toddler bed

Back when my kids were little the norm was 2 years of age. When I tried to get my first daughter into a bed she begged me to put her in the crib. She didn't want to leave the safety of the bed she had been sleeping in for so long. The only way I could get her to sleep in the bed was by removing the crib altogether. My mother used to have a problem with my older brother. He used to follow my parents downstairs after they put him to bed. He did this several times a night. I don't know how old he was though. But my one year old managed to rock her crib (on wheels) across the room to the change table, climb out and get into some major trouble with a jar of Vaseline petroleum jelly - a very big jar. But that didn't prompt me to put her into a bed. I waited until she was 2 years old. With a lot of the discussions I have seen on here I have a fear that mothers are trying to get their children to grow up too fast. They can hardly wait until they can walk. Well, once they learn to walk they don't walk, they RUN. I also fear that if you put a child in a bed too young, you will find yourself lying with him/her until he/she falls asleep. That habit can be hard to break just like when parents let their children sleep in THEIR bed with them. I was a single mother for the first 2 years of my daughter's life. I never let her sleep with me, nor her me. When I moved in with my husband I still drew the line on her coming into our bed. I have never had an issue with my children sleeping in their own beds. I am not saying that you are going to do any of the above but I just think that if you put a child in a bed too early, these things are more likely to happen. Good luck!

My son had just turned 2 when I got him his toddler bed. My daughter is 13 months old now and is still in a crib. She is like your son and is way advanced over most kids her age. She has been doing the blanket thing the last few weeks also. I think that as long as they are good about going to bed and not trying to get up then it would be ok to start trying.

hello erbear0879, Yes, 14 months old is still young, but all kids progess differently. I think my main comncern more than anything else would be of him rolling out of the bed and hitting the floor. (if it didn't have the side railings)

I tried to put my oldest son (now 5) into a toddler bed when he was 15 months old. He didn't like it, so I had to put the rails back on for his crib. I have only had problems with his sleeping since then. He does not go to bed on his own, and once he is asleep, he'll wake one or two times a night and try and crawl into our bed. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with introducing the toddler bed "too soon" but I can't think of any other reason why. My youngest son (24 months) is still in his crib, I haven't even attempted to put him in a toddler bed, although he is more than ready. He is more than capable of climbing out, but hasn't tried yet. (knock on wood). Although he is very daring (I mean jumping off the couch) he has yet to try climbing out of his bed. On the pillow note, my youngest has been using one since about 6 months of age. He LOVES his pillow. I know there are many concerns about an infant using a pillow, but like yours mine was more advanced, he crawled at 4 months and was walking at 8. I believe putting more blankets in the crib should be more cause for concern, as they can wrap themselves in them and get stuck. I used a travel pillow for my son, which is quite small, to begin with. He has now graduated to a "big boy pillow" and loves it!

When my son turned two we put him in a twin bed. We didn't bother with a toddler bed that would only last a few years, he's only falling out of bed once. He was climbing out of the crib.....thats what made us make our final decision. He has his nights of getting up continuously, but he's getting better now.

I do think 14 months is a little young but not to young to start the "process". He loved being in his crib so the thing I was most concerned about was if he would have a rough time adjusting. I started my son at about 14 months by going to the store and letting him pick out his own toddler bedding set and got him a pillow. Then, I used the set and pillow in his crib over the next few months. I finally switched him to a toddler bed with a side rail at about 18 months with the toddler bedding set that he picked out.(It was thomas the train, because that was what he was into at the time.) I had no problems with him trying to adjust and made a big deal out of his "big boy bed". It really worked well for me. I still to this day put a gate in front of the door at night (He is 2 now) because children don't always stay in bed and I feel better at night knowing he is safe.

My baby #5 we moved to a toddler bed when he was 11 months old- he had been walking for a month. He was able to climb and slide down so I felt comfortable moving him. A week later he took to sleeping in his brother's twin bed, so we got him his own, and sold the toddler bed. I think it totally depends on the kid. He had a pillow younger than most kids. But I don't get them fluffy ones they could smother in. But the want to sleep in my bed with my pillows so I got them their own. I would say since he is bundling blankets under his head a pillow is safer. You can put him in a toddler bed and put a baby gate at his door if you are afraid of him wandering around. He may take a little while to settle down, but once he knows Mommy isn't going to come get him, he will find comfort in his room.

Yea I would give him a pillow because he is old enough. But yea it probably is time for a toddler bed. The reason I say because when they are young like that they just grow up so fast. It does sound like that he is smart. See kids these days are getting smarter as the generations are coming.

i put my daughter in a toddler bed at around 18months old. she does very well with it when she will sleep in it. she usually sleeps with me though but she was doing that even though she had a crib. she'll take her naps during the day in her bed though and i can just lay her in it and she goes to sleep.

The right time for a child to go on her or his own bed depends on her or his maturity. If she or he can already sleep alone on her or his bed inside her or his room, then let him or her.

I would say that he is old enough for a pillow. :O) None of my kids have gone into their toddler beds until they reach 2 and a half. Mainly because the toddler bed is a snap to get out of, and they just don't stay put. My youngest son is 3 and he is still in his crib (with a pillow) because he refuses to sleep in a toddler bed (and stay put), he gets up every 2-3 minutes. Like a game.

If he is doing well in his crib and not trying to climb out, it is fine to leave him there. If you feel he is ready because he stays put and won't be getting out of bed all the time, go ahead and put him in a toddler bed. There is no specific age that is the right time to move to a toddler bed. My only suggestion would be to avoid doing it when other changes are happening. It can be a stressful change for a child, so if there is something else going on, such as a recent move, or you plan to move soon, I would wait until he has adjusted to that change before giving him another one. My son is 17 months old, and I am thinking about moving him to a toddler bed soon, since he has started trying to climb out of his crib and he moves it some. It is not on casters, but he manages to move it a few inches each night.

My daughter is 2 years old and is still in her cot! Its a massive cot and it turns into a bed when she is ready for it, I dont think she is ready for it yet. My boys were all in big beds by the time they were about 2 I think, and we used to have a bed rail that you can buy and it slides under the bed and just stops them from rolling over and hitting the floor, so if you think he is ready you could try one of them. All my lot have had pillows since they were born, they just wouldnt sleep without them so I would say you could try him with a pillow. I think that if you feel he is ready for things, just try them, if hes not ready he will soon let you know!!

I have 4 kids and I wait until they are at least 2 years old before they go to a toddler bed. In fact my second youngest, who is 2 years and 4 months is going to move toa big girl bed on friday! As for a pillow, I'm pretty sure they are not supposed to sleep with one until 2, there was some reason for that, but I don't remember what it was.

I think it depends on the child and other circumstances. My oldest was well past her 2nd birthday because we moved that month and had to close off the upstairs of the new house to save on heating costs until we could save up to have the tanks refilled...$200 seemed like a lot of money 10 years ago! Anyway there was only one bedroom downstairs so we kept her in her crib to prevent her from climbing in with us. My second child was a few months shy of two because we had another baby on the way and I didn't want to take away 'his' bed at the same time we brought the new baby home. That third child was a major climber and was climbing out of her crib by 15 months. I moved her into a toddler bed then because I figured it was safer to have her fall one foot to the floor out of that rather than the 4 feet from the top of her crib railing. The next two all moved into a toddler bed around two...but that was more their grandmother's decision since they were living here at the time. Now my youngest is 15 1/2 months and is still in a crib. He climbs everything but his crib so he's staying in there for now. A family I now had their 4 year old still in a crib just because she was still small enough for it and they didn't feel the need to buy another bed until she had to have one!

We had to put our girl in a toddler bed at 9 mos. (she was an early walker an even earlier climber). If you don't like the toddler beds you will just have to put him in a regular bed. The toddler would be safer as it is lower. Take the rails off so he won't get his legs caught when he jumps out. If you are concerned about him wandering at night if he wakes up put a baby gate in the doorway, unless the doorway is at the top of the stairs. source : http://allaboutparenting.blogspot.com