Or cowardly really - to buy a cotbed for 2.5 yr old?

[DecafSkinnySausage]

Am expecting second baby in a few months and wondering if I should take the plunge and get a proper bed for DS. Seems obvious when I put it like that but he is such a good sleeper in his cot that I worry putting into a bed can only make his sleep worse (eg getting up early rather than talking himself back to sleep as he is prone to do around 6ish). Would be considering a second hand cotbed from Gumtree etc rather than a large expense. Just wonder whether risking increasing my sleep deprivation (I do quite like my sleep) around the time of having a newborn may be somewhat foolish?! What is others' experience of moving good cot sleepers into beds at this age?

YANBU. My youngest, small for her age, moved from a cot to a cotbed at this age. She wasn't anywhere near wanting to climb out or anything. The sides stayed up for at least 6 months, and she stayed in it until age nearly 7 when she moved to a high sleeper.

If DS is happy, why rush to a big bed? Cotbeds are cosier, and sheets are smaller which makes night time potty training easier too as easier to change and wash.

I had the same dilemma. My dd is 2.5 and a brilliant sleeper and didn't want to risk her getting up earlier than needs be. I therefore put the baby in her old cot and bought her a secondhand cotbed (new mattress). I also love my sleep and didn't want to jeopardise that. I shall be keeping my children in cots until their feet poke through the bars!! ;-)

HOnestly I would buy a 2nd hand cot or cheap ikea cot of the new baby, I wouldn't even change the 2.5 year old into a different bed at all.

Or the other thing you can try is taking one side off the cot so it turns into a bed (providing it is sturdy enough mine always have been) then if he's a nightmare you can put the side back on if he's not a nightmare you could buy him a bed instead.

If you're not due for a few months yet and the new baby could be in a Moses basket for the first few months you could have 6 months before this is a problem. It'll more than likely happen organically over that time anyway.

I would get one. Most last until 6 ish years anyway, so you can always just leave te sides on until she wants them off then use the cot bed without the next few years. Gives them more bedroom space also on floor without a huge bed.

3 1/2 year old here climbs in and out of cotbed happily but insists on sides on still!

Ah thanks all, obviously I'm not the only one! Was beginning to be swayed I think by two grandmothers... Should have learned by now

DD1 is only just out of hers last week at 3.5 kept her in it when dd2 arrived for precisely that reason! Would have kept her in longer but we had to move her to our bed before sorting a single bed as she decided to climb out onto a dresser and leap off so was to stressful.

YANBU new baby is not the time to be messing up your older childs sleep!

We moved dd1 into a big girl bed (normal single) at about 20 months. Her little sister was due about 6 months later. Dd1 was fine about the change, thought it was fantastic.

By the time Dd2 was born dd1 didn't remember sleeping in the cot and didn't feel pushed out by the new baby.

We moved ds into a bed in January (21 months) so we would have the cot for the baby (due in may). His sleep hasn't changed infact when he is ready to get up he still shouts on mummy to come get him... Almost wish ( think I might regret this tho) that he would get himself up sometimes.

Unless you have a climber I would go with the cot bed as you can still use it as small bed later on.

I think at 2.5 you are wise to get a cotbed, unless your DC is used to being in a sleeping bag and hasn't realised climbing out is a possibility. I think you've missed the window of opportunity for a big bed (I put mine in a full sized single at 13 months, they were Grobagged and we had a weird-sized second hand American cot that they were getting stuck across width wise.

You need to preserve your sleep now, second hand cot bed definitely, change to full size when they get too tall and are old enough to understand that beds are for sleeping, not for getting out of excitingly at all hours.

I didn't actually realise their was something in-between a moses basket and a cot bed.

I would vote proper bed. Not least because once they start using the potty/toilet they need to be able to get out of bed without abseiling equipment.

Does he climb out?

That makes all the difference really.

DD is a massive climber, but remove the sides and she runs around the house all night!

I'm with Merry - you don't want any barriers between a toilet-trainer and the toilet, IMO. I'd go for a bed, with a bed guard if you're worried about falls.

DD had the side off her cot from well under two because she climbed out and was liable to fall. She was fine about it and didn't get up very often at night.

She had a cabin bed for Christmas just before she was 3 and two months to get used to it before DD2 arrived, she was fine.

(She's 15 and such beds used to say 3 not 6, not that I'd have worried, as I said, DD1's specialist subject was climbing and climbing very safely. I only took the side off her cot because she couldn't climb it, she put a hand each side of the corner and jumped, if she'd caught her toe it was a long way down).

My DS went from a cotbed in grobags into a proper single bed with duvet when he was 2.3, i was only 3 months pregnant with DD but i didnt want him to feel pushed out of his bed. He loved his new bed and settled into it much faster that i expected! Plus it means we can have cuddles and stories in bed!

DS went very happily into his big boy bedroom with proper bed at 20 months (3 months ago), DC2 will arrive on Thursday. He's forgotten about the cot, and hopefully it'll be one less issue when his sister arrives.
I'd go for the big bed if I were you, you are going to have do it at one point!

I have 2 years between my dc. Dd was put in a proper bed when I was about 6-7 months pregnant as we planned on using the cot for new baby and I wanted it out of the way for a bit before baby came along so she didn't still see it as hers. That worked great.

Third pregnancy, I had the same idea. Put cot away, ds in 'big boy bed'. Babies (twins) to go in cot. It didn't work like that at all. Ds wasn't out of the cot, even with the side off, until after the babies arrived. And then when time came, cot went out for twins, ds went into a bed. Even a year on, he still climbs into the cot. He didn't have that break to forget the cot had been his and still sees it as the babies borrowing it.

In your case, I would either get a new cot for baby. Or a cot bed for ds and put 'his' cot away for a couple of months.

There is no hurry while they are sleeping well, and there is so much disruption to come with the arrival of a new baby. If it makes the transition to big brother easier and helps you get much needed sleep, there's no harm done. Of course, with a new baby in the house there is always the possibility that ds could learn to climb out of the cot to see baby...

Get a cot bed and take the side off when you need to, ie when he starts climbing out, or potty training at night. If you are going to make the move best do it now so he doesn't feel as if he is being forced to make way for the baby. Also, let him choose the bedding, more likely to buy into the move if he's picked his own bedding.

We got a toddler bed for ds1 when he was 2 and 6 months (so looks more like a normal bed than a cot bed but has low bars around top half of bed to stop them rolling out) - he loved it, nice and low to the ground and not too big for him. He used it till he was 5 (now has bunk bed in his room) and DS2 then went into it at 2 and a half - so all in all we're getting at least 5 years use out of it so far. Now pregnant with DC3 so I reckon we'll get even more use out of it in due course.