On Christmas Day we made a big change in our house: we packed up Miss H’s crib and put together her brand new “big girl” bed! Way back when I was contemplating turning Miss H’s crib into a toddler bed, and then the plan was to use the IKEA “Kura” toddler loft bed. And then we found out we were having twins and we put all changes on hold. Since we were switching up Miss H’s life in a huge way – new house, new room, new daycare and eventually new siblings, we wanted to keep her crib as a safe and comforting place for her.
While Miss H had never attempted to climb out of her crib and was still sleeping relatively well in it, Mr. H thought around Christmas would be a good time to transition her into a bed. I was struggling with the idea, but he made some valid points: we could transition her when we had family staying with us to help out as needed, and we could make the transition before I went back to work and before he got busy with work again. He also pointed out that we were already sleep deprived so if it ended up being a struggle, we wouldn’t be any more tired than we already were.
Begrudgingly (but hopeful it would all work out) I went along with the plan and we bought everything we needed.
IKEA Hemnes Twin Bed | IKEA Morgedal Twin Foam Mattress | IKEA Twin Stenklover Duvet Cover | IKEA Grusblad Twin “Cooler” Comforter | Pottery Barn Kids Toddler Pillow | Light Purple Twin Sheets | Foam Magic Bumpers Safety Guard Rail
Leading up to the big “bed day” we talked about the new bed a lot with Miss H, showed her pictures, and tried to get her as excited as possible. We weren’t sure how attached she truly was to her crib and if she was going to fight us on the transition. Just 4 months away from turning 3, we knew Miss H could handle the change, but we also knew our stubborn, feisty child and weren’t sure what to expect.
On Christmas morning after all of the presents had been unwrapped Mr H set to work on the bed. I pitched in as needed and just before Miss H’s nap time the new bed was complete. Miss H’s reaction to her new bed? She loved it!
She took an awesome nap that day, but we thought it might be a fluke because she was exhausted from Christmas morning. But then she slept well that first night, and the next day’s nap, and the next night…the transition was smooth! And we were in shock. Overall the transition went well. She liked the bed and was actually willing to sleep in it all night long!
The “ups” of the new bed are being able to cuddle in the bed to read stories before nap and at bedtime, and the undeniable cuteness of seeing Miss H all tucked into bed like a big kid. It’s also absolutely amazing to not be lifting her in and out of a crib – she was getting so heavy! And with potty training it’s much easier to take her to the bathroom since she’s no longer in a sleep sack.
The “downs” of the new bed are few but are there.
For starters, Miss H sleeps in all different directions because she’s used to sleeping all over the crib. During the night we’ll look at her on the monitor and see what position she’s in. We’ve seen a lot of craziness! Case in point:
She likes to sleep every which way, often the wrong way! Most of the time we just let her sleep, but if it seems like she’s moving more toward the end of the bed where there isn’t a side bumper, we will go in and move her. Giving her the freedom of a big bed makes us a little nervous about needing to see what she’s doing, but we probably shouldn’t be watching her like crazy.
Secondly, there’s the risk of falling out – despite having side bumpers, Miss H has fallen out of the bed once so far. We think she had a stuff animal wedged against the bumper and she likely rolled over the bumper and onto the rug. She was perfectly fine but very, very stunned to find herself on the floor! Poor kid.
Finally, there’s the extreme act of stalling at bedtime. Miss H has perfected the fine art of stalling! She plays Mr. H and me off of each other, asking for the other person for another hug, asking for water, asking to comb her hair. It’s just one thing after another until we finally cut her off. Fortunately she doesn’t ask for multiple trips to the bathroom, as I would feel guilty telling her no! And she doesn’t get out of her bed a million times, nor does she play with toys or wander her room (or the house!) after we put her to bed.
Overall, it’s going well and the good outweighs the bad most definitely. I’ve heard so many horror stories from friends, so the fact that bedtime isn’t a huge battle night after night is encouraging!
However, since bedtime is getting drawn out longer and longer with stalling, next up I’ll be sharing how we tacking all of the stalling!
If you’ve switched your LO to a big bed did they love it or hate it on first sight?
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
Glad it went well! Our transition went super smooth. Her sleep was so much better after.
blogger / apricot / 378 posts
Love her bed and bedding set – too cute! I’m glad to hear the transition went smoothly!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
That’s awesome! I love her bed and bedding set! We’re not sure when we’ll transition, but figure we’ll save the money for now and transition to his crib into a toddler bed for awhile.
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Glad it went well. Nice bed!
pomegranate / 3053 posts
Overall, it did except when he started getting out of bed randomly instead of sleeping. I don’t think we’ll be transitioning our youngest into a “real bed” until later. We have yet to use the toddler rail that we bought with the crib. He’ll be 3 in 2.5 months.
grapefruit / 4400 posts
We’ve been thinking about when to transition C from her crib to a “big girl” option– most likely the toddler rail with her crib. She’s 2 1/2, has never climbed out of bed, and was nervous/scared about sleeping on a twin bed when we were on vacation 2 months ago (we ended up having her sleep in the pack and play).
Ideally, I’d like to keep her in the crib for as long as possible, but the hubs wants to transition her when she turns 3 in July. I guess we’ll see!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
if charlie falls out of his new bed (he’s in a floor bed now), i’m going to have to get those guard rails! love that you don’t have to install them onto the bed.
grapefruit / 4671 posts
We just switch L’s crib over to a toddler bed and she adores it. Probably going to hold off on the twin bed for a while though.
grape / 92 posts
Just wondering what changed your mind about the Kura vs. Hemnes?
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Mammabare: we were originally looking at the Kura because we thought Miss H would be sharing a room with baby #2; we thought the Kura would help with space. But since baby #2 turned into #2 & #3 Miss H no longer has to share a room. So we just opted to go the traditional route with a regular twin bed. We really liked the Kura though when we saw it at IKEA
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Mrs. Bee: they’re great! And we put them under the mattress cover (instead of under the sheet) so when you change the sheet they stay in place. So much better than traditional crib rail!
grape / 92 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch. Thanks! Just wondering. We are expecting number 2 and they will have to share a room. The bedroom is kinda small so I am trying to really think about what makes the most sense.
grape / 98 posts
Ive been eyeing that duvet cover at Ikea for some time now! And I have to say I love Miss H’s room (both baby and toddler) – thanks for being a design inspiration. Can you please talk about introducing a toddler to “big girl” bedding. Our LO is on a floor bed, like @MrsBee, and currently has multiple small and soft baby blankets under her. But we would like to add sheets and a blanket – is it safe? Is there anything special about “transitioning” to use them?
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Munchkin: Aww, thank you!
And we actually didn’t transition her into bedding at all. In her crib she slept in a sleep sack and had two small loveys in there with her. When we introduced the bed she all of a sudden had a comforter and a pillow (we don’t use a flat sheet). She’s done really well with it! I have an upcoming posts that shows some of her wild sleeping habits – sometimes she sleeps under the covers with her head on the pillow, and a lot of the time she’s on top of the covers and all over the bed. I think as long as they’re old enough to easily move around/move the blankets, they’re probably fine to have some sort of quilt or comforter.