Moving your child to his own bed is no easy business. I think you may have realized this at this point, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. This is one of those tasks that we easily underestimate, and by the time we realize the problem of moving your child to his own bed, it becomes too late.

Regardless of whether you discovered this too late or not, we are here to discuss the best way of moving your child to his own bed.

At first glance it may seem like a trivial task. And, if played right, it can turn out to be rather easy. However, the longer the child had slept in your own room (yikes), the more will it be difficult to transition it into its own crib.

I always believed there was nothing wrong with the child sleeping in the same room as me for so long, and if you are reading this… Well, we are ready for something to change.

Moving your child to his own bed – procrastination

The main problem that I learned about my approach was anxiety induced procrastination. Namely, after some time, I realized I was prolonging this transition with all my might, as much as I possibly could. Why? Because, the more time passed by – the more anxious I got about moving my child into his own room.

Soon it became somewhat of a magical circle of self-doubt, anxiety and procrastination. I am sure some of you fully understand what I am talking about.

But, the delay had to reach an end eventually. At a point my bed became too cramped and I stopped sleeping altogether. I knew it was time to make a drastic change, and there was no way around it. It was time. And when the time came I had to find the best way to do it.

Moving your child to his own bed – first steps

As much as this should seem stressful for the toddler, I always felt it was far more stressful for me. Truth is, it’s stressful for everyone involved. However, there are certain steps you can take to make it somewhat easier on everyone.

If you can follow these steps you should be able to make this a rather seamless transition for everyone involved. Although, where do you begin?

Start with getting a bed

This is not rocket science. The difficult part is not understanding what the first step is, but rather making it. So, what is the first step?

The one we are all very much aware of. You need to get out and find a proper bed. Or do you?

One fuel to my procrastination was the idea that I could not afford an appropriate bed frame. And truly so, they are expensive as heck. However, there are several workarounds to this predicament.

First and foremost, you could simply suck it up and pay a bunch of money for a bed frame. The second, and more pleasant option would be to find a used bedframe (on Craigslist, or something similar) and go with that one. The quality will be slightly less when compared to a new one, but the price will be significantly lower. Trust me, it can make a world of difference.

Whichever road you take, and you get your bed, you will probably have to assemble it. Take your time with it, because there are countless tips for unpacking your belongings, and all of them say that you shouldn’t rush it. Unpacking it hastily could result in you losing a vital screw, or something similar.

Lastly, you could simply buy no such thing. Buying a mattress alone is the most important bit. Having or not having a bed frame will not make that much of a difference. Plus, you won’t have to dread the thought of your child rolling out of the bed. This way he will be close to the ground to begin with.

Let the little one choose the sheets

And let him choose several different kinds. The more the child feels comfortable with the change, the more reluctant will he be to accept it. Letting your child choose his own sheets will make the kid build a comfort zone around this change. The transition will be that much easier.

When you take your kid sheet shopping, make sure you let the kid choose more than a few different ones. It will be more fun for the child and you will have backup options for when an accident happens.

Get some white noise maker

The trick is simple – you wish to iron out all the sounds bumps in the night. This is something that should ideally be done with some white noise maker, or an actual fan.

My kid was so used to the noise our fan was making that he could not sleep without it. Therefore, I bought a little table fan to have in his room just to make that familiar, soothing sounds.

Nightlight is a must!

Do not make the mistake of thinking that your little toddler does not need nightlight. Whatever your friends of family may tell you, nightlight is very much needed. It was a chain reaction of fear when one night my little one woke up and there were no lights on.

Namely, he would fall asleep while the lights were on. At some point, when I was to go and check on him, I would turn off the lights once I made sure he was asleep.

However, one time he woke up in the middle of the night, in pitch black darkness since I switched the lights off. That scream woke me up, and potentially everyone in a 10-mile radius. After that night, nightlight was mandatory.

Alaska Sleep Clinic is the only sleep lab in Alaska with a Pediatric Medical Director. If you believe your child may have sleep apnea, call us today to speak with one of our board-certified sleep specialists. Also, click the picture below to get Alaska Sleep Clinic’s FREE downloadable Pediatric Sleep Study e-book.