Moving from cot to bed

[bumbobear]

Hi, My DS in 2.3 and i'm wondering when is the best time to change his cot/bed from cot to bed. He sleeps quite well at the moment and doesn't try to climb out but i'm concerned that if i leave it longer it will get harder!

Hi I just did this with dd after xmas. She was starting to lift her knee over the top but never actually got out she was 2.8 and we probs could have left it a bit longer. We were talking about having another baby so decided to get dd a single bed and keep the cotbed and just get a new mattress for that for a new baby.

In actual fact its been great even tho a totally new bed thats slightly higher than her cotbed and of course much longer and wider. She settled straight in the first night but heres the catch...

I know supernanny always says to let them settle themselves down but our routine is that i read her a story and lie on the bed with her till she falls asleep which takes about 10-20 minutes and is usually 9/10 fuss free and straight forward and no stress. I would rather spend 10-20 minutes a night lying on the bed having a cuddle in utter peace than have her keep getting out of bed which I think would be quite stressful and noisy and quite awful. I will at some point change this so she settles herself, when shes a bit older. I know a lot of people would disagree with this method but its easy, no stress and works for us, bedtime is peaceful.

We went with the idea of leaving it as long as possible, thinking she would keep getting out of bed so put that off for as long as we could, however from the first night she slept all night! There are benefits to her being able to get out of bed herself on a morning as she can play and entertain herself until i shake off my sleepy head, tho on this basis i suggest hiding all noisy toys! Also the one thing that would have her shouting for me first thing on a morning is a wet nappy, now she just gets out of bed takes it off and gets on the potty if she needs to. If its really early and shes still tired she just climbs into our bed.

Its all been quite easy and I think the excitement of a new quilt cover makes it all more interesting too! So I dont think leaving it a bit longer will cause any harm but I guess it depends on how well they sleep to begin with, dd slept all night in the cot waking only if the quilt had been kicked off and thats the same for her now unless shes unwell and being a bit older I guess she understands a bit more but im sure people have taken the cot sides off sooner and its been fine, i am interested to hear of other peoples experiences...

Hi
My DS is 2.3 and we moved him into a toddler bed last month. We have a baby due in August so wanted to give him plenty of time to adjust. Also, he'd started waking up screaming hysterically to get out.

I'm afraid to say it hasn't been plain sailing. I used to put him down in his cot, say night night and just walk out. That was it until morning. Now, just like with bossyboop, I have to stay with him until he falls asleep otherwise he just keeps getting up over and over again. He seems to have regressed and can't (or won't) sleep without me being there. I'm just going with it for the time being since the alternative means going up and down the stairs 50 times every evening, watching him get more and more wound up. I'm 24 weeks pg and really can't be bothered to go up and down stairs all evening!!

Also, he has taken to waking in the night and comes through to our room. Sometimes I can take him back and settle him with no fuss, other times he is hysterical and I can take around 45 minutes to settle him. Having said that, it is getting better all the time. He was waking up 3-4 times a night for an hour each time and now he wakes at around midnight and then not again until around 7am.

He loves his new bed otherwise I'd probably put him back in his cot for a bit longer. He loves the duvet cover etc. I hope I'm not being too negative, but everyone's little one adapts differently and I know other children who have slept better after going in a bed. I personally would have left it longer if it wasn't for needing the cot in a few months and not wanting to evict him. Bizarrely, we got rid of his bedtime dummy when he was just 2 (it was causing problems) and it was plain sailing from night 1 - not at all what we expected!

Good luck!!

My DS is 2.8 and I recently moved him into a bed (he was getting too long for his cot). I thought he would get up 100 times a night but he settled immediately. And loves it. I bought a bed guard (second hand) and that works well.

I miss him knocking on the wall in the morning though, which was his sign he wanted to get up.

We moved our daughter to a bed 2 weeks ago (she is 2.6) after we found her in the middle of the night perched on the end of her cot with her legs over the side smearing cream all over her face and PJs that she had managed to get off the shelf! Anyway, it's been a pretty smooth transition. We involved her in the move - she was with us when we constructed the bed, helped us move furniture around and took her to IKEA to buy a new rug and a couple of bits to make her 'new' room feel nice and cosy - but didn't make too much of a fuss about being in a big bed. We also have a makeshift guard to stop her falling out, which I think makes the bed feel more cot like. We used to turn lights out and leave room with no probs, but for the first 4 or 5 days of being in a big bed we sat in the doorway, with door half shut while she fell asleep and did a sticker chart for staying in bed all night. Worked well and she hasn't got out at night at all and still waits for us to come in in the morning.

Hi there my DS still sleeps in a cotbed with the sides up and he has just turned 3. He makes no attempt to climb out and sleeps like a log so I don't really want to change anything as yet!!

But when we go away he also sleeps happily in a single bed with a makeshift guard, and then goes back to the cotbed with no complaints (and believe me he knows how to complain). So I don't think it will necessarily
get harder if you leave it longer.

We're in virtually the same position as Babyisaac.

DS is 2.1 and our next baby is due mid-July. We also wanted to do the cot to bed transition before number 2 arrives, espec as they'll be sharing a room (once baby graduates from being in our room).

Tonight is his first night in converted cot-bed with a bed guard. Very excited about it all today, but currently screaming at the bedroom door..... he could come out if he chose to, so I guess that's promising but I think we're on for a long evening/night!!

How did you get on cashew? Last night dd was making a fuss not wanting to go to sleep so i lay in her bed and told her a story about a little girl who was going to have a baby brother or sister and she was very excited about the story and at the end i said if mammy and daddy were to have another baby it would sleep in the cot (shared room) and she would have to be very quiet so not to wake it up as it would cry and be sad and it worked a treat - she went straight to sleep, will use that story again...!

We moved DD into her bed just after xmas at 18mths. Like others we have number 2 on the way in May so wanted to give her plenty of time, get the nursery sorted plus she was more than ready.

We were very lucky actually and she took to it really well. We had 3 unsettled nights where she woke and realised it was more open than her cot.
She is in a toddler sized bed with a single duvet cover which is tucked under the mattress down one side and across the bottom so it opens like a sleeping bag. This has helped her keep the covers on. We also bought her a duvet cover with Peppa pig on which is her fav. She was soo eager to sleep in her "Peppa Bed".

Even though I know she can, she has never got out of her bed at night and even when she wakes will just lay there chatting to herself as opposed to getting out to play with her toys.

I do appreciate we were very lucky though

Like babyisaac we've had mixed success with the toddler bed. In the cot I just used to leave the room and my DS would settle off no problem, but has now got quite needy again and we're getting into a 'mummy rub my back' routine at the moment, habit that has come back because of illness. I have put one of those travel stair gates on the door of his room and leave the door open when I say night night, go over the 'magic gate' and say 'Mummy's not far away' and repeat that if he comes to the gate and calls for me. Some nights it's fine and he happily climbs into bed, some nights he's up crying at the gate and needs me to settle him off. Like others, a 'themed' duvet and pillowcase set works a treat! Good luck.

Boosyboop- we had a great night in the end, thanks to my DH. After what felt like forever of DS screaming at the door (but was probably about 10 mins)DH went in and read a story about babies. DS then settled really quickly, Daddy left the room and DS went straight off to sleep..... and didn't stir until 7am this morning... result!
We'll see what tonight brings, but I'm feeling hopeful....

oh thats brilliant, now you know it can be done...! Good on DH for taking a role too, sadly dd will only settle for bed with me so on the odd occasion where she wont go to bed or even on nights where she will but im poorly or tired or had a hard day, it still falls on my shoulders even tho he does try to help she wont allow him to be involved and he cant play with her toys or even pick them up or anything without causing a major scene! 10 little fingers and 10 little toes is my fave book with babies in!

Just looked that book up on Amazon, looks lovely, maybe a future purchase for us! (For both DS and the new bubba). At the moment we're reading the 'Look there's a baby' book that came from Bookstart. He's too old for it really, but DH added in the name of a baby DS knows and loves and now DS is addicted!

za za's baby brother is lovely too, starts with a pregnant zebra then mummy goes to hospital has a baby and mummy and daddy are very busy with the baby and za za feels sad but then spends time playing with the baby and at the end of the day when baby is in bed za za gets mummy all to himself!

I've recently done it with dd who is 23 months and it has been fine, although she does sleep on the floor quite a lot.

DS was 23 months when he moved from cot into his double bed - and he's never looked back really. The first night was a bit unsettled but after that he was fine and enjoys having all the space to himself!!