crib to a big girl bed  

I have 3 kids and they were all different, but I can tell you this... They moved to a toddler bed when they figured out how to get out of their crib. They were between 12 and 16 mos. My advice is to put your kid in a big girl bed when she expresses the independence to want out of the crib. Let her help pick out her bed and bedding(this reinforces the importance of the bed). Then, when it's bedtime, make sure to shortly explain that she needs to not get out of bed until she can see the sun, or whatever. You can put a baby gate in her doorway so if she gets out of bed she can only destroy her room. My son would get out of his bed and go into the living room and turn on a movie, no big deal. My first daughter would get on the counter and get into the sweets, I found out because she wasn't very good at hiding the evidence, she was 14 mos old. Just make sure before you go to bed that everything dangerous is put up, like hanging cords or small glass things. The house looks different at night and with no supervision, kids think that its a big playhouse. Only you can decide when she's ready.

I am one who moved my child into a big girl bed when she was 12 months only because she was always crawling out of her crib and you would hear her hit the floor. We did it to stop her from getting hurt. I also have little boy who is turning 1 next week and he is not ready to move out of his crib. Just look for signs

That seems a little young to me. They say the kids are ready when they start climbing out of their cribs or they are about two years old. I would put a baby gate in her doorway so she cant get out of her room.

Our son didn't sleep in a crib, he slept in our bed for his first 1 1/2 years of life, we set up the toddler bed and when he wanted to, he went in there to sleep. I put a baby gate up in the hallway so he can get into our room, but not the living room, kitchen, bathroom, the rest of the house.

I think your child is at a perfect age now. Both of mine moved when they turned one, we acted like it was part of becoming a 1 year old. I put a gate up so the door could be left open a little bit and but they couldn't get out either.

We switched my daughter to a toddler bed when she started crawling out of her crib. A toddler bed is close to the floor so less chance of her getting hurt if she falls out. She never did get up and wonder at night the only time she got out of bed is if it was storming and she was scared then she would come get in bed with me.

I think you should wait until she is climbing out on her own. We moved our son at 18 months, but he had a brother on the way, so we wanted him to get used to his toddler bed before the baby came. We never really had a problem with my son getting out of bed, he was simply not allowed to. I think he tried once or twice, and I told him to get back in bed, and he's never tried since. YOu could use a baby gate, but they can prob. climb over it. WE just were stern with him, that he's not allowed out of bed without permission. Now when he wakes up, he'll call out to us, if we don't answer right away, he'll stay in bed until we do. He knows he's not allowed to leave his bed or his room w/out our permission. If you treat it like you do other things he's not allowed to do, it'll be easier. SO be consistent and explain the rules. I would wait until she's ready though. I have a friend whose daughter would wake up in the middle of the night, grab a chair and push it to the door, undo the dead bolts and go outside. SHe'll be three next week. Her parents were heavy sleepers, and didn't know she had gotten out, a neighbor happened to be up, coming home from work, and grabbed her and took her home. YOu may think, it wouldn't happen at my house, but it's happened to them 3 or 4 times, now they move heavy couches in front of all the doors, so she cannot get out of the house. HOpefully she doesn't learn how to open windows soon! (: Anyways, I suggest you wait, save yourself the stress and headache, until she's ready.

I always switch my kids from crib to toddler bed between 12-15 months as long as they are proficent at walking so that they can get in and out. What you can do is either put a baby gate across her doorway, so you can see in, or put one of those white, handles that goes over top of the doorknob on the inside of her door for safety, but you might want to put a monitor in there since you won't be able to see her. You'll want to make sure her room is very safe and that you can hear her at all times.