The time has come and your sweet baby is now a toddler, and transitioning into a toddler or “big kid” bed. Once you take a deep breath and wrap your head around the fact that somehow your precious little baby is now old enough to be out of the crib, it is time to work on how best to tackle the toddler bed transition. After research, fellow parental advice, and some good old-fashioned trial and error x2 (for two kiddos), I have compiled a list of my best tips and tricks to make the toddler bed transition run as smoothly as possible.
Know the Signs
The first tip to the toddler bed transition is to know the signs and determine the reasoning. Studies show the average transition age is between 2.5 and 3 years old.
Maybe you are needing the crib for an older sibling. Perhaps your toddler just won’t stop crawling out of their crib and you are trying to prevent an injury. Or, in our case… perhaps your child is just simply outgrowing their crib. (Truth be told, if our three year old could stay in her crib for the rest of her life, I think she’d be more than content. However, her off the charts length doesn’t quite mesh well with crib dimensions, so big girl bed it is!)
In addition to the above, often times potty training will dictate the need to transition out of the crib. If your child is frequently making trips to the bathroom at night, then a crib is far from practical. Furthermore, it is important to take into account your child’s maturity. If you are fearful he or she will wander out of bed and are safe in the crib (not climbing out), then it is best to continue with the crib course for a while more. No matter the reason, take into account all the signs before making the toddler bed transition.
Involve Them in the Decision
Whether you are 3 or 30, chances are you are going to be more on board with change when it is something you are desiring. With this in mind, it is very important to involve your child in the toddler bed transition decision. Whether you plant the idea in their head, or they ask after seeing an older sibling/family member, it is important to build upon that excitement.
Ease Into It
Just like with anything, easing into a change often provides the best results. With that in mind, I highly recommend taking the transition slow; from crib, to converted crib/toddler bed close to the floor, to big kid bed transition.
My oldest daughter was so eager to get into her big kid bed, that we opted to forgo the stage in-between. For her this worked just fine. However, my youngest (the one that didn’t want to leave her crib) desperately needed the transition. So we first converted her crib into a toddler bed, and lastly into a big kid bed.
It is important to take each child/situation differently and ease in as much as possible.
* Affiliate links are included in this post. All this means is that if you click on one of those links and purchase something, I may receive a small commission. However, you will not pay a penny more- promise!
Toddler or Big Kid Bed?
Nothing builds the excitement for your toddler quite like picking out the bed, bedding, and mattress with your help.
Planning to convert your child’s crib into a big kid bed? Despite two different brands of cribs, we opted to convert both into big kid beds vs. buying a new bed. Both cribs converted into full sized beds and took a lot of trial and error. Hoping you can skip the same mistakes we made, I created a step-by-step tutorial for exactly how to best do this here. Additionally, I share answers to all the questions you may have regarding conversion kits and which work best here.
Planning to first transition into a toddler bed? Below are the options with the largest number of recommendations from fellow parents, along with a few of my favorites.
- Delta Toddler Bed WITH Footboard ((pictured below) available in white, grey, and cherry)
- Delta Character Beds (think Minnie Mouse, Paw Patrol, Elmo, Toy Store, Frozen, etc.)
- Delta Toddler Bed WITHOUT Footboard (available in white, dark chocolate, and grey).
Picking Out Bedding/Mattress
Nothing quite builds the excitement of a toddler bed transition like being a part of the bedding and mattress decision.
Bedding
In order to make this a reality, I narrowed down bedding options to a couple of my favorites and shared them with my daughter, allowing her to to make the final decision. We ended up opting for this fun and affordable bedding here. We chose the blush (as pictured below), also available in grey and navy.
Full disclosure, I was provided with a Tuft & Needle mattress in exchange for my review, but as ALWAYS, I only recommend products that I truly love and all opinions included are 100% my own.Â
Mattress
Next, the mattress. If you ask my daughter, this step was by far the most fun of the entire process!
We opted to secure a mattress in a box from Tuft & Needle. Not only did we choose them due to their incredible quality (more on that decision below), but also because we were confident the process would build great excitement. And we were not wrong!
Ordering a mattress in a box meant that my daughter received the instant excitement of seeing it delivered to her front door. She jumped up and down as we carried it up to her room and smiled with delight when we opened it. The greatest excitement and squealing came from the moment we cut the plastic and watched her new “big girl” mattress expand upon the bed.
Without a doubt, the mattress provided the largest excitement of the entire process and is a step I would recommend again and again.
Why we chose Tuft & Needle
Chances are you have seen several different mattress-in-the-box companies and may be wondering how to select one that would be best for you. For us, the decision was rather easy and all stems from convenience.
The salesperson we spoke to at Tuft & Needle was beyond accommodating and thorough. The costs were very reasonable. The reviews were excellent. The ease FAR exceeded having to go shopping at a store. The 1oo-night trial was comforting. The free shipping and returns was a huge perk. And lastly, the fact that the mattress is known to last beyond 10 years sealed the deal. Knowing that this one mattress would grow with our precious toddler through her formative childhood years when sleep is crucial, we knew that Tuft & Needle was perfect for us.
If you are looking to convert your toddler’s standard crib into a big kid bed, then you should plan to purchase a full sized mattress (more on determining mattress size found here). With that in mind, I would highly recommend this exact mattress that we ourselves ordered in a size full. However, Tuft & Needles also offers twin, queen, and king size mattresses based on your unique setup.
Keep Things Familiar
Now that you have determined when to best transition, you have decided what size bed is ideal, and how to build excitement… the next step is to remember to keep things familiar.
It is important to remember that as excited as they may be, your child is transitioning out of the only bed/sleeping arrangement they very well may have ever known. As a result, I highly recommend keeping things familiar.
Same Toys/Blankets
If your child has a special blanket or toy that they had been sleeping with, I highly encourage you to use it in their new big kid bed. In my strong opinion, now is not the time to try and get rid of the pacifier, or take away a stuffed animal that has become a bit run down. Instead, allow your child the comfort of what worked in their old sleeping environment and transition away from sleep crutches at a later time.
Same Routine
For the same reasons as stated above, it is important to keep the routine as similar as possible. The only change at the end of the night should be where your child is laying their head. In other words, if a bath, bedtime book, and prayers were all part of your routine pre-big kid bed transition, then I highly recommend continuing if after.
Keeping Them in Bed
For some, the increased worry/burden of their child’s ability to get out of bed (without your permission or desire) is new. No longer are they confined to a crib waiting for your arrival to get them up and out, but they now have the freedom to do so themselves.
This too was a worry for us during the toddler bed transition. This is also why we turned to a special routine and clock that helped our children stay squarely in bed until an agreed upon time to wake. I share all about this routine and method that worked for us here.
Incorporating an Older Sibling
Does your toddler have an older sibling?… then you may be in luck! One of the largest helpers for our toddler bed transition was that of our oldest daughter. Not only did she help build excitement for our toddler, but she also helped serve as a role model and comfort. My oldest was able to relate to my youngest and share with her the perks of being in a big girl bed, along with the responsibilities it included.
Furthermore, if your child demonstrates any fear with their first night’s sleep in a new bed (as my toddler did), you can recruit the older sibling to help. My toddler was thrilled to have her older sibling for a sleepover in her big girl bed on the very first night. Not only did this help ease her into the idea, but it built great excitement. (Added bonus in that it helps the older sibling feel included with the excitement).
Keep the Excitement Going
Before, during, and after the toddler bed transition, be sure to build the excitement. I likely don’t need to tell you just how much toddlers feed off the emotions of others. So why not use this to your advantage? Help them share with others the great news about their transition and they are sure to grow excitement by the day.
And there you have it. My tried and true tips and tricks to making your toddler bed transition a success!
Did any other things work for your transition? I’d love to hear!
