Sleeping in 'big kid' beds

[Princesca]

Our son will be 2.5 years old when we next go to Disney/DCL. He's very big for his age, but still enjoys sleeping in his crib. He hasn't tried to escape his crib, so thus far we've just been letting him carry on.

My wife is expressing concern that he won't be able to handle the fullsize beds with bedrails at the resort and on the cruise ship. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for how to make the transition smoother on vacation.

I'm already thinking of going ahead and putting one side of his crib away to make it a toddler bed, just so he starts getting used to not being fully enclosed. Does anyone have any other tips? Or stories to share of how it worked out so well, to give me hope?

 

[Anna131517]

We had zero issues with that transition. At first they don’t even realize they can get out. He may not like regular bedding if he currently just uses a loose blanket or sleep sack. Just try to make the bed as similar to the one at home as possible. For a queen size bed in a hotel room you can use an inflatable bed rail in the middle of the bed to make the area seem smaller to him, or he may enjoy sharing a bed with a parent or sibling.

 

[Specter]

Our son will be 2.5 years old when we next go to Disney/DCL. He's very big for his age, but still enjoys sleeping in his crib. He hasn't tried to escape his crib, so thus far we've just been letting him carry on.

My wife is expressing concern that he won't be able to handle the fullsize beds with bedrails at the resort and on the cruise ship. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for how to make the transition smoother on vacation.

I'm already thinking of going ahead and putting one side of his crib away to make it a toddler bed, just so he starts getting used to not being fully enclosed. Does anyone have any other tips? Or stories to share of how it worked out so well, to give me hope?

I don't have any other advice, but we did exactly that with DD and by the time we took our trip in March of 2022, just a few months before she turned 3, she was fine sleeping in the second bed with just some inflatable bumpers that we packed in our suitcase. She's also done that at grandparents houses and on another Disney trip in November and it has gone great.

Good luck and enjoy the trip.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Our son will be 2.5 years old when we next go to Disney/DCL. He's very big for his age, but still enjoys sleeping in his crib. He hasn't tried to escape his crib, so thus far we've just been letting him carry on.

My wife is expressing concern that he won't be able to handle the fullsize beds with bedrails at the resort and on the cruise ship. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for how to make the transition smoother on vacation.

I'm already thinking of going ahead and putting one side of his crib away to make it a toddler bed, just so he starts getting used to not being fully enclosed. Does anyone have any other tips? Or stories to share of how it worked out so well, to give me hope?

I would start getting him ready now and not wait until trip. I can not relate to one that old still in crib as both my girls went over the rail and to big girl beds at 13 months. neither of them ever fell off beds. the biggest thing I can think of is not making a big deal about the different bed just have favorite blanket/toy/sleep buddy with him. other thing to think about is getting used to sleeping with noise/white noise machine as it will not be quiet

 

[Haley R]

My ds will be 3 in April and still sleeps in a crib. When we go to Disney we ask for bed rails and he’s usually fine. One of us will lay with him to get him to sleep which usually takes awhile there and then move over to the other bed. We tried having one of us sleep with him but he moves ALL night long so we would never get any sleep. The only time he’s fallen off a bed was at my parents house because he decided to wake up and walk right off the end of the bed

 

[kwdw]

I would start getting him ready now and not wait until trip. I can not relate to one that old still in crib as both my girls went over the rail and to big girl beds at 13 months. neither of them ever fell off beds. the biggest thing I can think of is not making a big deal about the different bed just have favorite blanket/toy/sleep buddy with him. other thing to think about is getting used to sleeping with noise/white noise machine as it will not be quiet

This! Transition out of the crib before the trip. If you are going to still be needing to use bed rails or bumpers, practice at home. There is nothing worse than an exhausted kid that isn’t comfortable sleeping in a real bed at Disney.

 

[RoseGold]

At that age, I just put a Pack N Play mattress on the floor. That's easy to practice at home.

 

[mjkacmom]

If he’s fine in a crib, don’t transition. My 3 oldest slept in cribs until 3/4 (at 1 point I had 3 cribs) and it was fantastic, they kept their afternoon nap until close to 4. However, with my twins, 1 not only learned to climb out of the crib at 1 1/2, and taught his twin. Had no choice but to put them in beds (twin, I’ve found they stay put better in real beds vs. toddler) and nap time became party central. I’d do bedrails, or even rent a full sized crib.

 

[KrazeeK120]

We put our son in a toddler bed at 2.5. We started potty training him at that time and I wanted him to be able to get out of bed safely if he needed to go. We went to Disney the week before he turned 3 and put him in the other queen bed in the room with foam bedrails that we had brought from home. He did fine with that.

 

[nancipants]

We were planning to move our son to a toddler bed in June specifically so he wouldn't have problems sleeping in the couch bed on our Disney Cruise in August. At the end of May he climbed out, so we transitioned early. (He was 2.5 exactly then.) He did great sleeping on the cruise and during subsequent hotel stays. We just got back from visiting my in-laws for 3 weeks and during that time he slept/napped on a futon, pull-out couch, their bed, and regular couch.

 

[sponica]

I would transition before hand if possible, because what if you move him into a bed on vacation and he absolutely mutinies being in a crib at home. My first kiddo got a bed at my inlaws before we put one in at our house, bedtime became an absolute nightmare until we moved her into a bed.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

Our son will be 2.5 years old when we next go to Disney/DCL. He's very big for his age, but still enjoys sleeping in his crib. He hasn't tried to escape his crib, so thus far we've just been letting him carry on.

My wife is expressing concern that he won't be able to handle the fullsize beds with bedrails at the resort and on the cruise ship. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for how to make the transition smoother on vacation.

I'm already thinking of going ahead and putting one side of his crib away to make it a toddler bed, just so he starts getting used to not being fully enclosed. Does anyone have any other tips? Or stories to share of how it worked out so well, to give me hope?

My oldest was 2.5 on her first Disney trip, and was still sleeping in a crib at home at that point. We just put her in the pack n play and had zero problems.

 

[ElenaRN]

I don't know if I missed it or you didn't mention how long until your trip. I wouldn't go making any big transitions if your trip is quickly approaching.
My ODD was in the crib until 3. She was tall for her age but I never had a problem with her feeling cramped in the PnP. Once we had YDD and she used PnP, we usually just put ODD in bed between hubby & I.
You can rent a full size crib for WDW. There are third party rental places just like for strollers.
I think for DCL a PnP is the only option, but if you ask on the cruise forum others may know for sure.
The sofa/bed in the cabins on DCL with a rail may be an option even if your son is still in a crib at home.
IIRC the arms of the sofa plus the rail etc make it feel kinda more enclosed than a regular bed in a hotel.
Either way my kids are usually so wiped out after a day at the parks or on a cruise that they fall asleep without problems.
Good luck!

 

[bffdisney]

Keep the crib at home! Vacation is different anyway. Even if he's in a bed at home, it will be totally different on vacation. My twins were in cribs until after 3. Slept in pack and plays at disney. I also got them cots that fold smaller than a camping chair and those worked well until they are ready for a big bed!

 

[KrazeeK120]

My oldest was 2.5 on her first Disney trip, and was still sleeping in a crib at home at that point. We just put her in the pack n play and had zero problems.

I believe pack n plays have a 30 lb weight limit though. A lot of 2.5 year olds are bigger than that. My son was 30 lbs at 18 months. The pack n play is great if it works but that’s not going to be an option for every 2 year old.

 

[Anna131517]

I believe pack n plays have a 30 lb weight limit though. A lot of 2.5 year olds are bigger than that. My son was 30 lbs at 18 months. The pack n play is great if it works but that’s not going to be an option for every 2 year old.

So true. Even though all my kids could technically sleep in a pack n play at 2 1/2, only one actually slept in it well at that age (ironically my largest baby!). The other two I just stuck in the bed with me and an inflatable bed rail (or a rolled up towel under the sheet) at that age and they were fine.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I believe pack n plays have a 30 lb weight limit though. A lot of 2.5 year olds are bigger than that. My son was 30 lbs at 18 months. The pack n play is great if it works but that’s not going to be an option for every 2 year old.

True! My daughter was a peanut, I forget sometimes now that she was smaller than average!

 

[Princesca]

I believe pack n plays have a 30 lb weight limit though. A lot of 2.5 year olds are bigger than that. My son was 30 lbs at 18 months. The pack n play is great if it works but that’s not going to be an option for every 2 year old.

Yup, that's our problem. He turned 2 in October and he currently weighs 37 lbs and is 38" tall.

 

[Disney5377]

We used the hiccapop travel bed with a slumberpod over it with my daughter at about 20 months and planning to do the same for our next trip when she'll be almost 2.5. It worked great because the slumberpod keeps her contained and keeps it dark so we're able to have lights on, etc. in the room. I know there are baby rental companies where you can rent both nearby. We just brought both of ours from home last time. Debating whether to try to rent this next time to lighten the packing load.

 

[Princesca]

The idea of having him contained in something sounds nice - what's the cost of buying these together?