Well damn. For once you and Jon got to a baby milestone that didn't involve a trip to the doctor's for an enema or an increase in medications. About time I say. You all were far, far overdue. And that's a cute bed to boot and with room at the foot for all those Dora books. Good find.

You are indeed lucky. There's nothing that'll scare the bejesus out of you like waking in the middle of the night to see a small face staring intently at you.

I think Jack is plotting...

bitchen bed

Typo -> I’m too enthusiastic about what’s happening right now to be sad about the fact that so MUSH has already passed.

Or maybe not. Maybe a lot of mush has also been passed.

Lovely!

Congratulations.

Don't worry, I insisted on going around in my pram til I was about four. Can you say dysfunctional? I haven't read the Iliad tho (was supposed to... Something to do with bloody Pope parodying it but rearranging my documents was much more important)...

Billygean

I wish I had a bed like that! Do they make them in adult sizes? I especially like the bookshelf at the bottom... or maybe it's a bench... I prefer to think of it as a bookshelf. Either way, what a great first bed.

My son was also three and in a crib for the same reason! He just never tried to leave the crib. He loved it and then we brought in a big boy bed and he was fine in that too. I'm not sure why people are concerned about Leta in the crib at age 3!! As if that were going to wreck her whole life or they pictured her still in it when she turned 14?? Thankfully most of your readers trust you as a parent, far more than that :)

Thanks for sharing this bed story just as I was thinking it was time to start looking around for my son.

Clearly another example of how well Heather knows her little girl and knew what would be best for Leta and when it would be best for Leta.

Take that Mean-Know-It-All-Accusatory-Mothers!

(Way to sleep in the big girl bed Leta !)

That bedspread pattern? Pretty sure I have that one too, but it's on my boxers.

Congratulations! I'm so glad to hear the transition has gone well for you. Hooray for good kids!

I was amazed at what a non-event this was for our daughter too. However, we now have to unscrew the lightbulb in her room because she will crawl to the foot of her bed where the light switch is in excellent reach (her bed is pretty high off the gorund) and she will flip on the light and start singing her baby brother's name (who sleeps in a crib about a foot away) until he wakes up. No manner of discipline could penetrate her delight in doing this each night--thus the unscrewed lighbulb.

Couldn't she just wipe her nose with the new bedding? Much more efficient, and I'm pretty sure no one would notice with the lime green in the color scheme and all.

I LOVE that bed. I want one for myself...the bench is just want I always wanted, but have no room for.

My little one, Lorelei, was in a toddler bed by 18 months because by 12 months she could climb out of the crib. BUT she rolled around her crib so much while she slept I was wary about taking off the bars. When we finally got her big girl bed: she still rolled all over, but not as much...so we put pillows on the floor to cushion the inevitable fall. Past month or so she now comes to our bed every night: screaming until she is cuddled up next to me and it's as if the screeches didn't jolt me awake. Thankfully she doesn't roll as much any more and I'm not constantly hit with flailing baby arms. And she is super cuddly.

Congratulations on a smooth transition into a very cool bed! I am always more apprehensive about changes like that with my daughter than she ever seems to be. But then she'll scream about something that's not big deal to make up for it many times over. Anyway . . . we just moved our daughter from the toddler bed into a big double bed. That transition made me teary-eyed, where, like you, the change from crib to toddler bed didn't really effect me. I really love my toddler, the baby times weren't that super! Now she's almost 3 and taking away that little bed was hard to do! (We need the mattress from it for the crib - new baby on the way).

Congrats! We finally moved our muffin to a big girl bed a month ago, and were (and still are) pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. Now, I'm just hoping that one day she'll tell me she's ready for the potty and it'll be over that easy. I can dream right?

I. Am. So. Jealous.

The the screaming frog at the edge of our bed (on my side) in the middle of the night (EVERY NIGHT) is quite a treat.

I, for one, don't think it's wrong that a (just) three year old is sleeping in a crib, since she wasn't climbing out. Just for the record....

Our older daughter too was never a climber. We moved her to a big girl bed when she was two, because her sister was to be born any day. She'd wake up every morning and call for us, just like when she was in her crib. I think she was over 2 and 1/2 before it finally occurred to her that she herself could climb out on her own. Those were the days...

My younger daughter is much more physical and much less trustworthy out on her own (think toothbrush in toilet, every chance she gets) so she'll be staying in her crib for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.

Cool bed!

I will build a crib in my daughters dorm room at College if she wants. She has no desire to get out either. In fact, most of the time she spends trying to get back in. Oh I can't believe Leta is in a toddler bed!! She's growing so fast!

OMG - I hate you! Not really, just because today, the very day you post about your fortunate luck to keep Leta in her crib until the age of 3, my little rough 'n tumble anything is possible with these amazing limbs called arms and legs 2 year old boy climbed out of his crib. I am in the process of ordering an amazing super low loft bed from Ikea (I am side stepping the generic toddler crap completely) and hoping not to hear toilets flushing, pans dropping, knives stabbing during the night. Wish me luck. By the way, love your choice bed, I never thought of you as the butterfly unicorn type.

That's an awesome bed! My now 3 1/2 year old co-slept with us up until he was about 3, and went from there to sharing a bunk bed with his older brother. It's been mostly successful, although like Leta, he likes to occasionally call out to me in the middle of the night for mundane things, like covering him with the blanket, or picking up his toy off the floor. I hadn't really thought about it as "come show your face" but that's as good a theory as any (another would be "I'm too lazy to get my own damn blanket and toy").

Oh, and god bless sliced bread!

Oooooh, bitchy Catherine is going to hate this!

I, on the other hand, think this will fit in perfectly in Leta's room - very nice indeed.

That is adorable. But, um, when you introduce her to tequila then please for the love of all that is good and chocolatey will you include video?

Our daughter is 2 and has never tried climbing out. I have had a few people ask me why we haven't switched her over yet. I feel like everyone is in such a hurry about things sometimes. She doesn't mind where she is sleeping so we'll make the switch when we think she's ready.
Surely won't still fit in her crib when she is 10.
(joke people....just a joke)
The transition is going so well for you because you and Jon are just plain awesome and how could it be anything but good?

Another cold and sterile piece of furniture for Leta's room. JOKING!

Looks great. Congrats Leta for being a big girl~

"Wipe my nose" is so much sweeter than what my younger brother screamed out whenever he needed something, "Hey, somebody, come wipe my hiney-hole" in a very sing-song voice.

Way to go!

But I personally need to find this one http://tinyurl.com/2ny2pj that M to the D O Double G posted in a king size.

That bed kicks ass

Our son is two and still behind bars, but they are German bars. His bed came from my parent's neighbors in Germany. This is a crib that is very low to the ground. He can climb in and out of it and I feel very safe with him in it.

Here is the thing. He can climb in and out of it, but he rarely does. Instead, at 6:30 in the morning I hear through the baby monitor, "Mommy, where ARE u? Mommy? Where are you, mommy?" over and over.

I love Leta's new bed. It totally suits your style.

That is an awesome bed.

Hope you're not exhausted from so much blinking. I wanted to comment on your "why haven't you potty trained Leta" post but typekey was too daunting. My post there can be summed up in one sentence: Our ten year old is still required to inform us when she poops."

Leta will be fine. And I hope your sense of humour about yourself shows her an excellent way to deal with criticisms that idiots aim at her. You're an excellent role model for her.

My son is 30 months old and still in his crib. I didn't realize it was such a big deal. And he did climb out once about 6 months ago, but hasn't since. Immediately afterwards I bought some sort of encapsulation device (zip on tent crib cover) but never installed it. One of these days we'll make the transition to a toddler bed; for now, I'm too chicken. I enjoy having him encaged at night. Like Leta, he cries out at night for me, too, although he says things like "I need the telephone!"

That bed is so cute.

Why are other people so concerned about how you raise Leta? I mean, really. What happened to the good old days when you could beat the hell out of your kids and nobody would say a thing until the little ingrates were old enough to dial up the police themselves?

Some people...

Some people really don't have enough to worry about, do they? If the kid's happy in a cot/crib why rush them out of it? People get far too hung up on pushing kids through milestones.

My son, Finn, moved into a bed at about 2 and a half because he'd started to climb out of his cot and the bed seemed much safer. If not for that he'd still be in the cot now, at 3 yrs, 4 mths. And I wouldn't have to worry about putting the cot back together for his little sister who is due in March.

That's a great bed you got Leta. I found it really hard too to find kids' beds that aren't horrible or ridiculously expensive. Finn's is a bit of a compromise - I don't really like it, but it was the best we could find at the time.

It's amazing how we build ourselves up to events with our kids that end up being so anticlimactic. My wife and I were so paranoid about making the switch from crib to bed -- but the addition of a second child made it necessary. Just like Leta, our little girl was momentarily excited and then just slept in her toddler bed like nothing had changed. Now if we could just conquer the potty training, life would be golden...

Excellent. Sam was almost 3 by the time we bought him a new bed and we only did it because the baby was on the way and the crib was needed in the other room. I like that bed, much better than the cheapo bed rails we have to use. Also, don't let them get you down about the potty training. Ours is so lazy about it he stated that he might switch from diapers when he turns 5. He's now 40months (yes, I did that just to make you do the math).

PS Make sure it's good tequila, not that crappy stuff most 3 yr olds settle for.

Fantastic bed! We had to put our not yet 2 year old in a big girl bed right after the holidays, as we're expecting baby #2 any day. We've not had the luck you have had, and I'm totally envious! My daughter likes to get out of her bed and play with her toys until one of us comes in to holler at her. She always acts like she's terribly surprised to see us - "OH, hi!" And the best was the other day when she woke up (we keep a gate on her door so she doesn't throw pans down the basement steps) I went in to get her after she called out, and she looked right at me and said, "Get back in bed RIGHT NOW, mommy!" I guess she's learning.

and yes, please post pictures of the new bed in use!!

why the hell did I ever take my children out of their cribs? Now they are 16, 2 13 year olds, 10 and 8...and OHhhh how I miss having then contained in one room.

Heather,
We did the EXACT same thing as you. We waited until our oldest was three. And in truth, if it hadn't been for the fact that we were having another child and I needed to get her into a bed in a new room, I wouldn't have pushed it then either. She did climb out and we took the side rail off for safety until her big bed came. But, just for the same reasons you gave, we just let the crib fly until something changed the need. Second kid...need was there. I know alot of moms who moved their kid to a bed as a young toddler (as in a year old or so) just because they thought they had to...not that they climbed out or anything. I thought those people were nuts. A small child, just learned to walk, having full access to the house...at NIGHT while there is supposed to be sleep going on. Poor sods. I'm doing the same thing with kid two...wait until the need arises. She just turned two and LOVES her crib. She sits in there conducting her own world experiments, oblivious to the need to escape. Perfect, perfect child. Bars are good! Chic toddler beds are even better. Great find! Love the bed. That's why Leta isn't getting out of it...she's contemplating her next post modernist furniture purchase. I'd love to see a pic of it in her room sometime. And what bedding you used. I bet its darling.

"Oh, Leta, I know. Wait until I introduce you to tequila."

This had me laughing out loud...lol.

What a great looking bed! I wish I would of seen that one for my girls!

Congrats on the big move to the toddler bed. I wonder what Catherine thinks of the bed. Too sterile and clean for her tastes, I'm sure. My kids have always transitioned into their big kid beds just fine. Probably because they know that within 10 minutes they will be climbing into mine!

You should see the looks I get when people find out that we use a crib tent to keep my 21 month son IN the crib. I plan on using that sucker for as long as possible! Do you think it's weird for a 15 year old to sleep in a crib?

Wow, what a cool bed! Congratulations on an easy transition.

Please share your favorite interior design/shopping sites one day, because I can never find The Cool Stuff.

And also? You get funnier with every post.

Hey, congratulations! We're nearing this transition ourselves, and now have a deadline as we'll need the crib for the new kid in 7.5 months. Wish us luck that it goes as well at our house as it did for Leta.

Damn that bed is cute. Jess is still in a crib (we call it a cot in Australia, don't ask me why) and we are in no rush to move her to a bed - we enjoy being able to decide when she gets out of bed, not vice versa.

I love that bed so much more than the typical plastic toddler beds. And the bench on the end is so cute, the perfect place to sit and read books. Congratulations to Leta on making the transition so easily!

Yay for the ease... I also had an easy switch after finding my 18 month old with one bare foot on each of the rails, naked except for a cowboy hat, holding his stuffie BabyPony and screaming "WHOOOO HOOOO! RIDE EM' COWBOY!!" while he bounced like he was on the most buckingest bull in America. How he, or, more importantly, my nerves survived must have been part of the contract when I sold my soul to the devil. He was in a big boy bed that night with nary a complication.
I'm glad that Leta has such a pretty bed to tumble into dreamland in.

Man, that is an awesome toddler bed. I want that bed for me, forget any toddlers.

I've been reading you for months now and LOVE your tongue-in-cheek humor. So many of us have been in the same parenting situations you have, we just haven't had the courage to post it on the internet for God and everybody to read.

Leta is a beautiful child and in the photos you post you can tell she loves you and Jon with all she's got.

Leta's new toddler bed totally rocks! I wish something like that had been available in my area when I needed one for my now 6 year old daughter. Totally cool. Shabby chic. Way better than the white metal tube looking thing we had.

Man, I'll never be able to introduce my kids to tequila, but that's because tequila hates me. It hates me a lot.

All my kids were in the crib until 2.5 or later, and only left it because they wanted to or were being booted out forcibly for a new baby.

That bed is so cool! Thanks for including the link to where you bought it. I wasn't going to consider a toddler bed for when Max transitions out of his crib until I saw the one you got for Leta. I'm glad she's made the switch smoothly!

Loved the tequila comment!

Ah - the push for the big bed. I don't know why so many parents are in such a hurry. My brother had both his kids out by 18 months...and not because they were climbers. It was like a race to grow up. And neither one of those kids sleeps very well.
I must say, I give all the credit to the smooth transition to your parenting with the help of the Sleep Book. (Healthy Sleep Habits...). Our son is two and half and still in his crib and never fights bedtime thanks to that book (and our parenting). We're expecting another so will have to move him at some point...unless we just get another crib. They could both stay in there until they're five, right???

"...many great memories of her, that little screaming frog who screamed a lot every day with the screaming."

i laughed until someone walked by and made fun of me for seemingly laughing at nothing.

yo... I want that bed!

My little brother was breast-fed until he was three. My little sister is now three, and my father and stepmother are 62 and 55 respectively (my sister is adopted from China). I hear all the time about how unfair it is that she has such old parents (I know, aren't they cruel?), and how crazy my stepmother must have been to breast feed my brother for so long.

I'm sure you've heard this before, but I only recently found your blog, so here's my first comment - screw the critical. Screw 'em all. These are the same people who believe gay marriage is somehow causing Global Warming.

Your daughter is absolutely, gasp-inducingly beautiful. I cannot possibly fathom that some of your readers have so much time on their hands that they can write in expressing "concern" that your daughter is (well, was) still in a crib.

I wish I had that kind of time.

Congrats on the milestone. I'm jealous of the bed. Mine doesn't have a cool bench on the end.

Congrats to Leta!!!

People need to stop telling you how to parents. Egads.

Anyway, I was still in a crib when I was 3, I believe, and then I went straight to a normal bed. I only had to fall off once or twice before I learned not to. :P

My son moved to a real bed when he was about 2. He fell off sometimes. He's not broken. :D I moved him that early because it would be easier to read to him and let him fall asleep there. He's impossible to put down without waking him up. I wish I'd waited a little bit longer until he'd learned to not get up at night. We spent the next year and a half with him wandering in our room and crawling into bed with us. :D Not that waiting necessarily would have helped. Plus he thrashes a lot and kept hitting his head and feet on the sides. (Now he just hits his head into the wall. Oh well!)

There isn't one right way to do things. It's not like there's a schedule.

Don't worry about how other people do things. Do what's right for you and your kids. :) And if you're wrong, you're wrong. It's just a bed. :P My son will figure out what to do with one before he moves out. :D Who cares if he figures it out now or in a year?

Best of luck with her pooping, too. I have no help for that, though. Just tell everyone to back off. My son wasn't potty trained until he was 3.5. ;) There's no race to be potty trained.

My son was well past 3 before we moved him out of the crib. He, too, just didn't seem to care and in fact, seemed to like the perceived security of the crib. We only moved him out of it because he is so tall that he had to contort his body every day to sleep. He was so tall we had to skip the toddler bed altogether and he went straight to a double bed with guard rails. Leta's bed is adorable - I wish my boy had been able to use a bed that size!

What a fabulous bed!

I'm expecting my first child this August, and will be 4-in-1 crib shoppig this weekend. But, unlike you, I will probably give birth to the-child-who-climbs-all-obstacles, and wind up having to buy a stainless steel cage to keep the little booger in.

If not, I plan to use the 'crib' until the proverbial wheels fall off.

Oh, you do make me giggle...

This will make it so much easier for her to come in to YOUR room to throw up in the night all over YOUR bed and YOUR hair.

Wow, that's awesome! I have a 7 year old that still won't stay in her bed all night.

YEA LETA!!! Yea Big New Bed!!
Heather I love love love the bed.
Where did you get it??

I kept my kids in cribs until they were 3, yes 3. There was no way I wanted them up and about on their own getting into whatever. And they never tried climbing out of the cribs, they'd just call me and wake me up - then I knew what they were up to.

I love you for posting this today!! I know you don't like extra exclamation points, but that sentence needed them. I have had a horrendous day, and I laughed out loud a lot in this post, so I just wanted to say thank you again for sharing your lives with us...and for being so damn funny!

Yeah, I know what you're going through (again). Elsa didn't have any interest in climbing out of her crib, so we didn't switch her over to a toddler bed until THREE WHOLE MONTHS after her 3rd birthday. You would have thought the world was going to end by the way other mothers were reacting.

You know what? She loved it. She had apparently been coveting our bed things- like pillows and blankets, and now she had that very stuff in her very own bed. And she can get out any time and play in the morning, she doesn't have to be released from the crib. We did put a good gate on the door to her room for two reasons: she could inherit the sleepwalking I did as a kid, and her room is on the second floor. If that gate wasn't there I never would have gotten any sleep. She never had a fit about her new bed, she simply LOVED it.

I am very, very happy for you. You've been through so much, had such a hard time with Baby Leta, and to learn that she is calming down and becoming a truly wonderful person to live with is so great. Congratulations!

Also, thanks for the laughs.

Excellent bed! And the best possible result for you guys, she loves it!

Oh, if only my child would be so estatic about the bright pink princess bed she was so delighted about--YIPPEE--that is, until it arrived. Now, she occasionally "calls" Santa and tells him to "ever, ever come back to my house." Apparently, he f'ed up by delivering that tripe.

This is a hilarious read.

Oh my god. My friend bought me the bacon bandaids! They are totally awesome. There is something great about making the papercut on your finger look like a giant, gaping, wound. Also, the tiny pig that was in my box is the best tiny pig I've ever seen.

I'm sure 8,000 people have already commented on this, but I'm commenting drunk, damnit, so:

Sooooooooo many more Dora books to sleep with now. Sweet.

Yeah! Go Leta.

Congrats on the new bed, and the lack of difficulty. It's about damn time something was almost impossible for you guys. Good on ya, you deserve it.

My older daughter also transitioned quite nicely to the toddler bed. My next one is quite a different child. She's almost 22 months and she climbs out of her crib, opens her door, comes into my room and wakes me up at 5am. It's time for the toddler bed, but will she ever stay in it?? Who knows.

You don't miss baby Leta? You'll miss her when toddler Leta turns into teenage Leta and if you look at her wrong her head will start spinning like in the Exorcist, but different.

sincerely,
the mother of a teenager.

Our daughter slept in her crib until we needed it for her brother. She was nearly four. We have no intention of moving her brother out of it before we have to. He's a skillet-throwin' kind of kid...

New reader to your website. It's a great read!

Hoorah! Another victory for furniture!

Bed is cute etc. Where did you get those neat jeans that Leta is wearing in today's photo? I'd like to get a pair and then replicate the cool stitching on my girl's other jeans.

My daughter (now 22) was also 3 yrs old before we bought her a "big-girl bed". She also never tried to climb out of her crib, I think because we always came to get her in a timely fashion when she awoke from a nap or in the morning. We chose a super-single waterbed for her, because a) she would have a hard time falling out, and b) because it would be a rather easy clean-up if she wet the bed or became ill. To our surprise and delight, it took her several months to realize that she could actually get out of the bed without our permission! At the end of her nap, or in the morning, she would politely call out, "Mommy, I'm awake", and lie there patiently until we came in to get her. Talk about a nice transition! I wish you, Leta, and Jon the best!

These little triumphs are the payoff you get for living through the screaming. It's a trade off. Some kids don't scream through their infancy, but climb out of bed and wake their parents up by poking them in their closed eye and breathing in their ears, "are you awakkkkeeeeeee mommy?" If/when you have another child, it could very well be the quietest baby ever. Who sleeps all night right away. Who gets out of the crib at 3 years old, and drives off with Chuck riding shotgun in your car, in the middle of the night. Anyhow my kids had a "6-year crib". I never understood that, except the side could be removed so it was something like a daybed. We went straight to a twin bed with a railing at 2-3 years. You and Jon are a great example of how parenting works itself out, no matter how much self-doubt, or planning happens. We just do our best.

That bed is adorable!! I wish I'd seen it before I bought my boys their bed.

Oh, I love that bed! It's awesome. I don't think we had big boy/girl bed crying, either. We had crying and tantrums and much carrying-on when it was time to move to the crib (we co-slept), but the bed was pretty uneventful. I wish we'd skipped the crib altogether, to be honest with you.

Yay! This is so exciting...even for me. Sad that my life consists of blogs? Nah, it's Leta!

(wow, that was cheesy)

My twin boys (10 or so months younger than Leta)have also never once attempted to climb out of their cribs. They climb other places, but I think they feel safe in their cribs, no matter what other people say about their supposed imprisonment. 99% of the time, they go to bed without fussing and seem sometimes almost happy to be put in there. (I think an advantage to twinhood is that they have each other at night, so the calls for mom to wipe their nose don't come that often. Nevertheless, we will be doing the Big Boy Bed thing after pottytraining ensues to some level of success, so hopefully sometime this year.

(BTW, about the potty training thing? I've got one ready to go, and another who doesn't have the slightest interest or clue to care about it. It really has to be when they are ready, and good for you for just letting Leta lead the way there. Especially with some of the stuff she's gone through.)

Cool bed. Does it convert to a twin? It kinda looks like it might.

So, your kid like, stays in her bed and sleeps? So.Not.Fair.

My son, Ethan, was the same way. When we finally moved into our house we just set up his twin size bed, put the crib in the garage and that was that. He has never gotten out of bed at night and he waits for us to come get him in the morning. I too was totally expecting the difficult transition from crib to bed.

Your posts never fail to drive me into hysterics. That is a great bed, I'm sure Leta will be very happy in it. And there's even room for her books at the end. Will she be comfortable with them a little further away then almost on top of her, threatening to pin her to the bed again (that was too funny)?

My son bailed out of the crib at around 2.5 - we converted his convertible bed into the toddler bed and he wanted nothing to do with it. He slept on the floor for about 6 months. Crib, toddler bed, toy box, floor....I really don't care - as long as they are SLEEPING!

One night, the huge brown eyed floating head will appear to you.

it will urgently whisper 'Mama' a few hundred times until you break from your deep, restorative slumber, thinking you are hearing things, open your eyes and ...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!FLOATING HEAD!!

You'll piss yourself.

Wait for it, and good job on the big girl bed transition!

Don't these assholes know how much energy it takes to be lazy? Damn it. Maybe if they pulled their sorry, fat asses out of their self absorption, they'd realize that. Hello? It actually take a lot of work! Jesus...

AND...Blinking??? Duh. That's a lot of work right there. Keeping dust out of our eyes so we can read their OVER ZEALOUS CONCERNS!!! Crib nazi's.

Sometimes with all their flatulence blowing around, it even takes work to breathe.

Leta is exactly like my little boy - he never tried to climb out of the crib so we were not in any rush to get him in a bed. In the end, we changed him purely because he didn't fit in the crib anymore (he was nearly 3). When we transitioned to the bed, he took it in his stride and didn't seem troubled, just another great place to sleep. It took many months for him to figure out that he COULD get out of this one any time he wanted. So for a few lovely months he would lie in bed, even while awake, and wait for someone to come and get him.

Now, though, he knows he can get out of bed (his dad taught him the trick and now regrets it) and can wake us up at ridiculous hours.

It was only when he was well established in his bed and ready that we THEN potty trained him. He is now nearly 3 1/2 and has only just cracked it. So never rush, kids have their own timetables anyway.

What a cute little bed. Love the bench.

Orr daughter was nearly three when she stopped using her crib for much the same reason. She was happy there and she never tried to climb out, so why mess with what worked?

One day she finally did figure out that she could get out of it and we just went straight to a double bed. Of course, we forgot to do this until it was bedtime (because we're THAT good) and so we were scrambling to take down her crib that she was very much attached to and put up this other bed moments before we planned to toss her in it, turn off the lights and leave the room.

She was a bit freaked at first, but then the "THAT'S MY BED!! THAT'S A REALLY REALLY BIG BED AND IT'S ALL MINE!" moment hit and she was fine. We didn't have any real problems transitioning and it was never an issue at night. She did start taking most of her naps on the couch, though, where she would fall asleep to a movie of some sort. She never would have kept napping otherwise. She was about ready to give them up at that point and I was determined to drag them out as long as possible.

I tried to comment, but it was a failure....can't...do...it...all again! Sob. (Losing the will to live)

Debbie

Plan A- Speaking of Jesus Christ- He only wishes he had a toddler bed like that one ;-)
Reading that entry makes me want to do the transition all over again!

Congratulations, family!! I think Leta took to her new bed with such ease because you guys have done an amazing job providing her with such a loving environment. She seems to be a very secure little girl and you and JOn should take a huge amount of credit for that. It sounds like you guys took the right approach and becuase of that she responded to this change well. I can't believe she's big enough for a "big girl" bed! Good job, you guys!!

I have a 2 year old and everyone keeps asking me when I am going to put him in a toddler bed. I'm like, are you kidding me? He is finally sleeping 12 hours at night an taking 2 hour naps, why would I move him. This kid is staying in his crib untill he is 6, seriously. I plan for him to be too big for the crib before I move him.

Congrats to Leta and her big girl bed. Does she sleep w/ gran mal seizure Elmo?

that is kick arse...yay! I wanna be there for tequila lessons. Here in Dayton we have these things called Bad Juans @ a restaurant called Elsa's. They claim to be margaritas of some sort, but...that word does not do them justice..they are the only acceptable way to do tequila, in my book!

The new bed is glorious! The clean lines are restful to the eye and the reading bench is really fun. I second the request for a picture of the bed set up in Leta's room.

You and Jon are raising an amazing child who will be a strong woman. You respect her individuality and encourage her creativity. Anyone who offers judgement of your methods and decisions isn't worthy of your consideration.

Hey M to the D O Double G,
That looks like a Bobby Trendy bed. good night sweet nichole.

I rocked my daughter in a rocker until she was 3 years old, didn't put her into a toddler bed until she was 3 1/2 years old and she wet the bed until she was 8, but only sporadically. This year I've introduced her to alcohol......of course tequila.

I've convinced I'll be in hell with every other mother who waited so long to put their "baby" in a bed. Ah well, we'll drink patron and live it up.

Cool bed, complete with staging area for future Elmo dramas!

Congrats on the smooth transition!

Mine started climbing out entirely too early. So I got a wonderful crib tent to put over the top to keep him in. Eventually, I converted his crib to a toddler bed, but he didn't stay in that either. Sadly, I didn't have a radiator.

Go Leta with the NEW BIG GIRL BED!

your really funny. I doubt if my little post will be noticed among your 198 commenter's, but I thought i would anyway.

Now that I think about it...I sleep in a brass bed with a headboard made of brass poles and a footboard made of...brass poles. So, after all these years, I guess I'm still sleeping in a half-crib. Yikes! Love you Dooce family. You are the knees of the bees!!!

This should be a lesson to all of your haters - See how EASY things are when children are actually ready for them?

Happy Big Girl Bed Milestone, Armstrongs!

Where is that bed from!! I love it.. I have to order one before we move.. and I love it, so simple and clean lines!!! Please tell :)

I. Am. So. Jealous.

Transitioning from our bed to crib, then crib to their own beds has been a hideous journey with both of our boys. I pretty much sleep in the top bunk with my five-year-old, while my husband takes the 2 1/2-year-old to our bed. If I manage to regain consciousness (ha!) I can occasionally transfer the little one back to his bottom bunk. Where he stays for two or three hours before shrieking himself awake and then climbing back into our bed.

But they'll be sleeping in their own beds sometime before they're 18, right?

Let me just say, I'm JEALOUS. Green with envy. When we transitioned Hootie to the big girl bed, I fully expected the situation you describe happening with Leta. She'd love it. It'd be so exciting! She could be a BIG GIRL and all.
She SOBBED, at the loss of the crib. She begged me to put it back up for her. She didn't LIKE the new bed, she liked the OLD BED JUST FINE, thank you (and I'm quoting).
She's over it now, she sleeps in it fine now (though she'd still much prefer to sleep with/on me, but that's neither here nor there). Luckily, she also never has gotten up in the night to roam the house. She will squawk in her bed, calling for me also. And gets chauffeured to the couch in the morning, to be given her sippy full of soy milk, and have Sesame Street magically appear on the TV.

I can't believe you are getting flack for not putting Leta in a big girl bed! Although, I guess I can after seeing some other critiques of your parenting on this site!

As for my kids, only my first was out of his crib before three, and that was because his little sister was going to be here about the time he turned three, and we weren't going to buy another crib! None of my kids climbed out of their crib, so I left them there as long as possible.

Your toddler bed is adorable. My kids all just got regular twin beds on box springs set on the floor of the bedroom. I'm too cheap to buy a toddler bed and then another bed when they get bigger!

My youngest will be three in March, and she's still in her crib. We have a bed in the basement for her, but have been too lazy to bring it upstairs. When she finally falls on the floor begging us to bring it up to her room, we'll probably do it. We proabbaly wouldn't even have it at all excpet that my husband's grandmother was getting rid of one of her beds from her house.

I say, unless your kid is constantly climbing out of their crib, leave them there as long as possible. That's that much longer that they can't get up and visit you in the middle of the night or climb out and take every piece of clothing out of their drawer oh so quietly when they are supposed to be taking a nap.

Leta's bed is awesome, by the way!

Yes, lucky indeed. But very wise to run with it! Why change something if it isn't broken?

Our twin girls were/are climbers and as soon as that happened we put crib tents on their cribs to keep them contained. They loved it and we were able to postpone the transition from h*ll for solid year. They are now 4 1/2 and still don't know how to regularly stay in bed.

We are now at a decision point on what to do with their 21m old brother who is also a climber... crib tent or big boy bed? I'm thinking the easy button is looking rather promising.

Okay, I admit it. I wondered why Leta was still in a crib. But it wasn't a judgment thing. It was a how-the-hell-do-you-manage-to-keep-her-in-there thing. As the mom of two boys (well, there actually grown men, but anyway), I've learned not to think those judgmental thoughts. Much.

Glad the transition went so well. You are very lucky!

We had the same experience. I had put it off thinking we'd be up all night every night for weeks. Nope! If all parenting could be so unexpectedly easy!

I think you rock as a mother ... and that's a great bed. Keep up the excellent work.

Yup.

Time for a baby brother!!

My oldest was just about 3 when she switched from crib to bed. I didn't know there was a "magic" age for ending all crib sleeping! It's a good things there are all those perfect mothers/parents out there to tell us how wrong we were!

Congrats on the smooth transition!

That was so, so, sweet! And what a cute bed! I love it! Yay for Leta!
(and also, why why would anyone *care* that she was "still" in a crib? Weird.)

RachelMeRee said at 11:28PM, 02.08.2007:

'The Toddler Bed: How Awesome Will It Be?'

Hee hee hee hee hee! I love it!

No one should care how long a kid sleeps in a crib, unless the kid is, like, 35 or something.

I know I've never commented here before, though I read every day. This comment has NOTHING to do with this post, but I was too lazy to find a place to put it and I wanted yout o see it.

I went to see "Catch and Release" today and spent the whole movie looking at Kevin Smith and thinking, "That's GEORGE!!!!!"

Don't you think they look simliar!

http://www.hickorytech.net/~bcfletch/GEORGE!.jpg

Congrats.
Want to trade kids? Just for a while. We can swap back after we see how the grandkids turn out.
Our daughter climbed out of her crib like a monkey.
We got her a toddler bed.
She threw herself out of it, like a demented seal.
Thank god for bunjee cords -- they still let the blood flow without those nasty rope burns.

That's one slick-looking toddler bed. I'm glad the transition went smoothly.

So now I'm stressed to find out that people think it is inhumane to leave your child in a crib until they are three!! My daughter is a little over 2 and a half and as long as she loves her bed and fits in her bed I thought I would let her stay in her bed! I think Leta is the perfect age to get her a little bed and I'm so happy that she likes it, gives me hope for when I make the transition!

SUZ

That is a very cute bed.

I bought a toddler bed for my two kids, and they loved them.

It's always a relief when something you've worried about turns out to be no big deal. Think of all the time we waste worrying about issues that never materialize.