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Parenting

Cot to bed

6 replies

SoftFroggie · 08/02/2005 16:13

Top tips for cot to bed move...
He was very excited about getting a "big boy bed", but not keen on sleeping in it. How should I get him to sleep in the bed?

He's 2.3, and we have 6 week old who will need the bed in less than a couple of months or so, so can't just put it off....

He uses a sleeping bag in the cot, but we've put a duvet on the bed, in case he wants to climb down from it.
Should I try bribery (stickers, chocolate etc?). Am going to produce a new toy at bedtime, for use in the bed only.
Thanks for your ideas.

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galaxy · 08/02/2005 16:19

dd is the same age and went into her bed on Friday. She came to choose it with us and chose her duvet (having only slept in Grobags before). She watched dh dismantle the cot and put it into the garage and explained that cots were for babies and she was getting to be a "big" little girl now.

We let her play on her bed for an hour before bedtime and then she snuggled down and had stories in there. She loves it and doesn't attempt to get out until we go in in the morning.

Success for us, but I wish we could achieve the same with getting rid of the bedtime bottle now too

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Pidge · 08/02/2005 16:33

We just did this too! Dd is 2.5 and moved into her bed on Saturday, baby no 2 due in less than a month. She watched us put it together in the afternoon and then played on it - and fell off it (much howling and tears - oops), but come bed time was really happy to be tucked in with all her animals.

Is he actually getting up out of the bed, or just not going to sleep? We have a bed guard on the side, which may discourage her climbing out. And I said to dp if we had problems with her getting up out of the bed, I would just stick her in her sleeping bag for a few nights.

Sorry, no other brilliant ideas. New toy sounds good - particularly one you can tuck in alongside him to go to sleep with. Dd always asks to have her animals tucked in with her under the duvet.

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MoggyMummy · 08/02/2005 16:40

Hi

We also just tackled this a few weeks back with DS 2.4 years. We pretty much did what the others have mentioned. He watched us dismantle the cot, make the bed and we told him that he was going into the big boy bed. He has fallen out once (we haven't used a bed guard) but other than that I think he has actually forgotten about his cot. He also used a sleeping bag so we carried this on for a couple of weeks and just tucked a light blanket into the mattress and placed a blanket on the floor next to the bed incase he falls out again. Good luck!

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nailpolish · 08/02/2005 16:51

get a duvet cover of his favourite cartoon, or football team or something similar

hope it works out for you! im sure he will love it

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NotQuiteCockney · 08/02/2005 16:52

When we moved DS1 into a big bed (at 3), we started reading the bedtime story to him lying in bed with him. This has been very popular, and of course wasn't possible with the cot.

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SoftFroggie · 08/02/2005 18:09

The one night I put him in the bed, he screamed when I left him and turned the lights out and demanded to go in his cot. The cot is still in his room at the moment, and since the first night, he actually tries to climb into it, so I have relented and put him back in it. Will try again tonight, with toy monkey and bribery. Wish me luck (hard enough to get the two of them to bed at all, with Dh away, so need the evening to go smoothly).