Many parents wonder how they will know when it is time to move their child to a toddler bed. Luckily, your child usually makes this decision for you. When your child routinely starts climbing out of the crib, it is time to move to a toddler bed. The chances are, if your child is climbing out of the crib, they will be quite excited to move on to a toddler bed.

If you are expecting another baby, you may wish to transition your child to a toddler bed so that you will have the crib available for the new baby. If you will be doing this, it is important to emphasize the excitement of picking out a new bed. Downplay the loss of the crib. You will also want to make this transition early enough in your pregnancy that your child will have forgotten about the crib and does not associate the new sibling with the trauma of losing the crib.

Whether your child is eager to move on to a toddler bed, or would prefer to stay in a crib, you can aid in the switch by letting your child help pick out the new toddler bed. There are so many choices that your child will probably enjoy helping to select the new bed. Molded plastic beds, such as race car or fire truck beds for little boys and princess castle beds for little girls, are extremely popular with young children.

Even though the linens that fit on your child's crib will still fit the toddler bed, as the mattresses are the same size, you may want to invest in some new sheets. Many children need to make a total switch and have their little kid sheets stay with the crib, and get new, different, big kid sheets to go with the new big kid bed.