Moving to a toddler bed/single bed at 16-18 months

[freelancegirl]

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of moving to a toddler bed or single bed (or mattress on the floor?) quite early? DS is 16mo, but practical reasons mean it might be closer to 18 months if we do this.

He's never been a great sleeper (although after gentle sleep training was STTN until disrupted by the damn molars/sickness) and am hoping this might be a gentle transition from partial co-sleeping. I persist with the cot in the evenings (takes ages) but lately too tired to do anything but drag him into bed with me when he wakes around 11pm. Of course it's a vicious circle - he's waking as he doesn't want to self settle and would rather sleep with me.

He's very tall and I am wondering if the cot isn't too restrictive. Also a bed would make it easier for me to hop in and out with him if I am too tired/soft to try sleep training again.

Has anyone changed to a toddler bed/single bed/floor mattress reasonably early and did help with any sleep issues you might have had?

We went from full cosleeping to putting dd in a single mattress on the floor of her room when she was about 14 months, she is now almost 20 months. She will then come through to us when she wakes in the night.

She has always been a terrible sleeper and I wouldn't say it improved her sleep but it does mean dp and I sometimes get a bit of cuddle time on our own in bed, plus she now walks through to our room on her own so we don't have to get out of bed to settle her, which is a bonus I guess :)

We put DD in a single at about 20 months. We had done sleep training at about 14 months. I was aware that one of us might end up in with her sometimes, so went for a single rather than a toddler bed. We also got a good quality mattress so that we could sleep comfortably on it too. Occasionally DH has slept in her bed when she has been in with me. At first she didn't seem to realise that she could get out of bed on her own (even though her bed is about 4 inches plus mattress off the floor). She now comes through to us if she wakes in the night and snuggles between us for the rest of the night as I don't even wake up when I pull her into our bed, that is probably once or twice a week.

my ds1 was 16 months. he was a climber, we have a toddler bed with a tomy bed guard which leaves a 1.5foot gap at the bottom.

he settled well.

Thanks so much everyone, I was worried there weren't going to be many people who had done it but Dr Google also tells me it is quite common.

He's not a climber yet but has been in a gro bag so far, something I am also experimenting with changing imminently to see if that will help (trying out a fleecy sleepsuit when it arrives). He is very tall and pre-gro bag used to get his legs caught in the rails so I hope that's not something that will happen again when the suit arrives/before I get rid of the cot.

I am worried about completely baby-proofing the room. It's done already of course but I worry there will be something I've missed when leaving him alone all that time in there.

The cot is one that turns into at toddler bed but I am veering towards a single bed or mattress too. I do worry that he will climb out a lot and make are sleeping issues worse but like you Hearmyroar I hope if it doesn't make things better at least it will bring them to you rather than the other way round. The thought of him wandering the halls alone at night makes me panic (disclaimer: we hardly live in a mansion - it's not like it will be 'halls' in a standard victorian terrace!) but we do have a sturdy stair gate on the stairs and I feel he will really just want to come straight to us anyway).

I will look up that rail killpeppa (Noooo, I love Peppa!) as I definitely feel we will need one. He does like to roll around in his sleep. So now the decisions are whether to have a bed or just the mattress on the floor. Books by the bed are a great idea Miaow although I am jealous of your good sleeper.

We took the sides off the cotbed when ds was 22mo - he had been a brilliant sleeper but had started screaming at bedtime so we were giving anything a go. He hasn't slept well since... Started with a bed rail, but when we took the other cot side off and converted it to the bed, it was so low to the ground that we didn't bother he doesn't fall out anymore

He's now 2.2yo and most nights will come into our room 1-2 times - but is perfectly happy to be led straight back to his bed by dh then usually comes in with us from 5ish for a cuddle. Bedtime is an ongoing problem though as he now won't self settle and we have to stay in his room until he's asleep. I'm 5 months pregnant... Not sure what we're planning next as this isn't sustainable.

Good luck!