We put a stair gate across Sonny's door which I would recommend, so that he was at least contained in bedroom and conveyed an understanding that it was bed-time. bed-time itself became bedroom-time unfortunately but if he can get out of crib soon then you've really got to go with that anyway. See how comfy new bed is by lying in it yourself - a nice soft duvet cover/mattress cover can easily increase comfort which will be beneficial to everybody. We would visit periodically and "reset" Sonny by laying him in bed, with book or singing to help him settle. If he didn't sleep from that then we'd have to leave and come back later and do the same thing again. Good luck!

We put my kids big boy beds on the floor at first so if they fell out of bed it wouldn't be too far. We let them pick out new sheets for their new bed (both Walmart and Target have character sheet sets that aren't crazy expensive). We really talked up how cool it would be to have a big boy bed etc.
We went through a few weeks of weird sleep - on slept on the floor vent for about two weeks. But it all settled down and none of the weirdness was particularly disruptive or dangerous so I just let it run its course and they made the transition like champs!

Whether the child is neuro-typical or ASD, the challenges of transitioning any child from a crib to a bed exist. Those challenges include keeping the child in the bed and preventing accidental falls from the bed.

With both my nuero-typical and PDD-NOS child, we placed the bed on the floor. We also let them have their favorite crib animals with them. With both kids, we kept talking about "Big Boy Bed" and how great it was to be a big boy. We were in both instances able to put the bed up against a corner of the room and then added a crib rail on the open side. This helped create an enclosed environment similar to a crib and aided the transition. After a couple of months we were able to remove the rail without problem.

We went bed shopping with him to ikea. He discovered a bed that you could add curtains to it... and it
helps containing him as it in a way mutes the rest of the room.we added glowing stars to it and pillows so it felt cozy as it would be a smaller bed... he loves it so much that whenever he wakes up at night he does not want to come to our bed but instead want us to be with him in his... and is large enough. One thing to add, my son is non verbal and was his reaction to things that made us realize what he wanted. Is important to listen... even though there are no words. He is very picky about materials...so that is another thing to consider when dressing the bed. Also... sometimes he does not want to be in a particular store... so we waited until he wanted to enter... it was his day on choosing his big boy bed, so we tried to make it fun for him. So far its been great... if he wakesup at night and you are afraid that he may do things that are dangerous for him, you may try to use a baby monitor too... it may help...

Also play therapy with his dolls and stuffed animals helped him want to sleep in his own bed. Many days and nights putting the dolls and stuffed animals to sleep with covers and a pillow in his bed.