Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Cot to bed, how do you stop them falling out?

35 replies

OzJo · 30/11/2004 00:51

Dear All,
Dd is 20 months and starting to get a little big for the travel cot she's slept in always. Hopefully we'll be moving next month so can introduce a bed....but how on earth do you stop them from falling out all the time? Or is it that you don't, and they learn from their falls. I'm tempted just to get a matress for the floor to start with. She sleeps all over the place in the cot, I'm sure she'd be falling out 5 times a night....grateful for any handy hints..

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

kinderbob · 30/11/2004 01:15

I've got a bed rail, but Bob isn't having any of the bed yet. He also is an all over the cot type of boy so I will follow this thread with interest.

sallystrawberry · 30/11/2004 01:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fisil · 30/11/2004 07:50

we currently have ds in his cot with the base lowered and the side off. We let him get used to it using the "fall out and learn" method - only fell out 3 times, and it's very low!

Twiglett · 30/11/2004 07:53

When I moved DS to bed we got one of those hideaway beds and just pulled out the bottom bed when he went to sleep

He got it within a month ... he only fell out of bed a few times too

Personally I'd go for the mattress on the floor technique

Azure · 30/11/2004 08:50

We used the same bed guard as Sallystrawberry and it worked really well. Recommended.

lulupop · 30/11/2004 09:20

Have to say, we were worried about this as DS was SUCH a wriggler in his cot. I did get a bed guard but ended up taking it back as it didn't fit with the bed we have.

DS has never ever fallen out of bed, and hardly even moves in his sleep now. Looking back I think he felt constricted in his cot by the time we moved him out of it - every time he moved an arm, he'd hit the side and wake up. In his bed it's as if he senses the edges and just stays close to the wall side.

frogs · 30/11/2004 09:58

Put a bedspread over the duvet and tuck in firmly all round. Or use sheets and blankets and tuck in ditto.

bakedpotato · 30/11/2004 10:10

turn duvet sideways and tuck in firmly either side

Furball · 30/11/2004 10:11

We put the cot mattress on the floor next to the bed for a few weeks. I think he only fell out twice, one time because he'd landed on the cot mattress he didn't even wake up!

handlemecarefully · 30/11/2004 10:12

I put a mattress on the floor. She was a similar age when she transferred to a bed, and fell out of it perhaps 3 or 4 times only, before she got the hang of it. I remember being worried about it though before I moved her, just like you are.

A more long term problem was getting her used to a duvet. She would wake up cold because she had shed her covers. Now have a bigger duvet than is necessary for her bed and I partially tuck it in.

eidsvold · 30/11/2004 11:03

dd1 had matress for a couple of weeks - only cause we had to wait for the bed to be delivered - she would have been 22 months or so.... but then she had and still has a bed rail..... she still had some mishaps as she is such a wriggler when it comes to sleeping. But she only fell out a couple of times... her bed is also in the corner of her room

Original poster

OzJo · 01/12/2004 08:01

Thanks folks, I'll have a look around to see what's available on the bed rail front over here ( Australia)....plus we'll put the bed in the corner...I can't believe she's going to be out of the cot! She's currently in a grobag to stay warm, but we're in late spring over here, so hopefully she'll make the transition without getting too cold.
Thanks for the reasurances...like the idea of putting the cot matress on the floor as well...

OP posts:

eidsvold · 01/12/2004 08:19

OzJo - not sure where you are in Aus but we got our bedrail from Super A-Mart when we bought her bed... also seen them in Big W. Dd1 has a grobag as well - have some very lightweight ones. Have not used her duvet yet!! Even in winter she was content to be in her grobag rather than under the duvet.

Also can get them online

here named bedguard.

Azure · 01/12/2004 08:58

BTW we kept DS in his grobag for a few months after moving him to his bed, which I think helped the transition.

bootsmonkey · 01/12/2004 09:06

I'm with baked potato on this one. DD fell out a few times but not after I turned the duvet sideways and tucked it in - they still have plenty of room to wriggle if you just tuck in the ends.

You never know falling out may not bother her - my nephew regularly used ot fall out and not even wake up - parents would here a thump in the night and go up and put him back in - all without a murmur!

I do think they learn quite quickly though.

jude2105 · 01/12/2004 09:11

DS was a wriggler in the cot too, but we didn't get a bed guard - he has a wooden bed and they tend to be slightly lower, but we just put a couple of cushions on the floor to soften the blow! He's been in a bed now for approx 2.5 yrs and has probably only fallen out 4 times in total - and he is STILL a wriggler!

Distracted · 01/12/2004 09:44

Interesting to see what other people have experienced here, as I wondered when we would be able to stop using a bedrail with dd (she's 2.5 and been in a bed for 4-6 months).

We do use a bedrail and dd even fell out with that on to begin with (we left a space where the pillow is and she moved round sideways and fell out of that small gap head first)! Now the bedrail is up to the head of the bed with no gap.

I shared a small double bed with her last weekend when we stayed at in-laws (no bedrail) and she kept me awake most of the night as I couldn't believe how much she wriggled! They used sheets and blankets instead of duvets and they WERE tucked into the sides but she ends up on top of the sheets and ALWAYS ended up horizontally across the bed with her head at the edge about to kick herself over the edge head first. Had to keep picking her up and putting her back vertical again all night. I don't really see how she would learn not to fall out when she does that in her sleep for several hours during the night .

OldieMum · 01/12/2004 09:50

Do children usually transfer from cot to bed at around 2? DD is 22 months and I had been wondering about this. At the moment, I would imagine that she would spend a lot of time running around the house after being put to bed. How did other people encourage their children to stay in bed once they were in it?

littlerach · 01/12/2004 09:58

We put a pillow longways beside DD1 to stop her from rolling out, also did the duvet thing. She has fallen out a couple of times, usually when she has been a bit poorly.

frogs · 01/12/2004 10:00

Oldiemum -- stairgate across the door.

Both my older ones used get out of bed to play, but would (often) get back in by themselves when they were tired. Occasionally they'd fall asleep on the floor and have to be lifted into bed. Sometimes they'd pile up all the duplo in the bed and then fall asleep on top of that...

Easy · 01/12/2004 10:04

OzJO

I don't know. My ds was a very active sleeper in his cot, and I worried about this too, but in the 2 1/2 years since we swapped him to a bed, he has only ever once fallen out of bed, it just doesn't seem to happen. For the first night or two put a spare duvet or some pillows on the floor around the bed to give a soft landing, but I bet you won't need it.

TwoIfBySanta · 01/12/2004 20:32

I think the bed rails are a good idea but we didn't bother. When we took the cot sides off their cot beds last year we just let ds twins have the freedom. What we did was put their teddies and cushions along the side of the bed so when they fell out they wouldn't hurt themselves and quite quickly they seemed to learn how to stay in bed.

Of course now they still sometimes fall out of bed but rarely.

advocaatofthedevil · 01/12/2004 20:35

Sew their PJs to the bottom sheet and then put the child into the PJs at bedtime.

giraffeski · 01/12/2004 20:36

Message withdrawn

jamiesam · 01/12/2004 21:21

advocaatofthedevil-
ds1 moved from cotbed to bed (by virtue of taking the sides off) shortly after three. Put a duvet on the floor next to him - on top of a thick rug, bought with landing child in mind! He only fell out once - and didn't wake up. Doesn't attempt to roam the house - or even his room - I hoped he'd entertain himself in the mornings now he can get at his toys, but he still calls for us and waits for us to get him up!

Flip

1 2