Cot to bed

[burtie2u]

Our DS who turned 2 on the 1st of November has started to put his foot over the cot rails to get over, so we know it's not going to be long before we have to convert the cot into a bed for him.
My question is does anyone have any advice on making the transition easier.
And how long will we most likely have to return him to his bed before he gets the message and staying in bed? :-)

It probably depends on the DS, ours vaulted his cot a couple of times within a day and we transfered his from cot to bed at that point - it was a bit earlier then we had intended to.

We had set up the bed in his room for about a month of so before, which was fortunate.

We did not really have that many problems with him getting out at night - and he only plays up when he is unwell or teething. Generally he stays in the bed.

We made sure that we transfered the teddies and pillow he was using in the cot to the bed, so there was some familiarity there. Having the bed in the same room for a while beforehand is supposed to help too.

The only difficulty we had was that for a couple of weeks one or the other of us ended up sitting at the top of the stairs for 30 - 40 minutes (till he dozed off) otherwise he would sit up in bed crying. Fortunately that phase seems to be over.

DS is 2.5 and has just made the switch, so obviously quite a bit older, but we transferred all the bedding over so it was the same, and got him a special bedside lamp, as well as letting him have all his teddies at the end of his bed (I think they have more space than he doesn, but nevermind!). He accepted that, but was of course a good six months older.

He only gets out of bed first thing in the morning (we are v. lucky i know), so I wouldn't go into this with no hope at all. We havea gate in his doorway as his room opens onto stairs, so I think knowing he can't go anywhere might help IYSWIM. I can remember my brother having a gate in his door when he went into a "big boy's bed" so I don't think necessity has made us hugely cruel!

Might be an idea actually - keep a baby monitor so he knows you can hear him, but make it clear that there will be no running into your room willy nilly by having the gate in the door. When DS has a bad dream we go to him and comfort him in his bed wherever possible, which helps reinforce that he stays there.

Thank you both.
I might see how long we can leave it, as DS is only trying to get out and until he can we might as well keep him in his cot as long as possible. I feel a little more prepared now. Thank you, all advice helps :-)

DD moved into her bed at 18mths.
She hadnt climbed out but we wanted the cot for the new baby and Didnt want too many changes at once so we moved it in the nursery before baby came. Plus thinking we could get her settled in the bed before baby instead of having them both up all night!!

We have been extremerly lucky in that DD1 has NEVER got out of bed! She can easily but chooses not to! She has her normal bedtime routine and then just lays chatting to her teddy's till she drifts off. Her bedroom door is shut at night and always has been as shes such a light sleep, us coming up to bed would wake her.

One thing we did was to let her choose her own bedding. She picked Peppa and she adored going into her "Peppa Bed". That really helped.

I moved my DS at 18 months because he slept in camp bed type things at nursery and he's been absolutely fine. He has a gate on his door and very occasionally we will find him asleep in a little self-made "nest" behind the gate with his blankets and teddies but he actually really likes the bed and calls it his "big boy bed" with pride. He is 24 months now. I think if making it a big boy/girl thing helped in our case.

We also have a stair gate on dd's door so if she does get up she can't come to any harm

Yes, make it an exciting thing when you do it...

We moved DS at about 2, but probably won't move DD for a few more months. We had to shift him for her!!

Actually he was very straightforward. We bought a cheapish (£90?) toddler bed that was brilliant as a transition from cot to single bed, as it has little side rails by the head. This made him feel more secure (stopped his teddies falling out).

They are all different, he NEVER got out of bed either!!! This was the thing I was most worried about, but it didn't happen. In fact, very funny, he's now just turned 4 and he still yells "Mummy" in the morning rather than getting up himself!!! He moved to a big single bed at 3.5 or so, but that was more because he is a big lad, I imagine DD will be in the toddler bed until she is nearer 5.