Should I give up and put the crib side back on

[DieAntword]

Son is only just 2 this month. I ran out of nappies and he was potty trained in the day. I decided to try doing nights rather than buy more nappies. So I had to take the cot side off.

He didn’t have a night time accident but he had one during his nap first day. Second day (today) he went to the potty during his nap and this is where the trouble began. First it made him realise he can get out of bed. Second I accidentally laughed the first time he ran to the door giggling after being put to bed.

He didn’t nap till 5 today and then it was 2 hours of putting him back to bed before he finally stayed there and went to sleep.

Husband thinks this is proof he is too young to have the cot side off. I think he might get it in a few days to a few weeks and I want to give him 2 weeks to try and teach him to stay in bed.

But because he doubts I’m doubting. I love our time together in the evenings. I don’t relish the thought of losing it for 2 weeks if it’s going to be a big flop.

What do you think?

Too young.

2 hours at his night time bedtime I mean.

Waaaay to young cot side and nappies back on at night if you ever want to have an evening again 🤣

DS2 is 2.4 and just starting potty training. He’ll have a nappy on for his nap and at night until whenever those nappies are consistently dry after sleep- could be weeks, could be months (it will be months 😂). He is also still in a cot bed with sides.

He is my 3rd child and the other two were trained at 23 months and 2.5 respectively, but they had night nappies for much longer than that. The night nappy is a different thing to being trained during the day. It’s a developmental thing, you can’t rush it.

Too young.

We’ve not had any wet beds overnight so far. I’m more concerned about the getting up.

Put the cot side back on. Don't put him back in nappies he could just shout if he needs a wee?

I always thought they weren’t capable of going through the night dry until much later, 4ish? Something about hormones? I would definitely put the sides back on.

I think yes they need the hormone grandma but some children may develop it at 2, others not until 3, 4 or later.

Having the side of the cot off needn't be related to potty training, did he show interest in getting out of the cot before you removed the side? Ours had the cot side off at 18 months and has been fine about staying in bed, she's only just potty training now at 2 years 3 months. Either put the side back and give it some time if he's not really interested in getting out or just be persistent and consistent when taking him back to bed, he'll get it eventually.

You've taken it off now, you might as well stick with it. The late nap today will probably have contributed to the 2 hours of fuckwittery at bedtime. Don't get me wrong - you'll have to repeatedly put him back in bed for the next week/month, but if you're consistent about it and don't make it a game he'll get bored. I'd stick with it and see how it goes. If he stays dry, great - why would you put him back in nappies when he is ready to be dry? And if he doesn't stay dry, and you don't want to put yourself through the pain of 'bed training' him, then put the side back on.
By the way, I say this as the mother of one not quite 2 year old whose door I currently have to sit outside of, intermittently shouting 'get back jn bed'....(but who is still in nappies) and a not quite 4 year old who isn't consistently dry over night. So I am very aware of the pitfalls of taking the cot side off, and that not all kids (or indeed most) are dry at night at 2. But I reckon if yours is, embrace it.

He used to always have dry nappies in the morning (for weeks on end) but he did start wetting them again. However since going to bed without nappies he’s not wet the bed overnight yet. I’m pretty sure every kid’s hormones come in at different rates but if he starts wetting again I’ll just put him back in night nappies. That’s a separate issue to the cot bars - it’s just what made me remove the cot bars.

I’m not that confident he’d shout to us for the potty. He’s very much a do it himself kind of boy. He doesn’t ask in the day, just goes off and does it. He does ask when we’re out of the house because he needs help with doors and getting onto the toilet and things. And he comes and asks for a bum wipe after a poo. But I think with us out of sight in his room he wouldn’t call out. He never calls to us in the mornings although I hear him talking to himself “I think is mummy coming? Is that daddy?”

My DS had the sides off his cot when he was about 22 months and he was fine. The first few nights he didn’t seem to realize he could get out, then he had a few nights messing about and has been totally fine since. He was a climber though so it was necessary.

He’s been potty trained since about 2yr 9 months (currently just over 3) and although I actually think he’s dry at night, he’s in pull ups for bed. I’ll reassess that situation after our holiday in September. He calls out at night rather than go to loo himself as he has a gate on his door so can’t get out.

Grandma one of mine was dry at night at 2.5yo and the other at 3yo - there’s quite a wide variation.

OP we moved our into proper beds at 22 months due to a safety issue with climbing out of cots.

We put a travel stair gate over their bedroom door. They did occasionally fall asleep on the bedroom floor but got the hang of it eventually.

DD has been in her own bed since about 20 months with bed guards. Before that was on a ‘floor bed’ with us. She is 26 months now. I am considering no nappies at night soon. She is not always dry in the morning but she often is and she does not want a nappy in for bed as she is a big girl now.

We have been having the pantomime bed time and I have decided to drop her day time nap and bring bed time earlier. So far it is working!

Today, touch wood, he is napping properly. We'll see how night goes. He was obviously tired this morning from going to sleep late last night. I don't think the heat has been helping either. It's been making us all tired and emotional. It is a little cooler in the house today (though heating up now - but the morning was nice and fresh) and I am feeling much more positive.

Todays nap is making me feel he is old enough to understand and work without our bedtime expectations. I am sure he'll test the boundaries from time to time but I don't think they're unreasonable. But yeah, guess we'll see tonight!