Back in January when I was contemplating a future switch for Miss H from her crib to a toddler bed. I’m a planner and I don’t like to do things last minute, so I’m constantly thinking ahead to the next step, even if I know that the “next step” may be months and months down the road. Case in point: the toddler bed.

Miss H is still happily sleeping in her crib. She’s in there from 7pm-7am every night (usually falls asleep by 7:30/7:45). Our bedtime routine is still relatively easy, and when we say goodnight Miss H happily says, “Goodbye, see you later!”

I desperately don’t want to rock the boat when it comes to bedtime. But in addition to the new baby eventually needing Miss H’s crib, the new baby will be sharing a room with Miss H, who will be 2 1/2 when the new baby arrives. So I know that we need to be careful and strategic with how we transition. We basically have two options, as far as I can tell.

Option 1

Some articles I’ve read have stated that you should transition your toddler out of the crib and into their new bed about 2 months before the new baby arrives. This is supposed to ensure that the toddler has time to transition and doesn’t still feel a strong ownership over the crib when the new baby arrives. I, personally, am fond of this plan because if it’s going to be a struggle to transition, I’d rather do it before I add a newborn into the mix (i.e. when I have even less sleep and patience and have another little one to take care of). I realize this is a bit selfish on my part because we obviously should not rush Miss H, but on the flip side, I’d be able to give her much more of my attention now vs. later.

I sometimes ask Miss H if she’d like to sleep in a big girl bed and have the new baby sleep in the crib. She kindly let’s me know that she will sleep in her crib and the new baby can sleep on a cot (she naps on a cot at daycare now). But maybe if she can actually see a “big girl bed” it will be more exciting than trying to imagine one.

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Option 2

Other articles I’ve read have stated that you should wait until your toddler is ready for a bed, new baby or not. In fact, this article advises to make the switch before a new baby arrives and a few sentences later suggests waiting until the new baby is a few months before switching your toddler, even suggesting you buy or borrow a second crib. Confusing! But I know that there is no “right” answer – every child is different.

Obviously I recognize the biggest benefit of waiting: Miss H will be able to take the lead more on showing signs of readiness, regardless of the new baby time line. And I know that the new baby will be sleeping in our room for a while (Miss H started sleeping in her crib at night at around 5 weeks, although I’m sure it will be much later for the second baby). The obvious drawbacks of waiting are, as I outlined above, newborn exhaustion combined with toddler bedtime tantrums. Also, trying to rearrange Miss H’s room and set up her new bed when we have less time and energy will be tough.

I’m incredibly torn right now. Fortunately we have some more time to wait and see, as we wouldn’t need to switch beds until early September if we choose the first option. And potentially over the summer Miss H might start showing she’s ready for this switch and we can test things out by turning her crib into the toddler bed before introducing a separate bed.

The Bed
Either way we go, our plan is to get IKEA’s Kura Toddler Loft Bed, as we need something that will work well to maximize the space in her room.

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While Miss H will be too young initially to sleep on the loft, we will make some adjustments: we’ll turn the side with the ladder against the wall so that Miss H can’t attempt to climb it. We’ll put a mattress on the floor and treat it similar to a Montessori-style “floor bed.” On the top lofted part, we can keep bins for toys and books, as we’ll be losing extra storage space in the room by also having the crib in there. And then, when Miss H is a little older, we can turn the bed so that the ladder side is out and she can sleep on the lofted part, while the bottom will be used for toy storage/play area.

Sometimes I get sad and worried with how the addition of the baby will impact Miss H, with her sleep being one thing that could be majorly impacted. As always I want to do what I feel she is ready for at the time and in her best interest, but this transition is such a big unknown I’m just not sure which way to go!

Have you gone through a similar transition, or are you currently planning for one? If so, how do you weigh out both of these options, or is there an “option 3” I haven’t thought of yet (other than buying a new house with a lot of extra bedrooms, which isn’t in the cards for us right now)?