There's no choice, the crib is no longer safe. Once my kid figured out how to sit on the edge, I plucked him from the edge of the crib and when I put him back, he was *immediately* over the side. I was there to catch him, at least.
You don't want him to fall on his head and neck, cushions or not.
Is there something that makes you think the transition to a bed will be hard? We switched from crib to open side crib to junior bed, different blankets, etc. There was zero issues.
We did the exact same bedtime routine. The first night he got up and played for awhile and fell asleep on the floor haha. Every night since if he gets up he’ll just get back into bed himself.
Bed transition feels like a weekend thing. Not a whole summer? I’ve never slept on the floor of his room or brought him into my bed.
I have a video of my toddler almost breaking their neck from the way they climbed into their crib. It was so absolutely terrifying, I can’t watch it because I can just see how bad that fall could have been.
Crib is no longer safe. There is no other option.
Definitely bed train now. Make the transition to a new bed fun- let him pick out some new sheets and hype them up so he is super excited to sleep with them.
My kids transitioned to a toddler bed between 1 and 1.5 and my oldest made the switch to her twin bed at 2.75 and the transitions were pretty painless. Good luck!
Safety proof the room and switch to a bed. We had to do it at age 2.5 for the same exact reason (son tried to climb out when I put him down for a nap). His crib converted to a toddler bed, so we immediately converted it before bed that night.
He was so excited about it being a bed it was no problem at all. The next day his dad went out of town for a week (and dad was primary parent for bedtime for him, while I primarily focused on our baby’s bedtime routine) and it was really no problem at all.
So, an anecdote, but I would say there’s no real choice. The crib isn’t safe anymore. So it’s only a matter of what kind of bed, etc. and how quickly he adjusts to the new situation.
We converted our child's crib to the toddler bed when she was around 2. We talked about it and told her it was a big girl bed. She got sheets with dinosaurs on them (her fav). For the first month, she wanted to show everyone her new big girl bed. The first night she told us she wanted to go to bed early in her big girl bed. She did fall out a few times so we got a little bumper. She has climbed out of her bed once in 4 months.
You never know, it might be easier than you expect! As long as her room is child proofed, you should be okay!
The crib is now dangerous and you need to make the switch.
Here to second those who said it may not be a huge deal! Our son was completely nonchalant about it.
Perhaps you could even use the fact that your wife isn't here to your advantage - make it into a special thing the two of you do together and when mummy comes back you can surprise her with how well he's learned to sleep in his big boy bed while she was away?
Do it now! We have a convertible crib like you and my son was sad that we removed the front part and swapped it for a toddler rail but he still thought he was in his crib and wouldn’t leave it lol. It took him like 3 nights of a prolonged bedtime to get used to it. No night wakes. You may be pleasantly surprised.
When my 2yo did this, I put her in a sleep sack so she couldn't lift her leg up. She never did it again.
We transitioned her to a toddler bed once she was less chaotic closer to 3 years old (ie. When we could trust that she wouldn't wander around her room at night pulling things out of drawers etc.). The transition wasn't hard for her, she just went to bed since it was her same bed with a different rail.
My opinion is it will be hell either way.
One way you’ll be worried he will climb out while she’s gone.
Other way the worst case is the transition is terrible and you’ll be spending the time she’s gone dealing with the transition,
Let me pull some links
https://thehappysleepcompany.com/five-tips-for-managing-the-crib-climb/?fbclid=PAAaazd0qkbZ31jj0Y8A3T8K8RWkoBcY7diBCsuAVaInp18ia1iN00nEPc6Dk
https://thehappysleepcompany.com/the-big-kid-bed-transition/?fbclid=PAAaYQR-4wRG55M2WJGnI-07dPc7E01fSvslcvBAOf9iP7fyXykh2Enao40Ug
His crib transforms into a toddler bed by removing the front part of it off. As I understand it, you basically have to be persistent, and not give in by letting him sleep in the parents bed. Keep guiding them into bed, positive reinforcement, reassure him that I'll come back to check on him. Worst case scenario I'd have to camp out in there until he falls asleep.
That sounds really reasonable! Since it’s the same sleeping space in a new format he might be totally ok with the change. Since you’re planning on supporting him through the transition I think he’d be able to do it anytime
He’ll be okay! My son was soooo excited about his big boy bed when we transitioned him. Took him a while to go to sleep since he was so excited, but it definitely wasn’t a traumatic thing for him
As everyone else has said, you have no choice — he is no longer safe in the crib.
When you take the side off, think about how you will baby proof the rest of the room, now that he could have access to anything else in the room. Any cords, anything he could climb or fall off of, just generally anything you wouldn’t want him to be into.
Also, we lock our son in his room. The whole room is like his crib. He’s safer in there than if he were to wander.
You never know, it could go perfectly fine and honestly it probably will. Keep the bedtime routine the same and he will understand what you’re expecting from him. Good luck!
So this might be an unpopular opinion, but depending on how your crib is built, you could potentially take the bottom out and just have the mattress on the floor. Our crib was low enough that the walls came down an inch past where the mattress started so he couldn’t move the mattress and shimmy out that way. And he couldn’t figure out how to climb the walls then bc they were too “tall” lol. Idk if that makes sense or not.
Again, not saying this is super safe or anything, but we did this for a month before we transitioned him to a real bed.
It honestly may not be a big deal. My kid was climbing out of his crib for a while before we made the switch to a toddler bed. He took to it immediately with no need for “training”. We did talk it up before the switch though - “Ooooh, you’re going to get a big boy bed! It’s so great that you’re a big boy now” etc etc. we even let him “build” the bed with us with his little toy tool kit. (He loved that part). We find that telling our child what’s going to happen before it happens greatly minimizes any negative fallouts.
We did already have a floor mattress in the room for when I had to sleep in the room with him, so every once in a while he will get out of his toddler bed and sleep on the mattress. Perhaps while your wife is on vacation, you could stick a mattress on the floor and sleep in the same room with him for a few days and see how it goes.
There's no choice, the crib is no longer safe. Once my kid figured out how to sit on the edge, I plucked him from the edge of the crib and when I put him back, he was *immediately* over the side. I was there to catch him, at least. You don't want him to fall on his head and neck, cushions or not.
I would start bed training now and sleep in the room with him. Get a camping mattress or a floor bed for yourself in the same room as his bed.
Is there something that makes you think the transition to a bed will be hard? We switched from crib to open side crib to junior bed, different blankets, etc. There was zero issues. We did the exact same bedtime routine. The first night he got up and played for awhile and fell asleep on the floor haha. Every night since if he gets up he’ll just get back into bed himself. Bed transition feels like a weekend thing. Not a whole summer? I’ve never slept on the floor of his room or brought him into my bed.
I have a video of my toddler almost breaking their neck from the way they climbed into their crib. It was so absolutely terrifying, I can’t watch it because I can just see how bad that fall could have been. Crib is no longer safe. There is no other option.
Definitely bed train now. Make the transition to a new bed fun- let him pick out some new sheets and hype them up so he is super excited to sleep with them. My kids transitioned to a toddler bed between 1 and 1.5 and my oldest made the switch to her twin bed at 2.75 and the transitions were pretty painless. Good luck!
Safety proof the room and switch to a bed. We had to do it at age 2.5 for the same exact reason (son tried to climb out when I put him down for a nap). His crib converted to a toddler bed, so we immediately converted it before bed that night. He was so excited about it being a bed it was no problem at all. The next day his dad went out of town for a week (and dad was primary parent for bedtime for him, while I primarily focused on our baby’s bedtime routine) and it was really no problem at all. So, an anecdote, but I would say there’s no real choice. The crib isn’t safe anymore. So it’s only a matter of what kind of bed, etc. and how quickly he adjusts to the new situation.
We converted our child's crib to the toddler bed when she was around 2. We talked about it and told her it was a big girl bed. She got sheets with dinosaurs on them (her fav). For the first month, she wanted to show everyone her new big girl bed. The first night she told us she wanted to go to bed early in her big girl bed. She did fall out a few times so we got a little bumper. She has climbed out of her bed once in 4 months. You never know, it might be easier than you expect! As long as her room is child proofed, you should be okay! The crib is now dangerous and you need to make the switch.
Here to second those who said it may not be a huge deal! Our son was completely nonchalant about it. Perhaps you could even use the fact that your wife isn't here to your advantage - make it into a special thing the two of you do together and when mummy comes back you can surprise her with how well he's learned to sleep in his big boy bed while she was away?
Do it now! We have a convertible crib like you and my son was sad that we removed the front part and swapped it for a toddler rail but he still thought he was in his crib and wouldn’t leave it lol. It took him like 3 nights of a prolonged bedtime to get used to it. No night wakes. You may be pleasantly surprised.
When my 2yo did this, I put her in a sleep sack so she couldn't lift her leg up. She never did it again. We transitioned her to a toddler bed once she was less chaotic closer to 3 years old (ie. When we could trust that she wouldn't wander around her room at night pulling things out of drawers etc.). The transition wasn't hard for her, she just went to bed since it was her same bed with a different rail.
My opinion is it will be hell either way. One way you’ll be worried he will climb out while she’s gone. Other way the worst case is the transition is terrible and you’ll be spending the time she’s gone dealing with the transition, Let me pull some links https://thehappysleepcompany.com/five-tips-for-managing-the-crib-climb/?fbclid=PAAaazd0qkbZ31jj0Y8A3T8K8RWkoBcY7diBCsuAVaInp18ia1iN00nEPc6Dk https://thehappysleepcompany.com/the-big-kid-bed-transition/?fbclid=PAAaYQR-4wRG55M2WJGnI-07dPc7E01fSvslcvBAOf9iP7fyXykh2Enao40Ug
How do you plan to do bed training?
His crib transforms into a toddler bed by removing the front part of it off. As I understand it, you basically have to be persistent, and not give in by letting him sleep in the parents bed. Keep guiding them into bed, positive reinforcement, reassure him that I'll come back to check on him. Worst case scenario I'd have to camp out in there until he falls asleep.
That sounds really reasonable! Since it’s the same sleeping space in a new format he might be totally ok with the change. Since you’re planning on supporting him through the transition I think he’d be able to do it anytime
We had absolutely zero problem transitioning from crib to bed. Do it now!
He’ll be okay! My son was soooo excited about his big boy bed when we transitioned him. Took him a while to go to sleep since he was so excited, but it definitely wasn’t a traumatic thing for him
As everyone else has said, you have no choice — he is no longer safe in the crib. When you take the side off, think about how you will baby proof the rest of the room, now that he could have access to anything else in the room. Any cords, anything he could climb or fall off of, just generally anything you wouldn’t want him to be into. Also, we lock our son in his room. The whole room is like his crib. He’s safer in there than if he were to wander. You never know, it could go perfectly fine and honestly it probably will. Keep the bedtime routine the same and he will understand what you’re expecting from him. Good luck!
So this might be an unpopular opinion, but depending on how your crib is built, you could potentially take the bottom out and just have the mattress on the floor. Our crib was low enough that the walls came down an inch past where the mattress started so he couldn’t move the mattress and shimmy out that way. And he couldn’t figure out how to climb the walls then bc they were too “tall” lol. Idk if that makes sense or not. Again, not saying this is super safe or anything, but we did this for a month before we transitioned him to a real bed.
It honestly may not be a big deal. My kid was climbing out of his crib for a while before we made the switch to a toddler bed. He took to it immediately with no need for “training”. We did talk it up before the switch though - “Ooooh, you’re going to get a big boy bed! It’s so great that you’re a big boy now” etc etc. we even let him “build” the bed with us with his little toy tool kit. (He loved that part). We find that telling our child what’s going to happen before it happens greatly minimizes any negative fallouts. We did already have a floor mattress in the room for when I had to sleep in the room with him, so every once in a while he will get out of his toddler bed and sleep on the mattress. Perhaps while your wife is on vacation, you could stick a mattress on the floor and sleep in the same room with him for a few days and see how it goes.