When to Switch to a Bed

How do you determine the right time to move your kiddos from a crib to a bed?

Every child needs to move from a crib to a bed at some point in time, but after helping countless families with this transition, we know that the question of WHEN comes up most frequently. In effort to answer that thoroughly, our team at Sleep Wise has compiled the questions we should address first before beginning the transition.

First, ask yourself:

1.) Am I hoping a bed will solve a sleep issue?

Achieving great, independent sleep is the first step. Making additional transitions, like moving a kiddo from crib to bed is only going to add stress and confusion to the process. Before you consider making changes to where your child sleeps, you want to get him or her sleeping through the night.

If you are tackling this process independently and your child is safely in a crib, you’ll want your precious little one to have all the comforting surroundings and safe boundaries of a crib to make the journey easier. Be patient! If you are tackling the process of teaching your child to sleep independently with a consultant on our team, we will help you decide whether crib or bed is the right step depending on your child’s individual circumstances.

2.) Is My Child Old Enough?

Children have the cognitive development and maturity to handle the responsibility of staying in bed best as they grow. In a perfect world, we aim to make this change between 2.5 and 3 years old. That is our general recommendation for the age in which to make big change. However, there are circumstances in which we make the transition sooner (or later) for a child’s safety or a family’s long term goals.

3.) What If I Wait Too Long?

You might have heard that letting children sleep in their cribs past a certain age means they won’t transition well to beds. That’s actually not true. It’s much more important to make sure they are sleeping well and safely at night than it is to reach an age marker.  Introducing a new bed when your toddler is well-rested, will make every transition much easier!