Oh God, ds1 just fell out of his cot...

[elena2]

He's a really tall lad for his age (20 months), and even though we bought one of the biggest cot beds we could find, this morning we heard him chattering, then he went quiet, and the next minute we heard a big crash. We went flying in to find him picking himself up off the floor, apparently unhurt thank God.

Obviously this means I can't let him spend another night in his cot as it is, we'll have to change it into a bed, but how do we get him to stay in it?!
He is a very energetic toddler, as most are, and we usually go through his bedtime routine and then tuck him in his cot, kiss him goodnight and shut the door. We hear him moving about and chattering for a bit before he falls asleep.

Has anyone else put their child in a bed at this age, and if so, how do you settle them and get them to stay in it?
Any tips most appreciated, TIA.

Elena xx

Yesterday's afternoon nap was a nightmare!!
Eventually he was so exhausted he fell asleep after about 2 minutes of face-stroking, and I crept out of his room. He did sleep for a couple of hours though.

Last night was more difficult than the night before, I had to sit out of sight at the top of the stairs, and every time I heard him move, said something to him along the lines of 'Good boy, stay in bed', and he eventually fell asleep when my bum was numb from sitting there for so long!
Up at about 8 this morning, so that was pretty good.

Futurity, how are you doing with your ds?

My ds twins are still in their cot beds with rails up. A couple of months ago dts2 found out how easy it was to climb out of bed, a realisation closely copied by dts2. I was about to panic as it would be impossible to keep them in a bed without use of straps (only kidding!!!) when dts2 fell out of his cot.

End of climbing escapades. He was okay but the shared opinion became that it was not such a good idea.

Elena I put my DD into her cotbed two months ago and found that by letting her have a play with her toys when she was tired she would then take herself off into her bed to sleep herself. I have a gate across her room and the door wide open. I must confess to a feel wistful moments myself thinking that my baby is getting a big girl now but dont you find at this stage anyway they suddenly want to start being so independent..lol! x

Elena, we had the same problem as you and put DS2 into a normal single bed at 18 months. At first he used to fall asleep downstairs and one of us would carry him up. After a while I used to take him up awake and tell him that mummy was going to bed too and I'd go into our room and just potter about for abit, putting washing away or something similar, just so he could hear me upstairs. I'd then creep downstairs, without talking to him directly at all. After about 10 days, probably not even that long actually, I was able to downstaits straight away.
He's nearly 2.5 yrs old now and I think his only got out of bed while we are downstairs once, and only very occaisionally do I find him nose to nose with me when I wake up as he wants to get into our bed.
I'm sure they get the hang of it quite quickly so hang in there

Doing well so far. Day time naps have gone up from an hour which they were in a cot to almost 2 hours and last night there was no wakings in the night although still having to help him settle. We have put a pillow in the bed which he loves (especially as it has Fimbles on it!) and that (so far) has stopped him getting trapped at the top of the bed. I am not taking any of this good luck for granted though as I am sure it could all go wrong at any time!!

Fed up, fed up, fed up.
Put ds1 to bed at 8pm last night, he was really tired as he'd not had much of a sleep in the day.
First time was ok, stayed in bed after dh kissed him goodnight, left the door ajar and went downstairs. 5 minutes later, we heard him crying at the gate.
To cut a long, long story short, we didn't get him to sleep 'til after 11pm, by which time dh and I were at each others throats through tiredness (we had needed an early night ourselves!) and desperation of not knowing what the hell to do.
We read him 'The hungry caterpillar' last thing in bed when we are settling him, and later, when he kept crying hysterically at the gate, one of us went to put him back in bed and he would hold the book out at us, quite obviously saying, 'read to me, stay with me'. So we felt horendously guilty.

I just feel like putting him back in a cot, I think he's just not ready for a bed, and he's too young to reason with him or explain properly about the bed.
Dh said he's going to drill some holes in the cot so the base can go lower and he won't be able to get his leg over the side and climb out.
But it feels like a step backwards.

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I'd go back to the cot personally. My ds is 26 months and we aren't shifting him. Mind you, he's no athlete and has never climbed out...yet!

My ds1 fell out once & then never again! Probably a bit younger than yours, but yes, it was a huge shock!

We moved him into a bed at around 20 months, as ds2 was due around his 2nd birthday, so we needed the cot! He was fine - we used a bedguard for a few months, which I think helped to give him a feeling of security as well as holding him in. I think he loved the feeling of being a 'big boy' & not a baby any longer.

We've had the occasional problem of him getting up in the middle of the night, but just put him back in bed & he's stayed there.

My friend's dd (who is now 3) has still not figured out that she can get out of bed, & when she wakes up in the morning just sits in bed & shouts for her mum to come & get her!!

aloha, i agree, there's no way we're moving ds until he can climb out. He's 2y3m and pretty agile, but the cot is adjustable to a low level and no toe-holds! Having said that he can nearly manage it...