he said he wanted her in a bed, it all came down to a matter of when. When is the right time or age to make the switch? It is different for everyone but one night I just decided that it was time to try it out. It was super important for me to not have Millie associate this change with her baby sister being born. Shortly after she turned one we moved her out of the nursery for this reason. She’s been loving her new room and I figured before she starts figuring out all the tricks of escaping her bedroom and whatnot we would just get her used to sleeping in a big girl bed.
Since I wasn’t really sure how this would affect her sleep, I decided to hold off on buying her an actual bed. Instead we just pulled the mattress out of her crib and had her sleep on that on the ground. So if she did fall off in the middle of the night it wouldn’t be too traumatic for her. I do think that having a twin size mattress would definitely give her more room to sleep and move around on while she is sleeping and she probably wouldn’t fall off the mattress as often if she had a bigger one.
So the first night when it was time for bed, we had her watch us take the mattress out of her crib and move her crib in hopes she would get the idea of her new sleeping arrangement. We lucked out this first night cause she had been playing hard all day so she was extra tired and ready for bed. We put her down and she didn’t move an inch… I was shocked. I was expecting to have to battle it out with her and was geared up for a very long night. But she was tired enough she didn’t even seem to realize what even happened. In the middle of the night, she woke up and was wandering around her room half asleep, so we just went and put her back to bed and she stayed asleep the rest of the night! It was a miracle.
The real test though is nap time… I was so nervous to see how she would act at nap time because we have been getting her used to not sleeping with black out curtains so she doesn’t get too dependent on darkness to take a good nap. So with it being lighter in her room and being able to see all of her toys around her I knew she would get up and try to play. After about ten minutes of her getting up to play and me putting her back to bed, I gave in and just put her in her crib cause I wanted to take a nap before I went and worked a night shift that night.
The second night, she got up a few times and tried to play but after the third time laying her back down, she stayed down for the entire night. WOOT WOOT!! Another successful night in the books.
The next day during nap time I decided to put a blanket up in the window to make it darker just to see how she would do. She attempted to get up and play but after a few minutes she went back to her bed.
So here are some tips that I have found super helpful.
1: Start out with transitioning your baby out of his/her crib at bedtime. Babies are typically more tired at night versus nap time so they may have an easier time going down to bed outside of a crib at bedtime.
2: Keep your bedtime routine the same. Don’t try to throw in any other big changes at this time. Keep everything the same as it was when he/she was sleeping in their crib.
3: Stay consistent and don’t give in!! Stay strong. It is super important that you hold your ground. If your little one is awake playing, simply go in their room and tell them to lay down in their bed and lay them back down and leave. Don’t try to give any other attention to your child cause then they will think that if they stay up and play, they get mom and dad’s attention.
I was seriously not expecting this to go so smoothly. I’m sure it will not always be this easy but the initial transition has been awesome! Here soon we will have her sleep on a twin mattress still just on the floor and as she gets better at staying on the mattress we will put it on an actual bed frame. So far, I actually highly recommend transitioning your kids to a regular bed sooner than later cause the older they get, the smarter they get and will know how to test your limits and boundaries with bedtime. Since she is so young, it’s not a big change for her and it’ll become her normal soon. I am hoping by making this transition so early will help her develop good sleep habits outside of a crib. We had great success with Millie sleeping all night since the day she was born because I got her used to sleeping on her own and in a good routine! Stay tuned for a longer and more in-depth blog post on newborn sleep soon! You’ve got this mamas!
xoxo
Kayla