Moving a Toddler into a Toddler Bed
Submitted by sch_plus2
1. Keep your child's toddler bed in the same place that your child is used to sleeping. You're changing your child's bed, so don't make it harder on them by changing everything! Just move the crib!
2. Keep the empty crib in the room (if you have only one room for both kids). This way you can teach the toddler that the crib is no longer for him/her. The crib is for a new baby and he/she is a big kid in a new big kid's bed!
3. Give your toddler a week or two (or longer if necessary) to get used to his/her toddler bed. It's a big transition for him/her, so let him/her take their time getting used to it! You don't want him/her trying to climb into the crib with the baby! (My oldest only climbed into the crib a few times during nap time, and that was almost 6 months after the baby was put into the crib.)
4. Don't put your new baby in the room unless he/she sleeps thru the night!! (By 4 months, he/she should be sleeping thru by now.) The last thing you want is to move them together and have one constantly waking the other up. It's gonna happen every once in a while when someone has a bad dream or something, but it shouldn't happen all the time.
4. If you don't already do it, sleep when your baby is asleep! You're pregnant - you're already fatigued, and having a baby to tend to is tiresome as it is! A few months after baby 2 comes, when you're starting to develop a routine, try to get your kids on a similar nap schedule, so that you don't have to try to keep the older one quiet while baby sleeps, or vice versa.
5. HIDE YOUR TOYS!!!!!!!!!!! It's gonna happen regardless - your kids will wake up in the middle of the night or in the wee hours of the morning and start giggling and playing with each other. But you want to give them as little to play with as possible. Put the toys in a play room, or in the closet for the night, just anywhere that they can't get to them.
6. Here's what to put on the toddler bed: a pillow (thin with pillow case, can be size of average bed pillow, but should be thin and kind of firm) and a fitted sheet. You don't need to make up the bed with the flat sheet and the comforter that come in the toddler bed set, because they will just be in the way. Give your child a blanket (can be comforter on cold nights - my girls have a special crocheted blanket each) and a few small soft friends.
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