To think this is unusual for a child this age?

[Sunshinegirl21]

My friends ds is 3 years old, he’ll be 4 in July. He starts school in September.

I go round to see my friend quite regularly but I haven’t been into the bedrooms. I was over there recently and she told me that her ds is starting to climb out of his cot now. So she is going to take the sides of and convert it to a toddler bed.

Aibu to think that it’s really odd and a bit dangerous for a nearly 4 year old to still be sleeping in a cot?

Obviously I don’t say anything.

Yeah it is a bit odd.

Is he not very tall for an almost 4 year old?

Mine have never slept in a cot. We had a mattress on the floor and then they went to a normal bed. But people think that's weird too. If it works for them then what's the problem?

Seems odd to me but it is possible the child has preferred it - familiarity, feeling safe etc. If they’re moving to a toddler bed now, sounds like everything is moving in the right direction.

Mine is about that age and has never ever attempted to climb out of his cot. I only moved him to a bigger bed with a side guard because we were moving house so it seemed timely.

I think it's fine until they start to show any interest in climbing out. Sleep is precious.

Yes, in my experience it's unusual. Both my dc were in a single bed around their second birthday. And they weren't particularly unusual amongst their peers.

Yes nearly 4 is definitely a little old to be sleeping in a cot. It’s a toddler bed size one though, so there is plenty of space. Guess they were scared to rock the boat until they had to.

Very unusual, most people want the children to be independent so once they start to climb out they move to a toddler bed or single bed. I don’t know anyone who’s had a pre school child in a cot.

My older ds never really climbed out. He’s quite cautious. We did take it down about 3 and a half as we got some other furniture in his room and made sense to adjust at the same time. But I could see why someone might have not got round to it and also it meant they would stay in their room and prob got used to sleeping on their own vs coming in parents room. I don’t see it as a big deal.

My eldest was in his cot till 3.5, he could climb out but never did and my 2 year old still is. He can also climb out by never does. They are happy and fit so what’s the rush.

He isn’t tiny, he definitely looks ready to start reception even though he’s a Summer baby.

He’s also toilet trained (although I’m not sure about nights), so I wondered how he was going to the toilet, presumably he calls to be picked up out of his cot.

I didn’t want to ask really as I didn’t want to offend my friend.

Each to their own and I’m very much of the opinion that the parents know best. But I genuinely was very surprised by it

DD was in a cot until she was almost 3 and a half. She never attempted to climb out

If he’s been content in it till now and not climbing then it’s not an issue. We had to move DD to a floor bed at 18 months old because she was absolutely bloody determined to fling herself over the rails the second we weren’t looking, it became too dangerous to have her in a bed that could be climbed, I’d have much preferred to wait a bit longer, not least to get some value out of the sodding thing as she also refused to sleep in it at all till she was 12 months.

I know a couple of people who did this, their child never tried to climb out and so they never moved them. It's perfectly safe.

My DS was in his cot til about 3.5 when he did decide to climb out.
We have genuine reason for keeping him in his cot that long, but honestly I do not regret it.

Yes mine were out before they were two.

Had no idea kids were still in cots at this age. Dd was out at 2.

I would have thought it was very unusual and, honestly, a bit ‘babying’ for a child that age - similar to people still giving dummies and bottles to 3 year olds. However, it appears lots of people do keep their kids in cots because they see no reason to stop. I guess it’s not doing any harm - unlike bottles and dummies - and some people may prefer to keep their kids safely in bed, which was never something I had to worry about (they’d just yell and ‘summon’ us anyway, even without sides on the bed!)

Yeah my DD did this at 11 months. One of her DC has been in a toddler bed since his first birthday

One of mine never attempted to climb. But we took the sides off when she was 3.5 as it seemed developmentally appropriate. I think we should have done it sooner tbh as she was dry at night pretty much straight away- she’d obviously been peeing in the night time pull up because she couldn’t access the toilet. So I did feel bad about that but ultimately no harm done.

This amazes me. I have 4 children and they all climbed out their cots at a year old and went into beds then.
I think I must have just had wilful children!

My DS1 never tried to climb out whereas my wild DS2 was climbing out at 18 months old.

I think I was in a cot until I was about *5 🤣

No big backstory, I just liked my comforts and hanging out with my parents. Plus, I’m quite a literally person so I think I just figured that was my bed and that’s where I slept.

Suited my parents too- big family so having the youngest not requiring a room was probably handy!

I voted YANBU, OP, because it probably is unusual, but I can see how it happens if it works for the child and the parents.

(*maybe not literally 5, but definitely 3 or more!)

My youngest DC moved out at nearly 4. Yes I perhaps should have done it sooner, but he’s the most cautious boy and wouldn’t have had the inclination or ability to climb out. Cot was also toddler bed sized and he’s not big.

He was sleeping really well (having not slept through for the first 2 years of his life) and I was just nervous about that changing. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it…

My brother's little boy is 4 next week, and they took the cot sides off this weekend! He has never climbed out of it and sleeps through so they didn't need to and he's still in night nappies so no need to get out.
My just turned 5 year old grandson however managed to parkour over the sides of his cot at 11 months, and had a mattress on the floor until he was 2 and then had a toddler bed until last month when he got a big boy's bed. However he's never stayed a whole night in bed anyway!

My daughter climbed out of her cot at 9 months.