Moving 18 month old to floor bed

[SqidgeBum]

I am due DC2 in November, so we are moving DC1 into a new room in the next few weeks. We wanted to do it well before the baby arrived so she didnt associate the new baby with the loss of her room. She is only 18 months, but I am thinking about putting in a floor bed rather than getting another crib. I know a few friends who have done the same.

Is 18 months too early? What problems may I face putting her into a bed? This may sound mad, but how do I get her to understand that this is now where she sleeps? How can I make this transition as easy as possible for her?

What's a floor bed?

I think 18 months is too young and you may get problems settling her and staying in bed through the night. Do you want to lie awake worrying about an 18-month old wandering round the house? Could you move her cot into the new room now and then keep your new baby in a small bassinet or moses basket for the first 3 months? You would at least know where they both are in the night! Congratulations, you must be very excited 💐

Mine was in a floor bed from 6 months (although we bed share) so 18 months should be fine. I would just do the normal bed time routine with the bed rather than cot

My DD was in a floor bed from 11 months, she never slept in her cot. We use a bunk bed mattress so it’s really thin if she rolls out (15cm) and we have a bed guard on the side.

You need to completely baby proof the room or you won’t sleep a wink. I also spent the first night watching her on the video monitor.

I should also say I started her off sleeping on her cot bed mattress on the floor, the swipes to a single floor bed after about 2 weeks

We put ds in a toddler bed at 17 months. He loved it. We moved his cot into his own room a month before so he got used to it. But he loved his bed. We had no problems at all

Our son went into a toddler bed at 20 months. The first few nights was a lot of returning (think like 100 times!). Then he moved to staying put at bedtime but coming into our bed when he woke up. I accepted this for a while out of pregnancy exhaustion.. He's now 2.5 and sleeping through in his bed after 2 nights of persevering and putting him back every time he came through. I think you've got the right idea doing it before baby comes!

We moved DS 18 months into a double floor bed and it is THE BEST DECISION EVER

Sleeps in sleeping bag so cannot get out and will shout for me before even attempting to get out of bed

What's a floor bed?

It's essentially a bed on the floor rather than on a proper bed frame (mine is just a double mattress on the floor with a mattress protector under it)

We moved our DD into a floor bed at 1 year. She never liked her cot and ended up in bed with us every night but she took to the floor bed right away. Genuinely the best baby related thing we’ve bought 😬

Got ours from Wayfair - it is a mattress on a frame so it is slightly raised. We’ve put down padded mats and I put a pillow on top of them too so she lands on them if she falls out (only happened two or three times). To be honest, she probably doesn’t need them but it makes me feel better. We also bought a large angled baby gate so she is essentially penned in. It takes up half her room but totally worth it for peace of mind and sleep.

Don’t they need to be on slats or some sort of frame to keep the mattress aired? I’d just keep her usual bed in her new room, and move her to a traditional bed in a few months. Mine were both in single beds from 2 with no problems.

We had a floor bed with our eldest two, and found that like pps said, it works well - they loved it, after some early stage wandering about (we found that the danger night wasn't the first but later in the first week, when they are feeling more brave but still not in the habit of sleeping through). However you have to be REALLY rigorous about childproofing, and ensure that your monitor and sleep styles also mean you'll be woken up as soon as they're up.

This is also the reason we haven't done it for dc3 and dc4 - with more kids around and not always shutting doors/gates properly, and the little toys of the elder ones, we didn't feel safe.
Get down on your hands and knees to check, just like you're an 18 month old (or even better, a 2 year old who is bigger and stronger, as they'll get there any minute!)

My friend has done the IKEA Kura flood bed hack and it is so gorgeous -- tons of links if you search on Pinterest.