How to teach a toddler to lie under a duvet?!

[IamChipmunk]

Hopefully someone can help!
DS is 2.2yrs and has moved into a toddler bed about 3 weeks ago. (Baby on the way, hence earlyish move)
He has been fine with the move but can't seem to get the hang of laying down the bed or under the duvet.

Not being under the covers isn't too much of an issue in the warm weather but last night he woke up crying and said he was cold, he went straight back to sleep when I turned him round and covered him up.

He quite often falls asleep sideways crammed at the top of the bed, where the pillow would be.
How can I help him to go to sleep under the quilt and in the middle of the bed?

He moves a lot at night.

We are using a single quilt on its side. I wondered if I need to pull more of that over and tuck in on both sides? He has a bed guard on too due to his wriggling!

Any tips?

[NeedaDiscoNap]

No advice - my DD is exactly the same age and we have experienced the same things when we gave her a duvet - cot acrobatics!!

[Daffodowndillies]

My DS is 2.4 and transferred into a toddler bed a month ago. It took him quite a long time to get used to it (ie. every single possession has now been placed above the 4-foot mark) but for some reason every evening after story and tucking-in time, he roams his room for a while before falling asleep on the floor next to the baby-gate across his doorway! Sometimes he drags his changing mat out from behind his cupboards and sleeps on that instead. It's a bit weird and it breaks my heart a little to see him lying there like a little waif and stray but for whatever reason it's what he chooses to do. We wait half an hour so he's completely settled, then lift him into bed, where he contorts into all sorts of unlikely poses during the night - everything but in the middle of the bed under the duvet. My assumption us just that it will take him time to learn that lying tucked up in bed, head on pillow is the easiest/nicest option and, as long as he's sleeping, I try not to worry too much about how he chooses to do it. I think, in your position, I would dress him warmly enough that it didn't matter if he wasn't under the duvet (much easier at the moment) and just wait it out.

[eurochick]

How about using a sleeping bag. Many brands go up to age 3.

[LongDivision]

Mine at 4.5 has only just learned to pull the covers up. And he tends to no longer roam all over the bed whilst sleeping, but i still find him turned around sometimes. I usually just dress him warmly in the cold weather and try not to worry!

[NarcyCow]

My 4.5 year old is also newish to organised sleeping. He used to rotate all over the place, up to t few weeks ago, and he was as likely to be on top of the duvet as under it. Put him in warm jammies and watch him spend two years working it out

[IamChipmunk]

Eurochick, he was in sleeping bags in the cot but I would worry about him walking in them now he can get in and out of bed.

Sounds like it just takes a while for them to 'learn' to sleep like we expect.
I'll invest in some nice thick pj's in the autumn!

Thanks for the advice.

[T0ddlerSlave]

When DD was first using a duvet I had a single and turned it sideways and tucked it right in so it didn't move. I always go in to extricate DD from weird and wonderful positions when I head to bed (head on bed, feet on floor anyone?) and she's generally ok. Took about 3 weeks to get used to the duvet. She doesn't have a pillow yet.

[KP86]

My DS (2.3) has been walking around in sleeping bags for around a year and he never falls over.

The problem with leaving them in bags (as my DS is) is that eventually they need to learn how to sleep with a sheet/quilt. I still don't know how we are going to do it! The sleeping bag is an integral part of our bed routine.

Gro also do (expensive) zip up sheets and covers so DC can't kick the covers off, which might help.

[TheAntiBoop]

Someone I know put the small duvet in a single cover and the unfilled end tucked under the mattress. That meant the duvet was always reachable and not kicked off the bed

I never tried it and had a few nights of 'waaaah, I'm cold' but they figure it out!!

[Laquila]

Might this be an option?:

Jojo sleeping bag with legs

[VioletBam]

I used to pin my DD down with a sheet tucked tightly over her and then, instead of a duvet, I used an eiderdown in the summer. A cotton quilted one.

[PrincessPotsie]

For my DC I used a large piece of elastic with 2 clips either side that went under the mattress. I can't remember what it was called but I think it was designed for elderly people. Got it from the internet.

[captaincake]

Would a fleecy/warm sleep suit be any good when it's colder? DS flatly refuses any covers at all, so we just dress him for the temperature.

[YoJesse]

I go with the fleece onsie too. Ds moves non stop in his sleep and covers are useless. He hates being constricted by the sleeping bags. Easy to manage at the moment in this heat but I always get a bit obsessive about whether he's too Hot/cold at night. I blame the evil red eye that is the grow egg!

[PicnicPie]

Both my 2yo (cot) and 3.5yo (bed) throw all sorts of crazy shapes, their duvets have no chance. We occasionally have to wake up to cover them. Sigh. Not so bad in summer. Will do fleece sleep suits for winter.

[BluePitchFork]

it will take some time. both mine were like this.
with dc2 I got the tip on mn folded the duvet in half so it was almost like a sleeping bag.

[Sierra259]

My 3.5yo still refuses to sleep under a duvet. They lie on top of it and will sometimes allow a blanket over them. Or we cover them when we go to bed. They're generally a good sleeper though, so it obviously doesn't bother them!

[Sammysquiz]

The duvet covers from Verbaudet are good because they have a big flap at the bottom which you can tuck under the mattress & hold the whole thing in place.

[ElspethFlashman]

Yeah fleece sleep suits/pyjamas here too.

[Lindorballs]

I wrap a very light blanket over the foot of the duvet and trap it under the mattress to stop my DD from kicking it off. She's been in her own bed about 5 months now and usually sleeps under the duvet but depending on how warm it is we sometimes find her the wrong way round on top of it. I think so long as they aren't getting cold and are sleeping you kind of have to leave them to it!

[hartmel]

I had both of my kids in sleeping bags! (Until the weather got Warmer)
But I also had a very thin blanket over their sleeping bag just so they could get used to sleeping with the blanket!
Now my son is 3 and my daughter 2 (in October) And both of them won't fall asleep if I don't cover them with the blanket! They are in bed at 8:30 and I don't go till 11 and then I always go into their room to check if they are still covered! And my husband checks in the morning when he gets up for work at 6 am!

And regarding the sleeping bag. The first time my son was in the toddler bed and in the sleeping bag he tried walking in it and noticed he couldn't and so he stayed in bed and if he needed anything he called for us! But we normally sit in the room until they fall asleep!