Reply to crib still working for 3.5 year old - should we switch to toddler bed?

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Reply to "crib still working for 3.5 year old - should we switch to toddler bed?"

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[quote=Anonymous]We were in the same boat at 3.5. DD loved her crib, never tried to climb out, even kept up a 1.5 hour nap in there happily. We happened to move just before her 4th bday and it was a good transition point. She slept just on the crib mattress on the floor for a bit (stayed at hotel between houses) and that worked well to get ready for toddler bed once it was set up. She has really loved the independence, and it is so much easier for her to get up for a cup of water or to get a tissue herself. I will say that the first couple of weeks were a tiny bit tricky as she got used to not being in a crib. The novelty of autonomy was super fun to her and she exercised her option to get out of bed the first several nights. But that wore off and she was back to being a great sleeper.

You could try a transition using the mattress on the floor for a number of days and see how it goes. Before we packed up our stuff, we had the mattress on the floor in her room during the day and at bedtime we let her choose whether she wanted to sleep just on the mattress or wanted the mattress to be put back in the crib. She never chose the crib, but it was nice she knew it was an option. You could certainly do that so your child feels the security of going back to the crib if he needs to rather than going cold turkey, though that may not be an issue at all.

Otherwise, we made sure that she had a role in picking out new bedding for the bed to get excited about it, and that she has a thermos of water, a tissue box, and a flashlight right next to the bed to get what she needs. We do use a white noise machine that has an OK to wake function that she typically waits for. You might try that again in tandem with the bed.[/quote]

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