When to take sides off the cot

[Dryersheets]

So my wee boy is now 17 months old and we're expecting again in December. Im in no rush to take the sides off as ill be getting a new cot for new baby just curious as to what others have done/experienced.
He is in his toddler bed sized cot which he has been in since he was too big for his Moses basket so I cant see there being an issue with it being unfamiliar for him but i am concerned about whether he'll actually stay in it, he's on the move constantly. One of his wee pals was in a single bed at 6 months old which amazed me at the time but then realised the kid couldn't roll over until he was about 9 months.
He usually sleeps all night these days but occasionally wakes up for a cuddle and a sook. However he rarely goes to bed without a bit of a paddy so the sides are the only thing keeping him following me out the room. Any advice for this too ?

Thanks

[QforCucumber]

Ds was 2 and 1 month -climbed out so did it for safety.

[QforCucumber]

Posted too soon, we have a gate on his door for keeping him in at bedtime. We open the gate when we go to bed so on a morning he wanders into our room when he gets up

[WilliamLilliam]

When ever really

[JohnLapsleyParlabane]

We swapped DD to a toddler bed at 13 months

[TittyGolightly]

Didn’t bother. DD went into a full size bed at 17 months.

[Caterina99]

We took the sides off at about 22 months as DS could climb out. He transitioned just fine. We moved him to a single bed a few months later as we needed the cot for DD.

DS is 3 this month. Some of his friends are still in their cots or have just had the side taken down on their 3rd birthday as they have never climbed out. I’d say average age is between 2 and 3

[Eeeeek2]

Following with interest, debating whether I can put ds in normal single bed at 2 so I can hide the cot until second needs it and hopefully ds will of forgotten all about it.

[RiddleyW]

We waited until 3 and a bit which has worked brilliantly for us.

[Cloud9Until6am]

When he can climb out - my 2.5 year old has only just gone from a cot to a bed

[boomboom1234]

We moved my daughter to a toddler bed at 18 months as we had a new baby that needed the cot. She was fine but we did put a stair gate across her room so she couldn't roam around at night! We will be leaving it there for some time. Definitely glad we did as we've recently been on holiday and she kept getting out of bed and wandering around. Very annoying! Try it as you can always put the side back on!

[Havetothink]

As soon as she could get her foot over the top, we didn't wait for her to climb it. She was very happy with the change and we put a guard on the side with her music toy to stop her falling out (can't remember exactly but I'd guess 18 months). We did childproof the upstairs doors and stairs so the only place she can go to is our room, she runs in between 6 and 7 every morning, so no lie ins but she's happy with it.

[Mumtolovelyboyandgirl]

We waited until he was about 3 as he slept right up against the bars. He still falls out of bed sometimes, but as the cot bed is so low he just gets himself back into bed and goes back to sleep. I won’t put him into a single until he grows out of that!

[ThursdayLastWeek]

My eldest moved into a single bed the night before his sibling arrived via ELCS. I didn’t fancy trying to lug a nearly 3yo over the bars after that!

That sibling is now over 2 and shows zero sign of climbing out. Weird how some kids do, some don’t!

[RiddleyW]

It is weird. Mine never did and now never gets out of bed on his own either.

[LorelaiVictoriaGilmore]

Ds is about to turn 3 but I'd like to wait until the end of the summer. The book I read said there's no reason not to keep them in a cot as long as they fit and are happy. Ds says that he doesn't want a big boy bed yet and seems to find security in his cot which is helpful as we've had a bit of a scared of the dark phase which I think was milder because of his cot.

[Fadingmemory]

DD2 climbed out of her cot aged 2 so we put her in a bed for safety.

[llangennith]

We took side off when DC climbed out. DS was 2, DD was only 14months. We had a stair gate across the door of DS’s room and he’d fall asleep wherever he flopped and then we put him back into his cot.

[therockinggazelle]

Funny nobody has yet said they moved toddler into bed when toilet training. That's generally when I move mine. When I'm about to toilet train them so they can get up and go to toilet in night of needed. My two older kids were about 2.5. My youngest is 2.5 now and I'm getting ready to toilet train and move to bed in the summer.

[Pashazade]

We converted ds's cotbed to a bed when he was 16 months as he was capable of climbing out! Had a barrier to stop rolling incidents and his door was gated.

[SoyDora]

Both at about 18 months, mainly because there didn’t seem to be any reason not to. Actually they both went straight into a full size single. No real problems.

[MoHunter]

About 2.7 years for DS1, he never tried to climb out but we needed the cot for new baby so he got a „big boy“ toddler bed.

DS2 on the other hand tried to climb out @ around 16-17 months and fell out, lots of tears but luckily no injury to speak of - for safety we took the sides off and just keep a bed guard on that he can get around (and there’s a stairgate).

So totally depends on the child!

[qazxc]

I kept DD in as long as I could (it was a cot not a cot bed).
So she was probably about 3 when she graduated to a single bed.
She's 4 this week and we still have night time wanders despite praising (and bribery) when she stays in her bed all night.
Just pad the floor when you take the side off as we had a few roll offs in the early days.

[MrsMarigold]

Both of mine moved out of the cot before two, they could climb out from about 18 months and have never stopped climbing since.

[holycityzoo]

My youngest is 3 and a half and I haven't taken them off yet. He's a crap sleeper and I don't see the point in making life harder for myself!