At what age did you put your DC into a big bed?

[TwinkleReturns]

My DD is nearly 18mo and still in a cot. This is fine atm but as am pregnant with DC2 am aware that ideally I dont want to have to buy a second cot as DD went into hers at 3mo as outgrew the moses basket. By 2yo I would have thought she could go into big bed but honestly dont really have a clue!

So thoughts and experience please

About19 months I think - cot mattress on the floor for a couple of months and then straight into a proper single bed.

Just under 2 and a half after 4 months in cot bed. Wish we had done it sooner as we had 4 months of hell trying to get ds to stay in the cotbed!

We use one of those cot sides (made by lindum) on a proper single bed and had no problems with sleeping since.

About one and a half with a bed gaurd.

Half hight bunk with a slide for her 3rd birthday, so by the time new baby was out of the crib she'd have forgot about her cot.

I know they say 6 (they didn't then) and DD1 climbed everything from before she could walk.

Cot side had been dropped with a step to climb out for well over a year.

She loved it never had any trouble.

Well DD2 has fallen out of it and the full hight bunk she has now.

But, DD2 fell out of her double bed the other day, she's 11

My ds was about 2.5 I think when we turned his cot into a bed, we put a stairgate on his bedroom door to keep him safe, all he had in his room was soft toys and books, and he regularly used to fall asleep flat out on the carpet next to a big pile of books, but eventually he got the idea of staying in bed, he's always been a good sleeper.

Now my dd is around the same age and she'd LOVE to be out of the cot but we've tried it twice and she just won't stay in bed at all, just runs about like a lunatic throwing things and screeching. Ds and dd share a room and even if we put a stairgate on the door she'd be up keeping ds awake when he has school in the morning. So until we move into a three bedroom house we're still unsure of how to get her into a big bed!

Think it was around 18 months, used a bed guard and he generally stayed put.

We turned dd's cot into a bed for her second birthday. She's fallen out a few times in 3 months, but I suppose that's to be expected. She doesn't get out of her own accord though, and if she does fall out she lies there crying until we go into her, then gets up and back into bed, rather than getting back in on her own

Bless her! lol

Am about to convert 19 mo ds's cot into a cotbed (thanks to this thread!) since I can't lean over the bars anymore without bashing my bump. Hopefully then he'll be in a big bed by the time the new baby needs the cot.

When he turned 2. He got a nice duvet set for his birthday. We used a bed guard for a couple of months then left it behind on holiday by accident. He fell out a couple of times but has been fine since.

Valium if you are still around can I ask why you had the mattress on the floor? Was it to get them used to a different mattress and lessen the fall if they rolled out?

Ds went from basket to cotbed, took side off it when he turned 3 - he's short so had only just tried to get out - and at 4 he's still got loads of room. Will probably get a single bed next summer mainly so he's not in a cot when he starts school.

My LO must have been about 20 months when we put him in the bed bit of his cotbed. Didn't bother with a guard, got a large towel and rolled it up, tucking it under the sheet along th edge of the bed, as a reminder where the side was. fell out once or twice, but we had a thick travel cot mattress on thr floor underneath so it was a soft landing. Changed him into a proper single bed a couple of months later for various reasons and he was fine. it was from thr childrens range in next so higher than his cotbed but not as high as some single beds can be. We carried on with the mattress on the floor underneath (cotbed mattress this time) which tucked away under the bed during the day, don't put anything there now as he doesn't fall out. The only down side is they get out in the middle of the night but I take him back to his room, lie down for a couple of minutes while he settles and then back to bed.

2.5 years with a toddler bed and a half guard rail.

Slight hijack, but James - I really recognise your name. Is your DD the younger side of 2.5? We may have been in the same antenatal thread.

witch it was because he could propel himself out of the cot and it was getting dangerous! We put the mattress on the floor as a temporary measure but he liked it so we just left it for a couple of months and he was more than ready for a big bed.

It was the cot mattress we put on the floor btw.

Hi Stetson, yes she is, hello! Sorry I don't really remember your name, haven't used MN in ages, how are you and your lo? have you had any more since? we're ttc a third, must be mad really, got my hands full already! :-)

On the back of this thread I converted dd's cot to a toddler bed today, but she fell asleep on me downstairs so I didn't have the stress of trying to get her to stay in bed. That was a fluke though, there's no way she'll do that tomorrow! God knows what time she'll wake up.

Ah, thanks Valium

tried at 2.5 but he hatedx it, had 5 weeks of waking every night - sometimes 5 times a night. Was very distressed and couldnt cope with it.

HV just said .. put the cot back up. Did this and he slept soundly and was again a happy bunny.

The only reason I tried was because all my friends had their's in a bed at 2 and I thought "Oh I must do it now as he's 2.5"

There is not rule....I understand that you need to for the cot , but if it doesnt "work" borrow a cot. I had a M&P's cotbed and it was pretty wide/big so he stayed in that till he was 3!!! Only moved him to a bed because he began bashing himself and waking up. At 3 he was fine

James, will PM.

We were housesitting this week at the ILs and DD slept in a proper single bed. It seemed so high! But she didn't fall out or anything! I was so proud

Will watch with interest as we are a way off. DS is just one and is such a wiggler, bar banger and head board banger I can not even imagine him not needing sides! Did your LOs stop this before you transitioned them?

Secondly - I sort of thought DS would be in his cot bed (as in the bed, no sides) for a long while (5/6 I guess) is this not the case? I seem to get the understanding that cotbed and proper bed (you know what I mean!) are two very different things?

Hello ... I have a 19 month DS... my mother keeps insisting that I take him out of the cot and put him into a bed because a) he is enormous (and she's convinced he's outgrown the cot) and b) he thrashes around at night - upside down, sideways etc and keeps hitting his head on the bars and waking himself up. I took her motherly advice and put him into his very own kingsize double. which is probably ridiculous - but I don't have a single bed. He still wakes up in the night and yells for me or gets up and starts banging on the door for me to come... But so far he has not rolled off... Mind you, the bed is enormous. So that's what I've done and it's probably bonkers. Thank you for posting OP - I was worried I was doing it too early, but reading the other posts has reassured me somewhat ...

About 16m, didnt want ds1 to associate ds2 being born with him going in a bed, so did it when i was about 7m pregnant.