I have successfully transitioned four children from a crib to a toddler bed. Add that into successfully potty training four children and I think that is enough accomplishment for one lifetime of parenting. For each child each thing presented a different challenge. The toddler bed experience was a disaster with one, not fun with another and quite easy with two of them. What makes it easy or hard will depend mostly on the child’s personality. Some children are better at taking things as they come then others. Some want to grow up and beg to be in a toddler bed or big kid bed.
My first child hated her toddler bed. I decided to move her from a crib to a toddler bed when she was 21 months old. She was already trying to climb out of her crib and believing that to be a sign to move her I did. She was never a child for change and she was a fussy little girl. The toddler bed sounded good at the store but once we brought it home she decided it was not fit for sleeping. She thought the floor or my bed was more comfortable. It took quite some time before she warmed up to the idea of a toddler bed. In the end, it took consistent parents who were not driven to force the issue. We did not make a big deal about it and eventually she decided to sleep in her bed.
With my second and third child I simply had tell them that the time had come to switch to a toddler bed. Neither one ever fussed about it or did the thing where they get up every five minutes because they can. It was a welcome blessing after months of difficulties with my first.
My final child likes things her way. She wants what she wants when she wants it. She can quickly go from fussy to cooperative can back again. She desired to be like her older siblings so the mention of a toddler bed got her excited. While she loved the toddler bed what she loved more was the freedom to get out of it. She would walk downstairs to say goodnight for the third time and then want someone to go walk her back upstairs. I would go to check on her and she wasn’t in her bed. She got up and decided to crawl into her big sister’s bed. I decided not to make an issue out of it since they slept in the same room.
In the end, they all learned to sleep restfully and comfortably in their own beds. I learned that each child is different yet each need calm and consistent parenting.