How We Transitioned Ralph from a Crib to a Bed

Whew, what a week! If you would have asked me last Wednesday if Ralph would be sleeping in a bed I would have laughed. Well the joke is on me because he is now sleeping in a bed and he LOVES it.

To catch you up a little bit, last Friday (April 10th) we were scheduled for a delivery of Ralph’s twin beds. We have a little girl on the way (I’m due in September), so I wanted to have PLENTY of time to let Ralph transition from a crib to a bed so we could just put the crib in baby girls room. Thankfully the same day the beds were to be installed, I had set up a child lock installation via Mike from Infant House. Now before you get all snarky about why I am putting locks on Ralphs door and his bathroom door here is the short version. I do not want my child roaming the halls of our home in the middle of the night (yes I have friends who have had kids who have done this). We think it is much more safe to have a simple sliding lock on the outside of his door so it keeps him nice and safe in his room (as well as locked out of his bathroom because I have also had a friend whose child flooded the bathroom from turning on the bathtub in the middle of the night).

Okay, so beds are installed and lock is on the door and now it’s Friday afternoon and time for Ralph’s “rest/nap” time. My original plan was to keep the crib in his room with the beds until HE was ready to crawl in a bed and sleep. Well the minute we closed the door for nap time Ralph LEAPED out of his crib (in his sleep sack). I’m not talking a climb, I am talking a FULL ON ninja leap (you can see the video here). Since at this point I did not think he would ever  jump out of his crib, we had not locked the door. So let’s just say it was a BIG surprise to see Ralph shuffling down the hall in his sleep sack (thank goodness we had the upstairs baby gate locked).

After a bit of a battle with putting him in his crib and then he would jump out I finally said screw it (edited version of course ;)) and slid the lock that had been installed earlier that morning and he was locked in. As someone who has always been pro sleep schedules and the ‘soft’ cry it out method with Ralph, this was yet another time I knew I would have to let it happen. Ralph YELLED (not cried) for maybe 30-35 minutes. Was I anxious? Um, Yes. Did I get a little sad? Of course. Did Ralph eventually get quiet and crawl in his (new) bed and fall asleep? YOU BETTER BELIVE IT.

After a semi-successful UNPLANNED crib to bed transition I knew I had to find bed rails to put on his bed because there was no way this baby was going back to his crib. I had ordered some earlier in the week but due to the pandemic, they were taking longer than normal to ship. I called around and finally secured 2 guard rails (these are the exact ones we have). They are longer than I would prefer, so I have actually ordered these but at 4:45 on a Friday when the stores close at 5 PM and these were the only options, you better believe that I bought them.

Okay, so bedtime. The crib was still in his room, the rails had now been installed (literally just slid them between his mattress and his bed frame) and that was pretty much it. He was a little nervous after we did our nighttime routine (1 round of twinkle twinkle & then we tell everyone/everything night night), so I just kept talking up the new bed and how cool it was. I mentioned over and over how proud I was of him for sleeping in such a big and cozy bed. He finally said “okay mommy, night night”; I closed the door and he didn’t make a peep. I woke him up Saturday morning and repetitively told him how proud I was of him that he slept in the big bed and kept asking him if he was comfortable and cozy. He LOVED sleeping in his bed. He also told me “move the crib” after waking up, so we moved the crib out of his room that morning.

Saturdays rest/nap time came and went (SO easy) and then it was bedtime again. I wasn’t sure how it would go but it was easier (not that the previous night was hard), than the night before. I would be lying if I said I was not a little nervous to transition Ralph from a crib to a bed and I have NO idea how but the crib to the bed transition was SO easy for us. I think it has to do with us waiting to let Ralph decide if he was ready or not. I guess when those two “big boy” twin beds showed up in his room a light went off and he was like WHY WOULD I WANT TO BE IN THIS CRIB/CAGE when I can sleep in that cozy bed???

I want to add to this post that this is what *happened* to work for us. Every parent does it differently and that’s okay!! I do want to also say that do not stress if your child is not in a bed yet (Ralph will be 3 in July). Your baby will do it when they are ready…your child will not go to college with their crib! Just be patient and don’t get frustrated because ALL kids are different and do things on their own time. It’s how we are approaching potty training. It would surprise you the amount of “comments” I get that my 2.5 year old is still in diapers and that might be ‘too old’ for some but honestly, it doesn’t bother us. He’s just not ready, so we are not forcing it. Yes we talk about it, yes we read books to him and yes we have little potties around the house. In the last two weeks he now tells us RIGHT after he has peed in his diaper…progress? Maybe but either way that is a ‘step’ in the right direction for him. I am approaching potty training like I approached switching from a crib to a bed..no stress and it will happen when MY baby is ready. Maybe that’s why it was so easy and stress free for us?

I’ll never actually know why it was so easy for us but what I do know is that I am so proud of my sweet little baby and still cannot believe that he is in a big boy bed!