Changing from cot to bed, how do you do it without using restraints?

[PleaseJustShootMeNow]

DS (15 months) is currently in a cot a night. But he's a little bugger for climbing so I don't think he'll be in it for much longer. I am absolutely terrified of when he's out of it. Currently I put him to bed in his cot, he gets up, bounces around and generally larks about for 10-20 minutes. Then eventually realises he's there for the night so lies down and go to sleep. There's no way this will work when he's in a bed. What do I do?

Watching with interest.

My gg twins are 22 months, still in cots and thankfully are showing no signs of climbing out...yet!

I too am dreading this transition.

Set up their room so that if they do get out of bed it's safe and has some quiet toys (picture books, little cars, dollies etc) and get a clock (Groclock style) that shows them when it's night and when it's getting up time. Be consistent about posting them back in if they come out at the wrong time, but I wouldn't try and enforce sleep (or even bed) as you just can't. Better to set the expectation that they will play quietly until they're ready to sleep or the clock says getting up time.

If the cots side can be removed could you just do that and then have a stair gate on the bedroom door?

You all make it sound so easy.

I think I may be worrying unnecessarily then. His room is already childproofed and there's a gate on the door, so sounds like I'm set. At the moment I sit on a stool just outside his door so he can see me. Doesn't sound like it will be too different.

I save all the most interesting MN threads for when I'm on my stool .

DS never really got out of his bed I didn't think he would stay in but he just used to shout on me the same as in the cot. I have his bed against the wall and a bed guard on the side he's been in his bed for over a year started at 17mo and has only got out a times if he does I tell him he needs to stay in bed he can play with his teddies but needs to stay in bed and he does it, the few nights he's got up and down I've gone all supernanny and returned to bed he's never got up more than 3 times.

watching with interest.

DS is 2yo and has just started swinging his leg over when he's refusing bedtime/nap so its only a matter of time...

Bedtimes are often a little drawn out and he needs a little persuading/help to go to sleep, although generally he's ok chatting to himself on his own while he drops off. However, the periods where it has been more hard work have been made easier by the fact that he hasn't been able to GET OUT!!!

I've put a mattress down by his cot so should the inevitable happen then at least he shouldn't hurt himself too much. I know I have to face the music and get him a bed as it's better to get it sorted than risk him hurting himself, but I'm still in denial..!

Am 28wks pregnant and I know it makes more sense to start the process before the new baby comes, in a 'controlled' way as possible i.e. chosing a day to start and focussing on that, rather than waiting til he falls out - possibly when DC2 is 3 days old and DS is already in upheavel from the arrival etc and I'm exhausted and sore...

So, I guess it'll be a trip to Ikea soon! A friend of mine has a DS who was always 'naughty' at bedtime, and he took to his bed like a duck to water, so maybe we're worrying for nothing!!

We've just changed DDs cot into the toddler bed (last week) and she's been mostly fine. We had to lay down the law the first couple of days. No jumping on her bed, putting her back in bed when she got out - we did this with minimal talking "back to bed it's time to sleep" and repeat every time she got out.

She got the message pretty quickly, although she's 25 months so a bit older. We made a big fuss about her having a big girl bed and that big girls stay in their beds and lie down nicely. Not sure she'd have understood it at 15 months though...

Good luck!

We moved DD1 into an adult bed when she started tring to climb into her cot (yes into ). She could only just climb into the single bed, we didn't put a bed-guard on (I'm convinced they increase risk on a normal bed) but put a rolled up towel under the sheet. Usual toys and books still in her room, and she didn't need a stairgate as the door handles were too high (we close doors at night to keep the cat out).

The first night we could hear her get straight out of bed and pull ALL the books off the shelf etc. We made the mistake of going back in to put her back in bed. She just got more excited.
Next couple of nights we left her to it, and sometime after silence decended went and picked her off the floor and put her back in bed!
Within a week everything was back to normal.

My advice: keep everything else about the routine normal; be patient with initial excitement; act like it's normal.

We moved DD at about 19 months. Stairgate on her door to prevent escape, all potentially toppling furniture fixed securely to wall (with climbable furniture removed), and then we just converted the cot bed to a toddler bed. For the first few nights we had a fair few 'rolling over and falling out' incidents, but after a week they pretty much stopped (we've only has 1 in the last month).

Just an idea but would a grobag buy you a bit more time. DD is nearly 2 and can climb out without a grobag, but with it on the idea doesn't even seem to occur to her...

Waiting for her to work out how to unzip it though!