How do you go about moving a toddler from a cot to a bed? Tips please!

[ally90]

My dd is 2.2yr old and is asking to go to sleep in the big bed in her bedroom (our spare single bed). So I have told her that she will have a bed by tomorrow (her cotbed)...

How do I make it a good transition?

We don't have a stair gate so we are planning to shut the door...would a stair gate be a good idea instead tho? The door has a latch about 5ft up so opening it is not an issue (unless she find something to stand on!). She does have lots of toys and a nice eeyore duvet...is there anything else I can do? And what do you do about lamps? I'm worried about putting a lamp in and she plays with it...

TIA

Allyx

I dont know but its time for my DD to go into cot bed too. Shes the same age as yours. We have a stair gate, but she screams to have her bedroom door open. I just know she will be in bathroom/our bedroom the minute I go down stairs. Same problem with lamp as well, she only sleeps with a lamp on and what if she fiddles with it? Think she can stay in her cot for a while longer yet....

Hmmm, DD also has an eyore duvet.... are you me?!

When my DS1 moved to his toddler bed we were terrified, but had twins on the way and wanted him happily settled well before they arrived. He was 20 months I think. We set up the bed in the spare room first, so he had a go at lying on it (it's a car bed...), and playing on it to get used to it. We asked him if he wanted to sleep in it one night and he said yes so we just went for it and he was fine. We were shocked! He never tried to get out of the bed at all. We had always closed his door and knew he couldn't open it so no worries there.

He is not so good now (2.4yrs), but still can't open the door .

Oh he was in grobag sleeping bags from about 3 months so we kept him in his sleeping bag so he didn't have two new things to get used to. I was also a bit unsure whether he would be able to pull the duvet over himself as he was quite young. He does have a duvet on his bed but still sleeps on top of it (actually he normally sleeps on the floor but that's another issue entirely ).

THe issue you mentioned about a light. We used to use the baby monitor as a light in his room but once he did start getting out of bed in the mornings he would pull it down from the top of the cupboard and I was worried he would eletrocute himself as he could take the power lead out of it. We got him one of these. You charge it up during the day so it has no power leads etc at night. DS1 loves his.

I am dreading when DS1 can get out of his bedroom.

landj - hmm...you could be me answering and I'm answering my own post? hmmm

Difficult isn't it...what to do...and when to do it...she still does not get out of her cot...tho she can get her foot onto the top rail...I just think that she is ready and now's a good time as any to do it...no major upheavals at the moment...

Egg...gosh...glad it went so well for you (at the time!) like the fact he sleeps on floor...! Going to buy the nightlight I think...she's never had one...but maybe it would be a good thing to pop in before bedtime as a nightime friend?

To be honest, its the mornings Im dreading. I hear her wake up at about half six, but she stays in her cot singing and talking to teddys while I doze. The trouble is, by this age, the bars are not there for the childs safety, they are there to keep them IN!

Those nightlights do have a downfall. They don't last all night. OK with light mornings at the moment but in winter they are a very dull glow by the morning. Think they last about 8hrs. Was worried though that he would manage to get the plug in ones out (he is way too interested in plugs).

He sleeps on the floor all the time now and uses his lovely bed to keep his books and toys on. He has two duvets under him on the floor so it is nice and cosy. It started because he threw his Blankie out repeatedly from the bed after a couple of months and screamed for us to get it back for him...

Well we had her in her bed for a nap (after I spent 2 hours getting cot to pieces and putting it back into a bed...head board is meant to 'pull' apart, don't use 'excessive force' que dh having to kick it apart lol) and she went down for a nap without getting out (must have been conditioning ) then at bedtime she was thilled with it and wanted to get in before she had drunk her milk...in end we both snuggled up in bed, dd with milk and read Mrs Tittlemouse. Then left her with book and shut door...she did get up and start twanging the door stopper for a while...then running up and down...then I went up to look as all quiet...peeped at her thro door and she was reading Mrs Tittlemouse...5 min later settled down to sleep

Fab! Thanks for advice...!

We let ds help his daddy put the bed together and then he was really excited about sleeping in it.
He has never slept better.