DD (20 months) just climbed out of her cotbed - advice needed please!

[SummerC]

Hi everyone,

My dd is 20 months old and has just woken up from her nap and climbed out of her cot. I heard a loud thump followed by her screaming. I ran upstairs and the poor little luv was lying face down on the floor sobbing her little heart out. She is absolutely fine - I think she just scared herself.

She is currently in a cot bed with both sides still on and we are wondering if it is too soon to take the side off and make it a big girl bed? The cot is quite low to the ground, her room is safe and there is a stair-gate in the hall to prevent her going down the stairs or getting in the bathroom. Is 20 months too young? Does anyone have any experience of putting their little ones in beds this early?

If I'm completely honest, I'm worried how it will affect her sleep routine. She has always been an amazing sleeper - slept through at 5 weeks (with a dream feed), now sleeps 19:30 - 7:00 with a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. As far as sleep is concerned, she is an absolute dream baby! I'm concerned all of this will be shot to heck if she suddenly realises the freedom she has. Or am I just being selfish??

Thanks for any advice you have.

[AMumInScotland]

DS looked very close to climbing out of his at 15 months, so we switched it to a bed at that point - he did come and find us when he woke up, but didn't wake any earlier than he had anyway (which wasn't great, but didn't get any worse IYSWIM)

Much safer in a low bed than climbing over the bars.

[SummerC]

Thanks for the reassurance AMumInScotland. I think I may get the dh to take the side off tonight and see how it goes. She's very low to the ground anyway, but I'll make sure to cover the floor in pillows and duvets.

As long as it is normal time, a very small part of me is looking forward to her coming in to us in the morning.

[bubblagirl]

i had ds in a bed by 19mths as he was like this with cot

[llareggub]

DS went into a proper bed at 12 months for precisely this reason. He was a fearless climber so I decided to take the sides off his cot before he worked out that he could climb up.

It didn't change his sleep routine at all. In fact, it took him a while to realise that he could get out.

We did keep the stair-gate at the top of the stairs in case of sleep-walking (a family thing) and this has stopped him joining us downstairs. After a few nights of standing at the top of the stairs shouting to us eh soon worked out that bed time still meant sleep. We didn't leave him there, but didn't rush up either.

[ShowOfHands]

We converted dd's at 14 months when she started cimbing out of it.

[SummerC]

Ok...I'm feeling much better about removing the side of her cot now. Thank you so much for your advice, you lovely ladies.