Anyone’s child stay in a cot until age 4?

[Stateyourbusiness]

My DS is nearly 3yo and is still happy in his cot - has never tried to climb out.

I was considering moving DS into a bed at 3yo to pass the cot on to the baby, who is approaching six months and starting to outgrow his bassinet. But as he’s still happy, I wonder if I should keep him contained as long as possible 😬

Right now he wakes around 5.30/6am and plays happily in his cot with his teddies, talking and singing to himself, until we go to get him up at 7 am.

I worry that if we move him into a bed, he’ll start getting up and roaming around the house (or trying to get out of this room if we put a staircase on his door) which would make the mornings very difficult when we’re trying to get ready for work (or when I’m still sleeping/trying to shower before the baby wakes).

So considering whether it would be worth it to buy a second cot in the hope that it might last another year.

Anyone tried this?

*stairgate on the door

We moved our son into a single bed just before he turned 3. He wasn’t trying to climb out so probably would have left him in there for longer if we didn’t need the cot for the baby.
But for a couple of weeks we took the side off and added the little bumper type attachment. So he got used to sleeping without the full cot side before we moved him into his big boy bed.
We also had his single bed in the same room as him and did story time in there so he was used to the bed before having to sleep in it

My DS has only recently had the sides taken off his cot bed and he's about to turn 4. He never tried to climb out so I didn't feel the need to change anything. Only changed it because I'm pregnant and couldn't manage lifting him in and out.

He doesn't get up without permission, I told him if you wake up in the morning, call for me and I'll come see you. He hasn't once got out of bed and gone wandering. We also put a little alarm on his door so it would alert us even if he did leave. Just don't let him think he's free to come and go as he pleases and he might surprise you.
You could always get a cot from ikea for the baby to use for now and then swap them over a little later on.

Well we waited until almost 3 with oldest son and was a huge mistake.

For months it took absolutely ages to get him to bed as he kept running out.

With our you gest we removed bars as soon as he could walk confidently (16 months I think) and he never came out, bedtime was never an issue.

Obviously depends on what sort of child you've got but in my eyes you've missed the boat for a smooth transition.

How did it go? Was bedtime more difficult? Did he get up in the night/early in the morning and try to leave the room? Or did he just stay in bed the same as when he was in a cot?

That sounds like the ideal scenario! What a good boy. Okay, praying this will work out the same for us.

Yeah, getting a second cot is probably on the cards. Glad to hear it worked for you until age 4!

Congratulations on your pregnancy ☺️

Oh, that’s interesting, I’d never even considered it might be smoother if you move them younger. I thought the younger they are the more difficult it would be. I’ve heard they don’t develop impulse control until after age three which makes it much harder to keep them in their bed if they don’t fancy it

Thank you 😊

I must have jinxed myself as he got up without asking today (scandalous) haha. But he did wait until his clock turned blue at 7am and just played quietly for a while before wandering through. Can't complain still! Best to start strict though rather than having them causing chaos.

He just stayed in the bed - it went exactly the same as when he was in the cot. I think because we did a slow transition he just learnt to stay in bed.

Fabulous 👏 Taking notes!

My youngest was almost 4.

I'm a big believer in "Of it's working and everyone is happy, don't change anything." And try to let my children lead as much as possible.

If there are no issues with your child in a cot, why upset the apple cart?