Help! Advice on how to move my 2 year old todder from a cot into a bed

[whizzymummy]

Hi
I've posted this on the "sleep" thread too but this may be a better place for it! Here goes...
I am looking for advice on moving our nearly 2 year old DS to a bed from his cot. I am 7 months pregnant and we feel like we want to move him to a bed before we actually need the cot for the next one. It's not desperate yet as we have a small crib to start off with the new baby, but DS was born so big he only lasted a month in that, so we may not have much time!
Anyway, DS already has a bed in his room and the cot as well (it's not a cot bed). He had lots of fun when we set the bed up properly with a guard rail a couple of months ago and he has lots of his teddies in it. We read him his bed time stories every night in his bed (he jumps in and tucks himself under the covers!) but when it actually comes to going to sleep he asks to be put in his cot. This weekend we tried going and buying some fun duvet covers with cars on and making a big deal of it being in his bed ... come actually trying to get him to sleep there he really freaked and eventually we relented and put him in his cot.
My DH and I disagree a bit on this, I think perhaps DS is just not ready and he is such a good sleeper (also never tries to climb out of his cot), always 12 hours, that I don't want to harm that (especially being so tired and pregnant!) or cause negative associations with sleep. DH thinks we should just get on with it and make the move to a bed how. I know we need to move him to the bed soon if we want to use the cot again for his brother or sister but I also know if I wasn't pregant again we'd just be leaving it until he was a little older as I feel he's not ready - he has afterall spent 2 years in the same cot and when he moves into his bed he'll still see the cot there. Anyone got any tips!? Or perhaps know any good books I could read him about it?

Hi Whizzy-we had exactly the same problem with my DD1 when I was expecting DD2.

We put the cot right next to the bed & like you piled toys up on the bed & bought new covers etc.(grandma & Aunty bought new duvets & hot water bottle covers & clocks etc ) When she'd got used to it being there we took the cot side off the edge nearest the bed & wedged the cot up next to it so she could choose where to sleep. She slept half in & half out of the bed for the first few nights but gradually got used to the bed till we could wean her off the cot.

Then we dismantled it TOTALLY & put it away till the baby came & like you used a small crib before moving DD2 into the cot. Was a bit slow but we didn't want to upset her unduly & it paid off.

Good luck!

We moved ds1 for same reasons, when he was 2. It was hard! In the end, we had a big phase of letting him say if he wanted bed or cot, and he'd choose at random. Then a big phase of him only sleeping in his wendy house in the corner of the room . Then 6 months later he said he diidnt like his bed (novelty car one) , and we got him a 'normal' one.

Ds2; moved him just under 2, with no problems at all

I had the same problem. Don't push it. We had a bed in ds1's room (along with the crib)for a good 6 months before he finally went to bed in it. We just let him play and explore and then one night I sat down with a stack of books and read every single one to him. He finally settled and has been in there ever since. We usually find him sleeping on the floor and now he sneaks into bed with us in the night. But we just quit the crib cold turkey.

Thanks guys, nice to know it's not just us having the problem! I wonder if part of it is that it's such a big bed as it's a full size single bed from my neice but it seems a waste not to use it. A shame we can't remove one side of the cot and put it next to the bed, but the bars won't come off our's. I think we'll just have to persist with talking to him and reading stories in his bed and hope one night he'll sleep in the bed. I am a loathed to move the cot out and force him for now...

Hi WHIZZY - we bought DD a junior bed a couple of weeks ago (she is 17 months) as I am 6 months gone too. Tried to put her in it at first for daytime nap but she was pretty hysterical. Anyway after a couple of days of getting uswed to it being in her room she now goes down no probs for her daytime nap. In fact the other day I was outting her clothes away and she crawled in herself and went to sleep!

Haven't tried her for a full night yet as I am sleep deprived at the mo' and have too much going on to excacerbate it so will try in a few weeks when things have calmed down a bit. Have you tired putting DS in the bed for afternoon sleeps?

we moved our twins out of cots into beds at about 22 months, they were and still are good sleepers and the one I thought would kick off about it took to it very well, whilst the more chilled out one was out of bed every 5 mins for the first couple of nights, but she soon settled. Make a big deal of it, being a big boy etc, get him some new PJs and a night time toy, maybe a new light or book too? We put bed guards on too. Good luck

oh and we did it at a timw when we could cope with less slepp than usual - we're both teachers so did it in the hols!

hi, moved our son into 'big boy bed' for same reasons last year.
we redecorated his room and like everyone else bought new bedding etc.
my advice...just do it and don't make a big fuss on the night...just act as if its all very normal and i'm sure it will all go ok.