Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Flip

Original poster

Montessori-style bedroom

21 replies

skankingpiglet · 04/10/2015 23:26

Has anyone in real life done this for their toddler, or is it just something that looks great on Pinterest?
DD is 16mo, and I'm itching to tweak her room to this style. I think she'll love it (very independent little soul) but I'm wondering if I'm crazy for even considering to pack away the cage cot. My husband is indifferent.
I expect it will take some effort to keep her in her bed initially, but guess we're going to have to tackle this at some point anyway. We were thinking of putting a gate across her door to keep her contained. Is there an optimum age for transition from a cot any way?
I'm normally fairly confident in my decisions, but this time I have a little voice whispering 'batshit...', possibly because I normally know at least one person who's done something at least vaguely similar and can draw on that experience.
Have you tried it, did it work, and am I mad for even considering it?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

UngratefulMoo · 05/10/2015 08:04

We did this for DD from about 6mo as she refused to sleep in a cot. As a last resort we put a single mattress on the floor and she much preferred it. So, we put a safety gate on the door and baby proofed her room and that was it. She didn't really get out of bed much - but even when she did it didn't really matter. The by-product of this is that we now have somewher safe we can leave her for 5 minutes if we need to. I can't see a down side...?

UngratefulMoo · 05/10/2015 08:06

PS - we have now put her in a low bed, as we worried about air circulation with just a mattress on the floor for too long. Did that when she could confidently climb in and out.

BertieBotts · 05/10/2015 08:12

This reminds me of a post a long time ago where MNers ripped some poor American blogger to shreds over her lovingly prepared Montessori nursery, thinking that her PFB-ness was totally unrealistic.

Well, she only went and had the most perfect Montessori baby who fit into everything perfectly Baby would be about six now and I think they have three children. I'll see if I can find you the blog post.

The only glaring issue I can see here is that she's used to a cot - most people doing the montessori thing with an open bed have been co-sleeping up to that point, and probably at 16 months are still co-sleeping part if not full time. I co-slept with DS at this age and I used to stay with him until he fell asleep because he wouldn't have had any awareness to stay in the bed, or indeed, to go back there when he felt sleepy.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

1 year olds General parenting

BertieBotts · 05/10/2015 08:15

It's so stunningly beautiful in that perfect-American-blogger kind of way

blog.mamaliberated.com/sew_liberated/2009/04/finnians-montessori-room.html

Original poster

skankingpiglet · 05/10/2015 08:20

We do cosleep for the last few hours of the night. We used to fully cosleep, but her noises were keeping us awake and then she started to enjoy sleeping with her feet on one of us and head on the other. It was time she had her own room Now we find she's happy in her room until 6ish and then it's either up for the day, or bring her in with us and she'll sleep until 7.30. No brainer!

OP posts:

UngratefulMoo · 05/10/2015 08:29

Ha ha, ours does not look quite like that... Books, toys, etc, are all within reach, however.

MrsAukerman · 05/10/2015 08:30

I know someone who has this for their 12m old. I'm not sure how long she's been in it though. It has a changing table, books low down, floor bed, wall mirrors and some toys. The lamp is rubber and the bulb fully concealed. It's beautiful and I believe it works well for them.

Original poster

skankingpiglet · 05/10/2015 08:43

That is beautiful BertieBotts, although I think we'll be having a little more colour. Also our budget is considerably less!
Thank you for all your comments, I feel a bit less mad! I lost my DM earlier this year and this is the kind id thing I'd have run past her
I think I might pop out in a bit to buy that gate!

OP posts:

cornishglos · 05/10/2015 16:15

montessoriteacherbecomesmontessorimamma.wordpress.com/montessori-from-day-one-2/the-prepared-environment/

RapidlyOscillating · 05/10/2015 16:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

poppycomeshome · 05/10/2015 18:13

We put our little ones in beds early with just a short rail by the head, basically because she could climb out by 16 months and we would hear a thud on the floor! So for safety reasons we felt it was a smaller distance to fall. The second one loved being in a big bed at that age and progressed to toilet training quickly.
I did put a stair gate by the door for a little while until they were old enough to understand to stay in their room, and took it away after a while. I think it is fine honestly.

helloelo · 05/10/2015 21:57

We coslept until 5mo but now I have my DS on a single matress on the floor. I didn't realise it was a thing, I just needed to be able to breastfeed him lying down without having to wake him up too much.

But now he's 9mo his bedroom is an ode to hippy chic attachment parenting (I love it, I'm PFBing hard, Pinterest is full of ideas). The area in front on the matress is covered with a sheepskin. He has a merino wool sleeping bag (ah the benefits of virgin wool...), no other bedding apart from my bf pillow. When he's done with sleeping, he sits up and calls me but doesn't get out of bed unless I take more than 3 minutes to get to him. No gate but we live in a flat with no stairs. I have a paper mobile hanging from the ceiling on top of the bed and he spends a lot of time looking at it. I'm now looking into a montessori chair.

I'm a lost cause

Original poster

skankingpiglet · 05/10/2015 23:33

Well the bed is done, all dangerous stuff removed, gate fitted, and the little madam is fast asleep under her grownup duvet. A bit more difficult than usual to get her to sleep but I think it was down to excitement: she kept giggling and waving her limbs around as if she was forming a snow angel! Fingers crossed for the rest of the night...
I'll get the other bits made/fitted over the next week. I'm far more excited than I should be
Don't worry helloelo, I've turned out to be far more 'crunchy' than I ever intended. Very jealous your DS waits for you though! Without the gate we would definitely be waking up to find an intruder has made their way into our bed!
So glad it's working for other people. I think I'll have the confidence to do it much earlier with a second child. Well, ask me again in the morning, if we've survived tonight

OP posts:

Salmiak · 05/10/2015 23:41

Never knew it was a thing! We put a double matress on the floor in dds room when we turfed her out of our room. But she is a wriggle bug in her sleep and falls out of bed most nights. The double meant that I could come in and settle her and drift off as I was doing it, rather than staying awake and going back to my own bed once she was asleep again.

helloelo · 06/10/2015 01:46

Ah! It's a lazy people option! I knew it :)
I hope your night is long and restful!

spatchcock · 06/10/2015 01:50

I only clicked on this to see if anyone had linked to that hilarious blog and bertie beat me to it!

BertieBotts · 06/10/2015 09:04

Spatch! I felt sorry for them at the time so I followed them for ages and they are in that wave, which started somewhere around six years ago but is still going, of picture-perfect, magazine lifestyle. It's probably what fuelled instagram and pinterest and the like.

It strikes me now that the pictures look tiny.

I'm a bit jealous of people who have made this work :) I love how purposeful it all is. DH thinks I'm totally insane though whenever I mention mattresses on floors. He says we aren't hippy teenagers :( I want to be a hippy teenager!

Acorncat · 06/10/2015 20:45

We do this too, didn't realise it was a thing either. We use a double mattress on the floor so I can feed to sleep and for now I sleep there too but at some point in a few years will leave him to sleep by himself. I have a gate on the door incase he crawls off while I'm sleeping. The rest of his room just has some toys in it. Works for us

cornishglos · 06/10/2015 21:20

My 20 month old moved into a bed at 18 months as he was climbing out of his cot. Everything in his room is in his reach. I think we did this subconsciously as I used to work in a Montessori setting.
In some ways it's easier now, as he enjoys going to bed and I don't hold/ rock him to sleep anymore. He snuggles up and has a cuddle instead. In the morning, instead of crying for us, he walks into our room and joins us for a little lie-in. I love that. We've kept the stairgate at the top of the stairs, and just leave the bathroom door shut.

m0therofdragons · 06/10/2015 21:24

My only thought looking at the pictures is my twins would have climbed that shelving.

Pennny · 10/10/2015 22:13

We did this too, mainly because it was so hard to get my son to settle in a cot (and impossible in a moses basket). We used a mattress on the floor under an IKEA KURA bed, with the bed turned around so the ladder is against the wall. We've now turned the bed back round so he sleeps on the top. His little (2 year old) sister now sleeps on a mattress under her bed and it seems to make it easier to settle her at night.

Flip

Swipe left for the next trending thread