How did you make the move to a "big" bed? | Autism PDD

My 25 mth old man is still in a crib. There is NO WAY I could put him in a regular bed right now. He'd never stay in it, never go to sleep, probably freak out even. He recently got distraught a little when I had to change his sheets to a spare one when he peed his bed. He was bothered that it looked wrong. Luckily, he got past it pretty quickly and took his nap ok after a little whining and confusion/anxiety looks on his face. It was actually the first time I've ever seen him be bothered when something was different. He is normally pretty good at accepting changes. (I've redone his room before and moved things). But back to the bed. I would honestly just have a nighmare on my hands if he could get up when he wanted w/out me always being aware. We still have to use baby gates in our home too. He is also so very oral, that I must watch him constantly as he is always eating something and has choked before. I have no idea when I will be ok letting him loose. Sorry I have no advice for you I am in same boat.

Amber

we changed from crib to toddler bed when he kicked the slats out and made the crib unsafe. (about 2 1/2)

we moved from toddler bed to twin bed when Grandparents bought bunk beds for him and big brother. we left the toddler bed up for about a month until his change was confirmed. his transition was smooth and uneventful. (about 3-3 1/2)

after big brother moved into his own room, he alternated between top and bottom bunk. (about 4)

when our dog climbed into the lower bunk with him and proceeded to puke on him, he moved to the top bunk for good. (about 5)

we only recently moved the lower bunk into the spare bedroom. (he turns 6 this week)
Okay guys- maybe I will just let DS stay in the crib for a little longer

. Why mess with a good thing?

Now the question is- we are going out of town in a few weeks and staying at a hotel. The cribi t he hotel is much smaller than a regular size crib- he barely fit in it the last time we visited. What should I do?
We always asked for a king size bed and let Connor sleep inbetween us.I know many you have children DS's age. Do they still sleep in a crib or are they in a big bed? Any suggestions on the move? DS is a great sleeper so I hate to mess with a good thing. However he is rather tall for the crib andf I'm concerned he will fall out and hurt himself. He does sleep on a cot at daycare. The two things I'm worried about are he won't go to sleep and he won't stay on the bed once he's awake.

Thanks!

We took his crib mattress and used it in a "toddler bed". It is a small bed that fits a crib mattress and sits about 6 inches from the ground. That way everything smelled the same and looked the same, it was just lower to the ground. The first week, my husband sat next to the bed while he fell asleep. He had a hard time wanting to stay in bed, but my husband made sure he stayed in it each night. Yes there were some tears, but after a week they were gone. I can't help you with the middle of the night though, once Alex falls asleep, he doesn't get up until the morning (6:00 AM, like clockwork lol).

He was 2 3/4 when we did this. Good luck to you.

I had a convertable crib with Lou so I took the front off to make it into a day
bed and he thought thius was the funniest thing he ever saw and played in it
instead of slept. So I took a page out of a parents guide and took him to the
store let him pick out the bed he liked along with a sheet set and comforter.
Even though he wasn't verbal at all then if I asked him to choose between
two things he generally did ok. He ended up with a firetruck bed and Blues
Clues accersories. I had him watch me take apart his crib and let him "help".
Then he helped me get his big boy bed ready. That night he crawled right in
no issues and slept through the night as he'd always done. hope this helps
and good luck!

hello

It wasn't hard at all with Tony. Once we put him in a big bed, we just made a big deal of what a big boy he was. We put blankets & a pillow on th floor in case he fell out of bed. He did get up a couple of times, but once he saw that we'd just put him back in bed, he stayed there.

I hope Riley (my Grandson) will be as easy!

GOOD LUCK!!

God Bless you & your Families & keep you all safe!

Linda...aka Tony'sMom...aka MWN64

I put all my girls spectrum or not in a toddler bed for awhile. Megan didnt get up anymore than she did in the crib. We had to make the change as she figured out how to scale the crib and fall to the floor. She wasnt in the toddler bed long, I think maybe 8 months before we moved her to the big bed. Now I will say I had a big bed in Megans room from the time she was born so she certainly was used to seeign it everyday. Good Luck..We used a toddler bed for both of our kids. Connor absolutely refused to
sleep in his crib at 18 months, and took to the little bed right away. He
stayed in it until his third birthday, when we got him a big bed for his
birthday, complete with Batman sheets. Raymie (NT) was pretty much the
same, except she never had an aversion to the crib. We moved her to the
toddler bed with no problems on her second birthday, and got her a big
bed, complete with fairy princess sheets for her third birthday. Both kids
fell out of the toddler bed their first our second night, then had no
problems after that.Luke is 28mos and still sleeps in his crib (he's tall, too, but he doesn't try to climb out of it). We have a toddler bed that fits his crib mattress, but when we tried to get him to sleep in it, he kept crawling right out (even though he was dead tired). We even put him in the bed AFTER he fell asleep, but he awoke and cried and crawled out again. Luke sleeps well in his crib, so I figure there's no rush (we purchased a porta-crib for the new baby so it was small enough to have in our bedroom, but big enough to last him up til a year or so if need be).

Let me know if you find success transferring your little guy into the toddler bed and what worked!

Kellie

We just put adam into a toddler bed other than the one that was his crib. We needed the crib to be made into a crib for this new baby. Although he did fine but the reason is because that little toddler bed is in our bedroom...LOL To him I don't think there was even a difference. So my experience probably doesn't even count here. Now it's trying to figure out how to get him to his own room. That will be fun I'm sure.

Karrie

We used a pack-n-play as a crib while traveling...he was 2, but the size of a 3. Slept in his crib until he was 3. Never climbed out of it. We set up the twin bed in his room for a month. after two weeks we gave him the choice. He chose the crib for a week then the bed. after 2 weeks of him sleeping in the bed we took down the crib. no worries. we did put the crib mattress on the floor like a trundle in case he fell out. twicw he missed it and landed on the floor. not a peep. after he started clonidine and concerta he started taking his blankets into the corner on the fllor to sleep. he did that for about 2 months.

good luck with the trip

michelle