Transitioning to toddler bed

[Whathefisgoingon]

My 23 month old co sleeps with me and has done since a couple months old. I cuddle him to sleep and then move him to his cot, where he sleeps until around 10 then wakes up and we bring him in.

Tonight we are going to change his cot in to the toddler bed, and I have convinced myself he is going to magically sleep through in his own bed, thinking it’s ours

Has anyone whose been in this situation got any tips? I was thinking of joining him in his bed when he wakes (until he falls asleep) rather than bringing him in, but I don’t want to turn that in to the “new thing” and end up sleeping in his room every night.

Advice?

I think you need to decide whether you want to stop co sleeping or not. You sound a bit like you want that but want it to come from him rather than you.

The set up you describe will have you sleeping in a cot bed (they're not that strong!) You'll end up getting a single mattress on the floor and sharing that instead. Which is fine if that's what you want, but if you want to stop co sleeping you'll need to work on helping him learn to get himself to sleep and sleeping without someone beside him.

Our sleep associations are conditioned. He associates cuddles and your presence with sleep. He could learn to associate his bed and toys etc with sleep instead but he's probably not going to magically get to that point by himself. He would likely be more like primary school age by the time he decides not to come in with you.

Yes as pp said.

Although with my eldest it was more like you are hoping for.

I suppose it depends on his level of understanding. I think mine was a little older and we made a huge fuss. New dinosaur bedding, lovely snugly big girls bed, etc etc. Also a gro clock, which she absolutely loves and takes very seriously, but that's her personality. So she sets it at night, waves night night and completely understands she stays there until it turns yellow again. I'm not sure she would have at 23 months, think she was maybe 2.5.