Big boy bed tomorrow! - can someone talk me through it please?

[snowleopard]

Have to do it, DS is easily tall enough to climb out of the cot and will do it any minute. We've beentelling him about it and are going on a trip to get new stuff for the cotbed before we transform it.

But he's such a wriggler, he's going to fall out all the time. We're planning to put cushions on the floor - will that work? What happens, do they fall out a few times and then learn not to? Also, should he have a proper pillow and quilt, or just a blanket, or what? (he's just 2). And what do you do if your DC constantly gets out and comes to find you - I can just see this happening...

good luck, I would get a bed guard and a stair gate if i was you.

Got a bed guard, but the blardy thing won't fit the cotbed (even though the woman in John Lewis said it would!) - it has to have a minumum gap eithr end and the cotbed is too short. Does anyone know where I can get a shorter cotbed one?

dd1 is just 2 and been in bed (cot bed) for about a month. We sat her down told her she was going to be a big girl. She nodded sagely. She was a wriggler too and slept horizontally across the cot so that worried me. She now lies properly. She fell out twice first night and never again. No harm in cushions if it makes you feel a little kinder. Cot beds are low though. Advice . . Drink coffee and be prepared for a long night - new found freedom is excellent!!! Put the stairgate across DC's bedroom door. Be patient it is a scary transition for them (but don't be suckered into getting in with them!). Get drawer and wardrobe locks or you will have to put away every item of child's clothing in the morning. Be prepared to find them sleeping with bizarre things (dd now sleeps with building blocks).
Good luck.

Do you mean stairgate across his room door? We don't have any stairs so he can't fall down them.

Oh the only other time she has fallen out of bed was in a caravan with a bed guard. I think it gave her a false sense of security so she leant against it. It gave way she fell it landed on her. She cried. I felt awful.

Thanks mistypeaks, x-posted.

He won't be able to wander out of his room and anywhere you don't want him in the middle of the night. i.e. your room.

Liking the quilt on the floor idea - easier than cushions and no gaps.

On the bed, is 2 old enough for a pillow and duvet?

we put ds in a bed on monday nite and he has been great, we have a bed guard on and a gate on his door cos we dont trust him, likes putting things down the loo! he's even sleeping longer in the mornings!

ds has a pillow and cot quilt but rarely sleeps on the pillow

Is it safe? I can see him ending up with the pillow and duvet both on top of him/over his head.

dd has had a duvet since she was 12 months. From mothercare. I'm not happy with a pillow just yet. she does have the duvet over her head sometimes, but she's more than capable of removing it!!

My son is 2.2 and we got him a normal single bed 1 months ago. He helped to make his own bed placed ALL his teddybears, tractors, cups, plates, pots and pans and a few book, oh yes and we cannot not sleep without a shoppingtrolley (what was I thinking . So he enjoyed the space and he asked for a pillow like his sister, she is 3.6 (they share room) and that was really it. We have no guards (we did the same with our DD) we have just placed a big duvet on the floor and he has not fallen out.
We don't have a gate by the door (no stairs) he does wandered around for a few minuts in the room but settle himself to sleep in the bed. We have not bought duvet for, he sleeps with his small blanket, because it is very warm at the moment (france) but our DD got her big bed in feb (england) so she got a duvet and pillow from the beginning, she really enjoyed that. But they do look so small in a big bed

Thanks for all these! Much better informed now... will see what happens.

We put DS into a cotbed at around this age, and he was fine. We just put in the same place as the cot. However, we DID put a stair gate on his room door. If he falls out he might cry, or not in my case as DS is a very heavy sleeper. Once we found him underneath the cotbed twas funny but not really as I thought Dh had taken him downstairs, and we got a bit panicky looking for him. His quilt was still on the bed and all. They are only about a foot from the floor, so if he does fall out, he will learn very quickly not to.

UCM, one time we had DS sleeping in our room in his tent-style travel cot because his room was being decorated. I went to check on him and he wasn't in the cot! I had the most unbelievably awful few seconds of panic... until I realised I'd left the side unzipped and he had rolled right across the room...

DD1 is 3 in 2 weeks and has never climbed out of her cot (I always said when she did it was time to take the bars off) so we have said when she is 3 she can have a big girl bed. Not looking forward to it.

Both the DDs have had a pillow and quilt since 12 months.

Well... after much excitement about big boy bed, we had bedtime routine, he got in, and to our amazement went off to sleep as normal!

BUT he has fallen out once so far - fell onto duvet on the floor, didn't wake up, we just heard the thunk. So once we've gone to bed, I suppose he might roll out and spend the night on the floor...?

Looks very cute...

we put our dd in a proper single bed when she climbed out of her cot at 20 months. i didnt see the point in buying a cot bed to later buy a single bed. waste of money if you ask me. we bought a bed guard which doesnt fit really well, but stops her falling out. we also have a stair gate on her door as i know she would be everywhere. She did go straight off to sleep the first time and for a few weeks, then i think she realised se could get out of it, and now does this every night. Its become a pain to put her to bed, so much so that i dont bother going downstairs, i wait in my bedroom to put her back in bed. She has a pillow and a duvet but normally kicks it off in the night. I need to invest in some drawer and wardrobe locks as her room tends to look like a bomb site in the morning.