Are you considering the transition from crib to bed for your twins? Here are some things that helped us when our 3 boys transitioned within a month of each other when our twins were 2 years old and our oldest was 4 years old.
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Transitioning from Crib to Bed
Making this transition can be scary for kids and parents alike! We were scared that our kids would suddenly wander around our home and get into things overnight, walk out the door, or fall down the stairs. At first we had a baby gate at the top of the stairs and closed it at night in case they did wake up and start walking around overnight.
Surprisingly enough, that hasn’t happened and all 3 have been in toddler beds for almost two years now! Here are some things that we did that helped with the transition by ensuring they were ready and that they’d stay in bed.
Let the Child Lead
We let our three boys lead when they wanted to be done with their cribs. They all have Delta brand convertible cribs. We didn’t transition our oldest from a crib to a toddler bed until he was about 4 years old because he never asked to be. He seemed to like the security of the crib.
Of course, within a month of him transitioning from a crib to a toddler bed, his twin brothers who were barely 2 at the time wanted to transition as well. So we went from no one able to roam the house at night to all 3 being able to roam freely. (Scary!!)
Surprisingly enough, they have all stayed in their rooms for the past year or so! I attribute this to the fact that we had already established the routine of an Ok to Wake clock that they aren’t supposed to come out of their rooms or cry for us until the clock lights up in the morning. I’ll share more about that later.
Toddler Bed Rail
Our Delta brand convertible cribs all have toddler bed rails that we could have purchased but honestly, we felt like they were overpriced and didn’t look like they’d help much in terms of kids rolling out of bed. Instead, we opted for these Dream On Me toddler bed rail that works great with convertible cribs.
From the research I did before buying these, a lot of rails like this actually aren’t made for convertible cribs and won’t work, so even if you don’t buy this kind, be sure to check to ensure they will fit a convertible crib if that’s what you have. This Dream On Me rail attaches to the bed on the opposite side of the open side so it’s very reinforced and won’t fall down, plus it’s held in place on the side without the crib rail.
Below you can see the bed rail and how it is on our twins’ beds.
Rail for Twin to Queen Sized Bed
If you’re transitioning your child to a regular bed like a twin or queen that isn’t a toddler bed, you may want to get a different type of crib rail for those purposes. The one below by Regalo is a well known brand and has over 14,000 positive reviews on Amazon! This rail fits a twin to queen sized bed.
Ok to Wake Clock
We use an Ok to Wake Clock for all 3 of our boys to help them know when it’s ok to get out of their beds. We had already had this routine established before removing the crib rails but it could probably be done at the same time.
We had the issue of the kids getting up at 5 am which was just way too early due to them not having enough sleep and because we weren’t ready to start our day with them yet. Ha! During the week, my husband gets up at 5 am and showers, and then I get up after that to shower and get ready. We set their Ok to Wake clocks to 6 am so they know once that lights up then they should expect us to come in and that then they can get up.
One twin really loves to jump out of bed when the clock lights up and turn it off, then run back to bed. It’s pretty cute hearing his little feet run across the room. The other twin just started doing that recently too.
For our older child, we have it set to 7 am, plus an alarm since he needs to get up then to get ready for Kindergarten. Before that though we just had this clock and it worked really well for him.
The Ok to Wake clock also has a nap setting so you can set it to light up once nap time or quiet time is done to let your little one know they can get up. You can also have an alarm set for naps and morning, but we don’t use that alarm as it’s quite nosy.
Furniture Anchors
If you haven’t already, it’s very important to anchor furniture in your child’s room before ‘letting them loose’ overnight. A dresser may seem steady but if your child climbs on it, especially with a drawer open, it can easily fall on them and seriously injure them. Installing high-quality furniture anchors on dressers, changing tables, bedside tables, and any other furniture in the room.
Bedding
In addition to transitioning from a crib to a toddler bed by taking the rail off, you can upgrade your child’s bedding! We went from them just having a fitted sheet and a blanket to a new set of sheets that has a fitted sheet, top sheet, and a new comforter to make it more like our bed!
Comforter
We’ve found these comforters to be super soft and cozy. This comforter comes in many different colors. One of our twins has blue and one has red. It’s so soft I wish we had one for our bed!
Sheet Set
As I mentioned above, once our kids were in toddler beds we got them sheet sets with a top sheet, bottom sheet, and pillowcase. They felt so grown up! This set is a 3-piece set that is reasonably priced and comes in different colors.
Pillow
Our kids started to want to use a pillow during the transition as well so we got them a basic pillow that was rather flat as we didn’t want it to block their face. We did all of this when they were over 2 years old, we never would have used a pillow under the age of 1 as it’s not safe to have anything in the crib with them except a fitted sheet when they’re babies.
Beware that when looking at pillows, often a toddler size pillow is smaller than the pillowcase that likely came with your sheet set. We got a regular size pillow due to this and our kids seem to do well with it.
Toddler Bed
If your child doesn’t have a convertible crib that can turn into a toddler bed, here is a toddler bed that is ranked highly on Amazon.
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.
these are all good items and cute!
Great article! My toddler will be 3 soon, but hasn’t asked to be out of his crib. We tried when he was around 20 months but it worked horribly lol. He was the child that liked to roam. So much so, that we had to buy a crib tent. (He was climbing out of his crib even with it being on the lowest setting, which made my husband and I think he was ready for a toddler bed. Talk about sleepless nights lol). I’ll be waiting for when he’s truly ready this go around 😀