Transitioning To A Toddler Bed

Wow! I can’t believe that I am already typing a post like this, it seriously feels like yesterday that we were laying Brooke in her crib for the first time. Now, at 20 months, we have officially broken down Brooke’s crib and set up her Delta Toddler Bed. I know every child is different, so I will just be sharing our journey through the transition so far, including how we decided it was time to make the transition, why we choose the toddler bed we did and what has worked for us so far.

Let’s start with a little background. Brooke has always been a good sleeper. She was sleeping through the night in her own crib at around 6 weeks and hasn’t looked back. We have always had her on a nighttime schedule, which we HIGHLY recommend to friends that ask. Every night we give her a bath, brush her teeth, read a book, give hugs/kisses and then lay her down for bed with her blanket and stuffed animal. We have done this routine since the beginning and stuck to it.

So, why change a good thing? Well, if you have been reading here, you know that I am pregnant with baby number two that is due in February/March. We knew immediately that we wanted to use the same crib, so that meant a new bed for Brooke. We also knew that we didn’t want her to associate losing her crib with the new baby, so we wanted to work on the transition soon enough that the two things wouldn’t correlate. We are also working on potty training, but that’s a whole other story! Basically, we are simplifying for baby number two’s arrival. I want to also preface that because Brooke has always been a good sleeper, we both felt like she was ready. I have great friends whose kids are older than Brooke and still sleep in a crib because they don’t feel like they are ready, and I highly agree. You are your child’s parent, you know them best. Trust your instinct.

The next decision was what type of bed to transition Brooke too. We decided to transition her to a toddler bed since it was very low the ground. Brooke slept wild in her crib and moved all around at night, so we felt like she wasn’t quite ready for a twin bed. Choosing her Delta Archer Toddler Bed was an easy choice because her crib was a Delta crib and we knew we loved the brand. Also, we knew we wanted one with a little rail to help minimize the falls out of bed. We have LOVED our decision so far!

Once we had the bed, all we needed was to decide when to make the switch. We decided on Christmas break because I had two weeks off from work and our parents would be in town in case the transition was rough. We wanted to give ourselves some time in case it didn’t go smooth. So, when the time came, we broke down her crib and set up her bed. She immediately climbed into bed and started reading a book, so we were encouraged.

Overall, the transition went WAY better than we expected. At nighttime, she just crawls into bed like normal and goes to sleep. Some night she has struggled to get comfortable for 15-30 minutes, but she has stayed in bed and worked through it. She fell out of the bed the first night, but it didn’t even wake her up. After that incident, we ensure that she is at the top of her bed when we go to sleep to help minimize the falling risk.

Nap time is a little different story. Overall, she has done really good with nap time and I have only had to go put her back in bed a few times. We had one rough day while my parents were here (I’m thinking because she was so out of routine), where she kept getting out of bed but eventually, she went to sleep.

We are hoping the transition keeps going this smooth! We love seeing her come to our room in the morning when she wakes up, even though she is waking up about 30 minutes to an hour earlier. Watching her grow and learn is truly an amazing joy of parenting. I will keep you updated with any changes to our transitioning to a toddler bed journey!