Toddler in BIG kid beds?

MyLuvBugs wrote: Ok. So we're getting to that point of putting little miss in her big girl bed. (Lord help us) Anyway, the bed we have is DH's old bed (an old twin waterbed frame and solid mattress). So my mom is going to get us a bed rail from Target, and that should be ok right? Safe I mean?

And we were thinking of getting a water proof pad for accidents. Good idea or useless?

And did any of you have problems with your toddler not Staying in the bed and instead getting up and causing trouble in the middle of the night?

Sorry. Just never done this before, and I keep questioning my logic these days.

Mom2Boyz replied: We put Conner in a twin bed instead of a toddler bed, and he does pretty good most of the time. There are mornings I wake up with him in bed with me, but that's ok with me, just extra snuggle time for us

coasterqueen replied: Kylie is in a full size bed that is actually off the floor quite a bit. We all have to use a step to get into the bed. We put side railes on both sides and we also have a waterproof pad on it. That thing will save you for sure when they are going thru potty training.

Kylie has never caused trouble in the middle of the night, but if she gets scared she'll come in to our room or sleep on the couch. When she wakes up in the morning she expects everyone to be up so she makes her way to our room before getting into anything she shouldn't.

She's been in some sort of toddler bed since 10 months of age. I co-slept with her the majority of each night though til age 2, then Dh did til Megan arrived.

JP&KJMOM replied: I would get a bed rail for sure. Many morning after JP made the transition to a full size from crib he was right up next to the bed rail. Thank goodness for it or in other words or he would have fallen off during the night.
Wet pads are also a good idea. One draw back for us is I have to keep an extra sheet or blanket over it (under the fitted sheet) because our kiddos are so hot natured and it just makes then hotter.
Neither one of mine ever went anywhere but straight to our bed if they woke up. Actually most of the time they were never fully awake when they got in our bed.

Jamison'smama replied: Jamison went to her own full sized bed at 2 years. I put rails up on one side and the other side against the wall. She never wandered around but I gate the top of the stairs and close all doors but ours. My friend gates her son's room as a safety precaution. I used a water proof mattress cover but I put it over the mattress and put a regular pad over it for comfort. She wore pull-ups at night for a while and she has had only 2 accidents since we stopped pull-ups--many months ago.

Kaitlin'smom replied: I feered this trasistion as well, but we had to when she was tring to climb out of the crib from the lowest setting, she is in a toddler bed, her crib converted. I never did get a rail for her we just put HUGE floor cushions down, incase she fell. She has maybe 3 times. For a while she was not able to open her door, so that was a relief she coudl not cause trouble. Thankfully she has never caused trouble. She just gets up to either go potty, get a drink ( I love a sippy full in the fridge for her) or in the morning to tell us its morning, or to snuggle with mommy it really was not as bad as I dreaded.

siblingtoolivia replied: Olivia went into a twin bed at 3 years old with rails. I dont' know if you have babies r us near you but they make a great one that is connected under the mattress so you have a rail on each side (her bed is not against the wall) and this way neither rail ever falls out.......

She originally had a childsafe lock on the inside of her door so she couldn't get out (I still have a monitor in my room for her) but now she knows how to open that so she has a gate on her door just in case. The way the top of my stairs are it is almost impossible to put a gate there, the stairs are right outside of her bedroom....

I have been told by firemen too that the safest thing for a child is to close their door at nite to keep fire out of their room in the event of a fire that is....just a thought.

Good luck! Mine never gets out of bed, except maybe in the am and then she will go sit by the gate at her door!

C&K*s Mommie replied: She should be okay. You will have to wait and see the first few nights, but overall she should be fine.

Good idea for the waterproof pad. It will come in handy one day when you and she decides to begin night training.

We put Christian in a twin bed at 13 mos, and we never had a prob out of her. She began to co-sleep sometime after Kellie was born. You may have restless nights the first few, being concerned over her, and that is perfectly justified. Just remember not all kids fit in the same mold, she may not give you fits until a yr down the line, or may not at all (hope it is this). The same with your new one on the way. But it is perfectly fine to question yourself, and in turn ask for advice from others- hopefully our experiences will aid you some in this new milestone you are approaching.

3_call_me_mama replied: Neither of mine ever had toddler beds. Waste of $$ IMO since we would have had to buy a new matress fo rthem to kepe teh crib one and then a few years later get a real bed. SO we went straight to a set of bunk beds for cameron , just took teh ladder away and he only used teh bottom bunk. When kat was ready we took teh top bunk off and she sleeps on that liek aregular bed. (It has one whoel side closed in and a half rail on teh other ) But hse sleeps fine on his bad also which has no rails. We bought waterproof matress covers cause we got new mattresses adn they have a 10 year warrenty adn couldn 't imagin ruining them in a week with accidents or spills ! LOL The matress pad came with a lifetiem warrenty agains stains adn smells. SO we;ll get our $$ worht out of the mattress. Good thing we got them too, kat puked on hers the first night!
So i;d highly reccommend them (they sell them at most mattress stores adn babies r us.

boyohboyohboy replied: my son went into a twin bed at one yr of age. we did and still do have a water proof mattress pad cover on it for accidents or what ever might get spilled on it.
we also used his bed rail until just recently when he asked me to take it off at the age of 4.
he always used a step stool to get into the bed. and he still gets up at night sometimes just to "check on us" he says,
some nights are great he gets tucked in and stays there and some nights he is up 100 times for every excuse in the book.

at first its hard, but I am not a cry it out kind of mom, I dont have heart for it, but I spent many nights sleeping with him until he feel asleep and then crawled out.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I didn't read what everyone else wrote, but just giving you a big "go for it, she will be fine!" I would just make sure there isn't too much room between the frame and mattress. Wil likes to stand on his mattress sometimes and I'm always afraid he will get his leg caught in the crack. Also, any safety railing will do, but we bought the railings for a bunk bed to go with Wil's twin. They are wood. I also bought (thanks to LeaAnn) a vinyl mattress protector from Target for about $6. It covers the whole mattress like a pillow case, with zipper. I suggest taking all her toys out of the room. That's what we did so that there are no distractions, plus I wanted Wil to know that his room was primarily for sleeping/napping. Just look around the floor...remember they are little and they will find the smallest things hiding under furniture that we adults may not see. Cover all plugs. We close Wil's bedroom door when he goes down, but open it a crack when he is fast asleep. He comes and wakes us up from time to time, but for the most part, stays put until morning.

Good luck!

MyLuvBugs replied:
That's very helpful. Lorelei is also hot natured as you say. Get's the from her daddy. I'll be sure to have a sheet over it. Thanks!

MyLuvBugs replied:
You took out all the toys, huh? Hmmmmmm That's what I was afraid I'd have to do. Not necessarily with her toys b/c they're up high on shelves and such, but her books. The kid LOVES to play with her books, and the book case that we have is down low. hmmmmm. Maybe I can move it to the hallway for awhile. Thanks for the tips though.

And to answer some other questions. Her bed is up against a wall on one side, so one rail should work (I hope). I'll have to post pics when we're done rearranging the room. Most of it's done, but we're getting some things ready for baby and still waiting on the rail from mom.

ilovemybaby replied: Abby went into a big girl bed (not a toddler bed) at about 13 or 14 months. We put a bed rail on it and she was fine. She loves it. She never gets out in the middle of the night (except for a few times when she was teething ... she went to the door and banged on it) or anything. The only time she gets out of bed is when she naps during the day. Her room is child proof though. It just looks like a cyclone hit when I go and get her She makes a huge mess with all her toys.
But at night she goes to sleep straight away and stays in bed until she either wakes up or I wake her up. Usually when she wakes on her own she still stays in bed. She just lies there and talks to herself or sings. And if she's really impatient she will call out "mummy daddy"