Crib to Bed Transition

I saw this on a blog a follow and nearing the time for me to start thinking about this transition, so I thought I would document it for my horrible memory purposes.

 

http://www.babywisemom.com/2014/03/poll-discussion-post-crib-to-bed.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChroniclesOfABabywiseMom+%28Chronicles+of+a+Babywise+Mom%29

 

Time for a poll on the Crib to Bed transition. Here are the questions:

1. What age did you first move your child from crib to bed?
2. In your opinion, was that a good age?
3. If not, do you think it should have been done younger or older?
4. How did you prepare your child for the transition?
5. What kind of rules did you set for the transition?
6. Did your child stay in bed at the transition, or did your child test limits a get out of bed?
7. If your child tested limits, what things did you do that helped your child stay in bed?
8. Was there disruption to normal sleep patterns at the transition?
9. How long did it take your child to sleep as normal in the "big bed"?
10. Any words of wisdom? Advice?

1. Jack - 16 mths, Jared - 16 mths, Josh - will be 16 mths
2. I was 100% against moving Jack and thought we needed another crib. However, Chunk didn't want to fork out more money for another one. I thought it was going to be the worst decision of our life, but I was 100% wrong. I had heard so many nightmares about toddlers fighting the new bed (and wanting the crib back), then finally accepting their new bed & constantly getting out of bed. And we fortunately escaped all of that by starting the transition earlier.
3. Obviously, we think 16 mths is a good age, lol.
4. We didn't, lol. I assumed we were buying another crib. Chunk assumed we were moving Jack out of the crib. 2mths before Jared was born, it came up and Chunk won :) We setup a twin bed in Jack's (new) room.
5/6. Our rule was that he had to stay in bed. It was funny because for the first week, he did GREAT! I think he thought it was just a "bigger crib." However, that second week, I remember hearing something and I walked into his room & he was standing on his nightstand, lol. It only took about a week to reinforce (by placing him back in his bed) and both boys are pretty awesome about staying in their beds.
7. Another funny...Joan and Carlos stayed at our house with Jack, when I gave birth to Jared. Joan said that Carlos went to Jack's door like 50x during each nap. I think Jack would call out his name & Carlos would come to the door and remind him to get in bed. It only took Jack a short to master this manipulation technique to postpone his nap...Apparently, Carlos did this ALL weekend & Joan just sat back and laughed, lol. We nipped that in the bud when I got home from the hospital :)
8. No disruptions. Both did great.
9. I don't recall any sleep issues in the transition stage.
10. Yes! Do it early! In hindsight, I think the boys learned at such a young age not to get out of bed, so it nipped it in the bud before they were 2 or 3 and really wanted to test all limits!