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My son (2 years, 9 months) is making the move to his "big boy bed."  He's moving into a twin-sized bed in another room.  Here's what we did:

- Had him help with setting-up the room.  We bought a new bed that needed to be assembled.  He helped my husband set-up the bed (as appropriate).  This seems to have given him a sense of pride in the bed and because he saw his dad set it up, he knows that "Daddy made the bed for me."

- I altered our bedtime routine so that stories were read in the "big boy bed."  He then had the option of sleeping in his big boy bed or his toddler bed/converted crib.  At first he opted for his toddler bed, but he's now made the transition on his own to his "big boy bed."  Because it was his choice, he is proud to be sleeping in his "big boy bed."

- To get him accustomed to the room before he started sleeping in there, I moved all his clothes and his favorite toys into the "big boy room."  He helped me move the stuff into the new room.  This made it easier for him to realize that we were transitioning into a new room and bed because we started operating out of that room vs his old room.

In the end, I think the methods you choose depend on your child's personality.  My son needs time to make a transition, so I made sure he had that time.  Some of my friends children have made the switch overnight into a new room.  It all depends!

 Good luck!

Shelly

Hi there! 

I have 2 girls myself.  7months and 4yrs - With our oldest, we transitioned her from crib to full size bed  at 24 months she started taking naps on the "big girl" bed.  We also included her on picking out things for her room..such as night lights...lighted glow princess clock..etc.  Once we transitioned her to sleeping full time in her room (after story time of course)..she of course would get out of bed a few times before falling asleep..But we were just consistent with walking her back and tucking her back in.

Personally she slept fine in her full size bed without any rails at all.  Now mind you it was lower to the ground (IKEA) so she could hop in and out perfectly fine..and not once rolled out.  If you feel more secure using the guardrails..then do so.  I think the toddler beds were a waste so we didn't even bother to look at any of them.

Monica

My daughter never liked the crib, she slept with us (and sleeps with us sometimes if she wakes up at night).  We finally moved her crib mattress into her big girl room, when she was 13-14 months old and she slept on that fine.  Then when we moved her into her big girl bed around 15 monthsand she loved it.  She actually doesn't sleep with a rail on it and she is 18 months.  She has rolled out once or twice but no big deal.  I thought it was easier to transition that way because she was used to sleeping on her crib mattress in our room (not in the crib).  I would give that a try for a bit. Also if you live near an IKEA they have a really cool adjustable toddler bed. It lays low to the ground and the foot rest and head rest can lay down to make the bed longer. That's what we have for Kaylee.  Hope this helps.