The decision to move your child from his or her crib to a ‘big kid’ bed is a big one. I’ve known people who move their children to a bed before their child turns a year old, or others who make the transition right before the arrival of a younger sibling. Still others keep their children in the crib as long as possible. For some parents, the transition to a ‘big kid’ bed means purchasing a toddler bed frame that can be used with a crib mattress. Other parents prefer to move their child from the crib to a regular bed. As with almost all parenting issues, there is no right or wrong answer.

Personally, I keep my children in the crib as long as possible! When they are able to crawl out of the crib, I’ll move the mattress down to the lowest rung on the crib to try to delay the inevitable. I’ve found that the crib tents and other items designed to keep your baby from ‘escaping’ the crib really don’t work. When your child is making a regular effort to get out of the crib, it’s time to make the move to a big kid bed, mostly I feel for safety reasons.

I’ve found that making the transition from crib to bed because of the impending birth of a sibling isn’t a good idea. The idea of sharing mom and dad can be a stressful change for some kids; adding more changes is not such a good thing. Then again, your youngster may be excited to make the transition. If that is the case, take your opportunity when it presents itself!

My son is so active and he gets into everything! Frankly, I worry at this point about making the transition to a bed mostly for safety issues. Just thinking about all the things he could get into after I put him to bed and before he goes to sleep really stresses me out. I usually transitioned my children to a toddler bed when they were around 3, but I am wondering if this is a good plan for my son or not. I transitioned the children again to a regular bed when they were around 4 to 5 years old.

My son is very, very different from his four older siblings, all of whom happen to all be girls. He’s much more active and perhaps because he’s the youngest of 5, he is really focused on being a ‘big boy’ and doing ‘big boy’ things. Nevertheless, he hasn’t made a regular habit of escaping from his crib just yet and so my husband and I have decided to let well enough alone. Perhaps he’ll spend a little while longer in his crib, or perhaps we’ll be making that transition to a big boy bed very soon. Only time will tell!