Beds - what age did you put your child into one

[fairydust]

DD is 2 and i'm trying to keep her in her cot as long as poss as i know once were in a bed there's no turning back.

What age did you put your child/children into a bed - and what it a nightmare once you did????

Ds1 was 2.6yrs old when he suddenly chose to sleep in a bed rather than his cot. We'd had a 'big bed' set up for a few weeks and one night he just toddled in there to sleep instead. We didn't really have any problems as such, but there were a couple of mornings when we found him asleep on the floor because he'd rolled out of bed but either hadn't woken up or just couldn't be bothered to climb back in.

DSs were both 18 mtns when they went into beds, but it was mainly to save my sanity! Neither slept through until they were over 2, and I put them into beds so they could come to ME in the night, rather than the other way round! It worked for me, I'd often wake in the morning to find a small child there and no memory of them arriving!

Ds1 went into a bed at about 21 months as I was expecting dd and wanted a gap - no problems: used a bed guard, and had a few nights of him getting out, but just kept putting him back and eventually he got the message. Dd was also about 21 months (as I was expecting ds2) and she was perfect for a month, then kept getting out. We had to put her back in the cot for a bit because it got so exhausting, but about a month later she was back in the bed, and after that no problems. Ds2 is now 13 months and I don't have that same old excuse, but will probably put him in a bed about the same age, mainly because the bed is already in his room as I have nowhere else to put it!

DS1 was 26 months when he went into a bed. Had no problems at all (he wasn't climbing out of cot either)

DD was 29 months when she went into a bed, no problems with her either (infact we need to go through and tell her she can come out in the morning!!)

DS2 is 27 months and is still in his cot. We're going to buy a bed for him in the next month or 2 but he is in no rush to leave his cot as yet

However, a mate of mine put her DD in a bed at 18 months as she was constantly climbing out of her cot and she had no end of trouble with her DD always getting out her bed (haven't seen her for 3 years but would hope she's settled down by now as she's 5 1/2 years old )

So my theory is if you put them in a bed before they're climbing out the cot, you will have less trouble with them constantly getting out of bed (probably completely wrong on that one though )

Fairydust,

My dd has just gone into a bed (as of last Saturday night) at age 20 months. There is a very recent thread on this (which I started either yesterday or Monday - can't quite remember) under Behaviour and Development which you might want to check out for other people's experiences

DD was 18 months when she went in her toddler bed. We never looked back. It was fantastic. She loved her big girl's bed (always hated her cot), and although she did fall out the first two nights - we had no other problems.

Friend's DS is 2 years 7 months and is still in his cot. He loves his cot and hasn't tried to climb out or anything, so his mum has seen no point in changing it into a bed (is a big cot bed).

So, go with what suits you best i guess.

Its not as easy as you think - fancying kids is natural to them - it is how they are programmed just how I am programmed to fancy men and homosexuals are programmed to fancy people of the same sex, it is nothing you can change.

And castration does not work - they actually live longer without their testicles!!

The government actually need to build more prisons (they will have to raise taxes to do this) and actually treat these people as having an addiction whilst they are doing their life sentances - no conputers - no books or papers with pictures, however innocent, of children - no way for these people to do what they do and hurt others.

I really think that this problem will never go away and the government will never take it as seriously as it needs to be when they are at all concerned with these monsters 'human rights'!!

Ermm, back to beds!

Put dd in bed at about 18 months as she too hated her cot and we'd been co-sleeping. She loved her bed and now, at 27 months she still loves it. None of her friends have beds though as they are all still fine in their cots.

wrong thread twinkie

Yeah, Fairydust, go with what suits you. DS1 was 2 and a bit, DD was just 2, in both cases I needed the cot for the new baby! But also DD was thrashing about in her cot and not sleeping well. We went away on holiday and the baby was in the cot so she went in the big bed. At the same time we dropped her daytime sleep so she was sleeping really well at night - never had a problem with her getting out/falling out etc. Now she's out of nappies at night (at 2yrs 9mo clever girl) it's essential as she can get up for a wee. Can't recall any cot to bed probs with DS1 either tho did used to have to sit with him until asleep (what a nightmare! never fell for that one with DD and DS2) but that was true in a cot too. Basically there's no rush unless you need the cot or baby is climbing out/short of room.

We have been thinking of moving our dd to a futon next to our bed she is 5 months. Maybe this is too early?

Not that keen on the idea of cot you see

my dd and ds were both 18 months, with dd we firstly just put the mattress on the floor to get her used to it, then added the base a couple of weeks later, that way if she was to fall out, it was only a roll. Had no problems to ds too. One of my friends kept her ds in a cot until he was nearly 3 - he was happy, its whatever suits you.

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We have put out dd in her own big girl's bed just this week at 18 months. She hates her cot and kept asking to get into the single bed in her room during the day to read books so we knew she liked it. She loves her big bed (although I am paranoid that it is too high and we've got a wooden floor) so we've bought a bed rail and put her cot mattress on the floor just in case. She doesn't climb out she calls for us in the morning, but she has slept so much better in her new bed despite teething and having a cold because it is so much more comfy with no bars to bang in to, so we're all happy at the solution.

Almost all my friends with children 18-24 months are now in beds (mostly toddler beds) and all doing fine but each child is different and as long as they're happy in their cot then great. By the way, I've just bought a BabyDan mesh bed rail for £19.99 at Tesco Extra. It's fab because it folds up so small in a bag for travel unlike a lot of other ones and really solid when leaned on in bed, I would recommend it to anyone.

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hi my son was 13 months when i put him into his first bed, he slept better and was happy to go to bed no problem for us

DS was about 2 1/2. We did it because he finally learnt to climb out, thought it was a great trick when he had been put to bed, fell awkwardly and had a suspected broken elbow - x-rays were inconclusive. if your DD can climb out I'd be tempted to change.

If dp was any kind of 'handyman' Id have him build a 6ft high cot with a lid on for my 3 yr old. At the age of just over 2 (when we needed the cot because dd2 was hanging out of her moses basket, desparate for more room)we transferred her to a bed. She was fine however since then, we've never had more than one straight night without her getting out of bed at some godawful time and creeping in with us. If we object, the whole situation escalates into hysteria (and that's just me) so we just accept it and dp slopes off to the spare room....

I've concluded that there's no right or wrong time to move from cot to bed, but personally think it's easier to leave it later--2, 2 and a half or even later I suppose. I think it depends on so many factors: size of child, size of cot, baby on the way, etc.

Ds was 2 yrs and 9mos. Dd arrived when ds when 2 yrs and 10 months--so we had an impetus to move him. One thing I do recommend is not to move a child too close to the arrival of a new baby. My poor ds was anxious & overwhelmed at 2 yrs and 10 months: new bedroom, new bed, new sibling, and new teacher at nursery. It was a bad time: night terrors, very bad behavior & regression. I should have thought ahead & made the changes for him more gradual. I've heard other mothers say this too.

If I have my way ds1 will still be in a cot as a teenager - he was three last week and still loves his cot + when he goes to bed at 7-7.30 he plays for an hour or so quite happuily - I just cant imagine the same scenario if he was free to get out! I'm too scared to try!

after baby no 2 came along i moved no 1 into new room but put in cot and bed as i didn't want to big a change(she was 2 1/2). After two weeks of not getting her into bed and on the rare occasion when she did start in bed( always found her sleeping under her cot next morning) i dismantled cot. she settled much better.

no 2 went to bed when he was 14months as i used to sit downstairs and listen to the jump jump jump thud! he could flip right over so i had to get a bed. It took about aweek to get him to settle.

i think they will let you know when they are ready.

Hughsie I'm with you, my ds is 3 1/2 and I haven't moved him into a bed for the same reasons! He's never tried to get out, I've even left the side down several times and he still hasn't climbed out. Like your ds, he will sometimes lie in his cot for up to an hour, singing and talking to himself before he drops off to sleep... most nights he's asleep within 10 minutes though. My SIL is horrified that he's still in a cot at his age, but hey, whatever works I'll be moving him into a bed in the next month or so though, because he's physically too big for a cot now. I hope he loves his bed as much as his cot.

After a long discussion with dh we have decided to try dd in a bed - so we;ve just ordered her atoddler bed from kiddicare after looking round the usual places we decided this one seemed best.

So once again thank you all for your advice.