My daughter will be 2 12/3 and I have no intention of moving to her bed yet. I am wondering for those of you with toddlers, did your son/daughter find the time when they were ready themselves? I think DH and I both would be so much better with the transition if she chose to do it herself. I still can't imagine her in her bedroom all alone. I hate sleeping alone and was glad to have shared a room with my sister most of my childhood TIA

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i'm not at this point yet, but i agree with what you said about only being comfortable with the transition if your daughter chooses it for herself. i plan on making Willow's toddler bed a comfortable, nice place to curl up and read a book, or take a nap, and then if she wants to go there to sleep, i trust that she will.

Trent was transitioned to a crib at about 6 months old, and has only recently started sleeping with us when he wakes up in the night. But he shares a room with his brother, and they are 2yo and 5yo. And they are both in toddler beds, so Trent can get into Shaun's bed if he wants, and does a lot! I feel a lot better with knowing he can have company if he needs it. Maybe you could try putting her toddler bed in your room, if there is space, so that she can sleep on her own, but still have the closeness and security of knowing you are there. I don't know if I'll ever be able to send my Katrina off to sleep on her own. Snuggling her close just feels so perfect!

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Thats what we did, we put her Toddler bed in our room and some nights she wanted to sleep there and then once we explained that she had a room of her own she occasionally wanted to sleep in there, that when we knew it was time to transition her, she was just over 2 (maybe 25 months I think, right around there, and obviously it wasn't instant). We co-slept from birth, even in the hospital. Occasionally she will still crawl in bed with us, and we have to be more careful because we have the new little one co-sleeping. But from our experience, I would say she will definitely give you cues that she's interested.

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Joey will be two this month, and we have his crib (which is convertable so the side is off in "daybed mode" pushed against our bed like a big cosleeper. He usually falls asleep between dh and I but then we scoop him up and put him in his bed right beside ours. Sometimes he'll wake up and climb into ours, but a lot of times he's sleeping most of the night in his bed.

If you can set up a toddler bed beside your bed and start the transition (comfortable, slow, and exciting - put a fancy blankie or stuffed animal there and let it be a treat that they can use only in "THEIR bed".

We'll say, "Joey, you want to go in Joey's bed and lay down with your blankie?" and he'll smile and go lay down. He doesn't usually stay there while he's awake, but we've gotten him used to it so he reads his stories there and wakes up there. We recently put his Ocean Wonders aquarium there as well and that draws him to it.

I'm far from ready to set him up in his own room, nor do I think he's ready for it, but we've begun the transition into his own bed, beside ours, which is exciting.

Good luck!

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Christie
Mommy to Joey (1-26-04) & Tommy (10-5-06)

Um, Joey, I think that dragon costume is a bit small on you...

Hey Kim! Drew is still sleeping in our bed and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I'm going to let him transition on his own. I think if I tried to do it after all this time, he'd be really upset. I know I wouldn't be able to sleep without him either! His room is across the house and I'd be so worried all night.

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My Guys!