For some reason I didn't have any trouble transitioning my kids when their younger sibling arrived. They were excited to get new beds and they were only a few months older than Brody. Since he turns 2 before the baby arrives would it help to tie the new bed to his birthday? Then he wouldn't associate it with the new baby.

Here's an idea my sister in law used- She let her son help pick the new sheets and comforter for his bed. She took him to the store and showed him 2 or 3 sets and he picked the one he liked.

Side rails are great but when my kids were growing we got them bunk beds with a combination ladder / siderail assembly. The side rails that did not extend the full distance from the head to the foot of the top bunk. DD#2 got up one morning but must not have been completely awake - landed on her head. Screamed bloody murder but was more scared than anything else. Next day I bought a 6' piece of wood and after sanding & staining, attached it over the rail as an extension. Solved that problem.

As a kid, Mom put extra pillows on the floor next to the bed. I distinctly remember waking up on them one morning!

Don't stress, he will be fine. When my DS child was born, my younger DD was 23 months. It just didn't seem quite the time to move her out of the crib just yet (didn't want her to 'blame' the baby). So he either slept in a playpen in his room, or in a cradle with us in the family room.I think about 5 months later DD moved to a toddler bed (she was very excited about that and helped me clean (wipe down) her old bed for the baby. This situation worked perfectly for us.

My daughters are 22 month apart in age. I remember putting Ulrike in the big girls bed about 3 weeks before my due date. I was like you, didn't want her to think she was being "replaced". :)

She loved the big girl bed, as she could crawl out at the foot end, where we left an opening for her. We had a bed rail on for about 2 month.

Moni

I put mine in beds at around 20 months or so. In other words as toddlers. I never bothered with rails we just didn't use bed frames at first to keep them lower to the ground. You could buy a relatively inexpensive foam exercise mat to put next to it on the floor. Rails always seemed more hazardous to me than a short 21" drop to the floor. Except on bunk beds of course as Softball notes. When a child falls out of bed they don't generally dive off, just sort of slip off.

I don't think he will feel that he's giving up the crib for the baby. he will only pick that up if you say something. Focus on him getting a new bed not giving up his old bed.

DD is 25 months older than DS. I nursed her up until around 6 weeks before the baby was due. She never connected weaning with the baby so I can't imagine giving up a crib is a big deal for most kids.

Is there enough room that you could put the twin bed in the same room as the crib asap and let him "choose" which bed he'd rather sleep in (stressing that the big bed is only for big boys not babies) I bet if he has some bears or favorite stuffed animals to cuddle with he's enjoy that too. Perhaps you could lay down with him in the twin bed and read together..........just don't let him sucker you into sleeping with him....that's a hard habit to break!!
Diane

I bet he will take to it like a duck to water!
I'd set it up and leave it be,(good suggestion on sheets etc) he will be curious and investigate. Nappy time is a good transition. Just be sure to tell him often big boys do this or that...and use it towards everything, not just the bed.

I would think the sooner the better. But I would make sure that the big boy bed has rails to keep him from falling out or he might be afraid to sleep in it.

My best friend's son was so jealous of the baby sleeping in HIS bed and wanted to continue sleeping in his crib that she had to go out and buy another crib.

I'm glad you are thinking about this now.

Good luck with it all...I never had any problems with my girls.

My son was born 10 years later , so there was no problem there either.

Congrats again!!

Is Brody staying in the "nursery" or moving to a new room?

With Olivia we always had a twin bed in her room near the crib. One day DH put her to bed and came downstairs and said, By the way, she is sleeping in the twin bed tonight. She just picked it one day. She was maybe 2 1/2? We used the crib to store stuffed toys and blankets for a while. I thought maybe she'd realize it's off-limits for sleeping?

Then we made a big deal about 4 months before Katie was born that she got a whole new room and bed and she helped pick out colors/bedspread etc. We downplayed the nursery and focused on her big girl bed. I think we did the side rails for a while, but eventually just put some pillows on the floor in case.

By chance, if he has any problems with moving, we have a bassinet that I could loan you for the baby to sleep in your room/another room for a little while?

When the Katie was born we gave Olivia a present from the baby. She still talks about that and how happy she was!

Yeah, my kids didn't have any trouble either. Hopefully Brody takes to it easily. :) I agree with the setting it up and let him investigate it idea- the sooner, the better. Both kids transitioned to big kid beds at 2 and we had rails because the beds have box springs, are pillow tops and are pretty high off the floor. Little stools came in handy for them to be able to climb up.

Blessings!
Haley

I always put the new twin mattress on the carpeted bedroom floor with the box springs. I tucked in the top sheet and blanket and I usually started by using a double bed sized blanket I had because there was more to tuck in. I never used those bedrails. 6 months or more later, I put the mattress up on the bed frame.

I was strict about their not getting up after I turned off the light. Did not have a problem as they knew I meant business.

I agree with moving him before the baby comes so he does not associate the Big Boy Bed with the baby kicking him out of the crib. For one of ours, I left him in the crib and used the portacrib for the new baby for awhile too when they had to share a bedroom.

Move him to another room that will be his big boy room and then make it special for a big boy.

Yes, ask him what kind of sheets, comforter, some will do murals on the walls, things that relate to a boy that he can enjoy looking.

Get him very involved and move him well ahead into the bed or he will be upset that baby is in his crib. That way he will be used to big boy bed and his big boy room and talk about his old room is the baby's room.

some put down the mattress right on the floor. But now they have so many different kinds of kids beds and railings.

The one thing is get used to him bouncing out of bed and coming into mommy and daddy's bed.

start with nap time, now. good idea about putting bed on the floor, an adding the frame later...

might be a great time for him to start learning his colors by showig him pictures of big boy things..

When you first move him to a 'big bed', reduce the distance that he may fall until he becomes acoustomed to sleeping in the larger bed without rails. Merely place the mattress on the floor. If he rolls off, it is a short distance to the floor! After awhile, you can finish assembling the bed and put the mattess at a normal height.

Someone mentioned bunk beds. I used a set of these once when I had to house 2 boys in one room. I recommend to always use the half length rail on the upper bunk. The potential for injury is too great for a fall from the upper bunk.

Thanks to all for the great advice! Teresa, thanks for the offer on the bassinet...I'll let you know if we need to borrow!

We are going to do the mattress on the floor as soon as it ships to the house and keep the crib in there to let him choose. I think we'll start with naps on the mattress and then move the crib out of the room when he's ready to sleep there all night (we should probably do that on a weekend so we're not zombies during the work week, right?) Then, we'll set up the bed in the room and take out the crib.

Thanks for the tips! Also, we're lucky that the kids don't have to share a room, so that's one less thing to worry about. :)