When should I move my daughter from her crib to a bed?  

Basically what I have always heard is to get your baby a toddler bed once they start climbing (or trying to) out of the crib, because it is dangerous for them to be trying to climb over the bars, they could fall. My best friend's daughter was just a little bit older that yours when she got her her toddler bed.

I put my daughter in a little toddler bed when she was 16 months old. I would have put her in a twin bed but I couldn't afford one at that moment. A toddler bed uses the crib mattress and lets them get used to being in a bed before they move to a regular bed. Just one problem I had tho.. once she realized that she could get out of bed without help, I had to sit with her until she fell asleep so she wouldn't get into mischief. LOL

it depends more on the child themselves. they do give those guidlines mostly because by that time, the child should be tall enough to figure out how to climb out of the crib on their own. when that time happens, then its safer for your child to be moved to a daybed with a side rail. My nephew is now 2 and he goes back and fourth between the bed and crib. he's expecting a baby brother so he's mostly in his bed since the crib is now ready for the new baby. My oldest son never liked his crib and just loved the bed. we just have to get him out of ours, but thats another post..lol
my 2nd sons crib can convert into a daybed, so thats what I did for him at around 2...he's almost 4 now and he still loves his bed. as long as he fits in it, he'll stay in it.

Tips...what fears do you have about moving your child? most parents are worried about their children falling off. there isn't to much to worry. get a bad that isn't that high. less then a 1ft drop will not hurt that much. get some good quality bed rails for the best just to be sure. You can even place blankets or pillows on the floor near your child.

For your child. start out by nap times in the bed, then when they're comfortable sleeping in it, you can start night time sleeping. body pillows help especially if the bed is large.

Your child is normally ready before you are. Most of the anxiety will come from you and not your child. She seems a little young just yet. you can try, if yours converts to a daybed. see if she likes it. the things about beds is...they can get out and play or roam around the house at night. for that. use gates on the doorways of the bedroom.

I am not sure what other people do with their children, on the subject of beds. I guess I remember my oldest child best. He developed the habit, at one year old, of climbing over the rails and letting himself fall to the floor. Granted, because of how the room was built, we had shortened the legs, but it felt dangerous to me. By 15 months we had moved him to a twin sized bed. We did not do a youth bed transition. We used an old bed we got from the neighbors, and bought a new mattress. Cut the legs short on it too. His grandma made him a special quilt out of fabric with a favorite character on it, and we made it a real celebration to move into the bed. He never fell out of the bed, but we had put a pad down beside it,in case he did. Again, for my daughter, she was ready for a big girl bed, and I do not remember a special blanket, but there probably was one. We re did the room, draped off a sleeping alcove, and bought a cute wooden bed for her. Again, I am pretty sure it was in the summer before she turned two in November. I had a friend with children less than two years apart, she left them both in cribs forever, it seemed to me. I think she thought of her children as babies much longer because of it. My kids were ready to be kids by the time they were your daughter's age. So I would say: I think your child is old enough to move out of her crib. One of my personal rules was that we would do it before I was pregnant again, so the child did not feel like the baby stole the bed. I would not have done it in the middle of a move or other big transition, either. I might use this time to let her pick out favorite bedding to use on her bed, and make it a real celebration.

If your daughter is constantly standing up in her crib and tries to climb out of her crib, then it is time to move her to a bed. Get a bed that has rails on each side so she doesn't fall off the bed, then you can gradually take those off. That would be the transition part. Just give her a lot of praise for sleeping in a big bed. It is all part of the growing up process. Good luck with this.

I moved both of my children out of their cribs when they were able to pull themselves into a standing position in the crib. In order to make the transition easier, you should use a toddler bed that has a rail so that they feel more secure, and you feel better leaving them in the bed alone. As long as they are not climbers (many of them are, lol!) they should be fine in a toddler bed after a few nights. If they are climbers, I recommend leaving them in the crib a little longer, since the rails on a crib are generally higher than those on most toddler beds, making it more difficult for them to climb out. Also, it's a good idea to have a soft rug or even a small soft mat or mattress near the bed or crib, in case they do become agile enough, and clever enough to escape their bed or crib. The toddler beds are generally close to the ground, so they are fairly safe if the child should fall out or climb out. Cribs are higher from the ground, so you'll want to take precautions such as the soft rug or mattress.
It all depends on your child's ability to climb.
As long as your child stays in a toddler bed, without climbing out, I think you can move her when she reaches the 35 inch limit. However, if you are more comfortable leaving her in a crib, as long as she stays in there and doesn't try to climb out, you can leave her in a crib until you feel ready to make the transition.

My son is 2 years old. Before i put him in a bed, i made a nice little bed type thing in our bedroom on the floor with blankets. the reason i put him in our room is so i could close the door, that way if he happened to wake up before me, he couldnt get out of the room and cause trouble... I would take our couch cussions and body pillows and put them around the bed that i made. i would then monitor how much he moved around, and once he stopped tossing and turning a lot, i put him in a bed. i put the bed in a corner so he cant fall off of the 2 sides, and put body pillows on the other 2 sides. this is just an idea that i came up with. i hope it helps! good luck

I have 3 boys and I moved all of them to their own beds at age 2. They all took to it very easily and had no problems moving to them, or going to sleep in them.

My Mum said she taught me to safely climb out of my cot when i was little & i was in a bed soon after that!!!
Basically, here in Oz, the common age to change them to a big bed is around 2 years old. You can buy the little safety sides that attach to the bed in case of rolling but i have noticed, most kids don't roll too much anyway because they have become used to sleeping in a smaller bed, so they don't move as much.
When you do change them from the cot to the bed, make it fun for them, let your daughter pick out her bed coverings (find some nice ones & let her pick the one she likes most), try & keep everything the same as it was - if she's in the same room, put the new bed, where the cot was!
Also, this is a good time to read to them - when you can sit on the side of the mattress next to them & that should help some too.
I don't think the cots here say a lot about when to change over (you have different laws & regulations to here) but you'll know when to do it - when she can get out or almost get out is a good place to start. I don't usually go on heights etc because she may not be interested in climbing & if she's not, it doesn't mean you can leave her in there indefinitely!!!
Good luck but i would suggest giving it another 6 months & then swap her over!