need some pointers on transitioning a 21 month old to a bed.

when i transitioned my daughter 2 years ago i laid down with her and dont want to start that habit with my son especially since they will end up sharing a room for a short time. any suggestions would be great. i was thinking napping the baby in the crib at night and in the big boy bed during the day what do you think?

Re: need some pointers on transitioning a 21 month old to a bed.

no one has any advise on transitioning a baby into a bed?

Re: need some pointers on transitioning a 21 month old to a bed.

I didn't really "transition" Ella. We set up her room a few weeks before Erik arrived (she was 23 months when he was born). We talked it up a lot, and once her room was done, she wanted to sleep in it. She fell asleep (for a nap) while playing on her bed the first day it arrived, and there was no going back.

For a few months she would call both rooms "her room" but never asked to sleep in the old room or in the crib. Erik was in our room for a few months, so by the time he moved into the crib, she was calling it his room.

I had a gate on her door so the door could be open but she couldn't get out and wander at night. No rails on her bed.

eta: I do sit/lay with Ella for her night time routine. She gets a book (or 2) and then I lower the lights and sing a song to her. She's generally awake when I leave.

Message edited 1/3/2010 9:22:25 PM.

Re: need some pointers on transitioning a 21 month old to a bed.

Bryan is older and he only started sleeping in his room this weekend.
We started with nap time and by bed time he was looking forward to it.

Good Luck

Re: need some pointers on transitioning a 21 month old to a bed.

im transitioning him from his room which has a crib to his sisters room. he would sleep in the bed and she would sleep in the trundle. you think i should start him out with naps first then bedtime? i have to have a rail because olivia will be on the trundle and if he falls off he will fall on top of her and that would be a nightmare.

Re: need some pointers on transitioning a 21 month old to a bed.

I posted on another post (so apologies for the repeat) but....

We just transitioned DS...started with naps only on the weekends and when I had the day off (otherwise he is in daycare). The first time he walked out of his room and I was very stern with him telling him that he would have to go in his crib...I was dead serious. But he wanted to stay and begged so I let him. He tried to get up again when he called out to me and at that point I took all his stuff and was about to get him to go the the crib but he cried. So in a very soft voice I explained that if he wanted to stay in the really cool big boy bed he would have to stop getting out and go to sleep. He did

After that he only got out of bed once or twice but always went back in and stopped moving around.

This weekend we placed him in the big boy room permanently and he has been great! We let him bring some extra "guys" (stuffed animals) and he goes right down. In the morning he gets out on his own and comes to my room to wake me. I don't let him come into my bed (personal choice but really he only plays when he comes in anyway) and we start our day. So far he has been keeping his regular sleep schedule.

When we were preparing the room we made a pretty big deal of it. He used to run around in there when it was an empty space and when we added something we would show him. The day his furniture arrived he was napping so we waited for his grandparents to come over and asked him to show them the room. He was expecting it to be empty and was so happy to see the set up. Everyone loved it which made him happy too. Righ before he went in full-time my BIL & SIL came over to see it and he was so proud. I think all of that helped.

I let him put his clothes in the closet on the hangers (cleaned up after he was done) and have him help make the bed....seems to work as well.

Good Luck!