With a newly-arrived second child and three bedrooms in our house, late last year we had to do the ritual all parents of more than one dread – making way for the new baby and moving the soon-to-be sibling to a big kid bed.

I'd resisted moving my daughter out of her crib long after many of her friends had done so, because she likes to be on the move and I thought no way in hell would she stay in a real bed. I declared I would keep her in the crib until college if I could, but the twin realizations that 1) she was getting so tall that the next growth spurt would render her out of room in there and 2) that baby I felt flipping around in my belly would be out soon and need a place to sleep caused me to suck it up and get her big girl room ready.

And surprisingly, it was fine. So I read this column in Newsday with a certain "there but for the grace of God go I" interest.
Gotta love validation – the parenting experts interviewed said it's really important to separate the arrival of the new sibling and the transition into a new bed by a few months. We did that, and she's been happy with her new room (if a mite bit suspicious) even when we refer to her old room as the baby's.

It also suggests spending time in the new room during the day, so it becomes a comfortable place. That worked for us too, as did keeping certain favorite toys only in her room.

Not all of the transition to being a family of four has gone smoothly, but this one aspect has,thanks to good advice from friends and from the Internet. What tips and tricks worked for you when it came time to say goodbye to the crib, whether because of an impending sibling or just because it was time?