Anyone moved their toddler into a bed early?

[JeewizzJen]

DS is 13mo, and currently sleeps with us in his cot with a side taken off, pushed up against our bed. I'm thinking of trying to move him into his own room soon, but don't really want to have him in the cot with all 4 sides up. This is partly because he's not used to being enclosed like that, also also partly so that I/DP can lie down with him to feed or resettle during the night. DS is proficient at getting down from our bed safely when awake, and I was going to use a bed guard for when he's asleep!

Has anyone got any experience of doing this at this kind of age? Any tips/pitfalls/reasons why it'll never work?

Thank you!

My friend did this, but she put the mattress on the floor so he wouldn't hurt himself if he rolled off. Worked fine. You could use the cot mattress too.

I think mine was a little older maybe 18 months or so. We put a safety gate across his bedroom door to stop him riding his bike in the hall at 3am. It worked great for us, we just had to make sure his bedroom was really baby proof and take his toy cupboard out. Ours is a very small house though so there was never any doubt we would hear him if he needed us.

The earlier the better! They're not bashing into wooden cot bars so more comfortable & with a bed guard & maybe some pillows on the floor not much damage can be done. We also had a stairgate across the door. My now 4 yr old was 13 months & has never climbed out of bed!!

Ah good! Thanks all - sounds like it's not a bad idea at all then!

My dd HATED her cot and would never settle in it. I got rid of it at about 14 months and put the cot mattress on the floor which she definitely prefers. It is also much easier for me to settle her there than in the cot. I have no regrets about ditching the cot. She is now 23 months and I could not imagine still putting her into a cot. Good luck.

DD went into a bed at 13 months. She didn't actually get out until was much older and started coming in for morning cuddles.We had a bed guard and we put some pillows on the floor just in case.

She actually went into an adult sized single bed at about 18 months (a gift from a friend who was moving) and she slept even better in the bigger bed. She did have a little step to climb in though!

We never used a cot. Our DCs went directly from our bed (we co-slept) to a "grown-up" bed. For DS we put pillows on the floor for a few weeks (he never fell, but he was nearly 3). DD now sleeps in a Kura Ikea bed so her mattress is directly on the floor.

We put the mattress on the floor at about 15 months iirc then into a proper bed at 2 ish.

DS just refused point blank to sleep in a cot from birth. So after endless sleepless nights I put a double mattress on the floor in his room and slept in there since he was about 3 months. Best thing I ever did, he slept better, I slept better. He's now 19 months and sleeps in a toddler bed with a mattress on floor beside him (for the odd occasion he wants a cuddle and it's easier to sleep on that holding his hand than go back to bed lol).

We have quite an unusual system I think. DS sleeps on a double mattress in his own room and has done so for a few months (he is nearly 21 months old now). He refused to sleep in his cot for most of his life, and used to sleep in our bed. At first my DH slept with him (as once he was night-weaned he wanted me to get more sleep, particularly when I got pregnant in the spring), but now he mostly sleeps on his own, although we sometimes have to go in to comfort him if he wakes up in the night. I also cuddle him to sleep still.

Yes we took the side off DD's cot when she was 17 months because I slipped my disc and couldn't lift her out. We got one of those bed guard thingies and she never had any problems. Fortunately she was very good about staying in her bed once we put her there.

Hoping for positive vibes from this thread. We are going on holiday soon with 2yr 7 month child who sleeps in cot (bed) still. We have not booked a cot (after last year when we did this to find a folding travel cot!) I intended to change her cot to a bed before we went but I'm scared of losing sleep and facing a battle. (I also didn't have a stair gate at the top of the stairs.) Hoping she sleeps while we are away. She didn't last year sob!

We put dd1 on a single mattress on the floor from 6 weeks. Her room is babyproof with a stair gate at the door. She's now 15m and although she can get out of bed she can also get back in. We find it works fine.

Can I just ask if those who've done this did so with younger children in the same room? I've got dc2 due when dd1 will be 18m and am trying to work out how to keep the baby safe

We moved both our DDs into adult singles at 13 months - used bed rail and pillows. They were both in Grobags so falling out was never an issue at all, and best of all they didn't get the idea that getting out of bed was an option - so they just didn't do it.

dd decided she was toilet trained at 20mo so had to be in a junior bed instead of cot so she could go to the toilet at night. We baby-proofed the landing with a stair gate at the top of the stairs (as well as one at the bottom for day time ) and a two-step for her to reach the toilet and wash basin because she was so tiny!

Haha! Mine can get out of her grobag. The other morning we went in and she had removed both it and the fitted bed sheet and hurled them across the room. emoticon!

Don't let her near any chemistry sets, she'll be powering your house by cold fusion in no time. On second thoughts...