from cot to bed - what should i do about the babygate!?

[lottymadbird]

DS 2+4 will be sleeping in his new big bed from tomorrow. He currently sleeps in a cot so obviously couldnt get out. The babygate is at the top of the stairs which means when he's out of his cot he can also go into my bedroom.

so...

do i move the gate so its on his doorway so he can only wander around in his room if he gets out of bed ("if" she says, hopefully!) or will this make him feel he's now trapped in his room and put him off his new big boy bed?

any ideas?

and any suggestions on how to make the transition smooth? done obvious things like bob the builder duvet (grrr), talking about big boy bed etc.

thank you !!!!

Yes, move the gate onto his bedroom. It worked a treat with ds1 and he was upset when we took it off when he didn't need it anymore!

I would leave the gate at the top of the stairs as that means that your lo could play upstairs in the morning/during the day, etc without fear of him falling down the stairs whereas if you move it to the bedroom door he would be restricted to 1 room if you were upstairs. DD (now 4) never had a gate at her door and ds (15 months) wont have one on his door either. If they do come through you can always just take them back to their own room again.

ah.... one for and one against !

anyone else have any idea what i should do?

I'm a heavy sleeper so love the fact my 2 yr old can toddle into my room and wake me when she wakes and wake me up. but then she's been in a bed since 18 months due to climbing abilities.

I mean wake me when she wakes up

I'd vote for putting the gate on his room. We've done this with DS1 as it means we've been able to give him some independence in his room. He doesn't have to stay in his bed if he's not quite ready to sleep and we don't have to stay upstairs with him making sure he isn't getting into mischief. He has some carefully selected books and toys he's allowed to play with and his light is on a timer set to go off half an hour after he goes to bed (this signals bed time) and back on at 7am (time to get up). We've just started leaving his gate open when we go to bed so he can come through to us if he needs us.

Own room if we didnt he would wake up his baby brother

can i suggest 2 gates, we have one at the top of the stairs and also one on the door to stop ds escaping

also you may find that if your ds has been used to the bars of the cot then the bars on the door will be of some comfort.

ds was thrilled with his big boy bed, but wanted to go back in his cot the first day, i think there's an element of security in the bars, and they dont really know what to do with they're new found freedom ( though they soon wortk it out!) dont be surprised if he doesnt get up and play for a little while yet. we were hoping for that, but initially he may just call for you and not even get out of bed.

Also, ds fell out of bed quite consistantly for the first couple of weeks (as no bars to stop him), but hasn't fallen out now since about week 3, so if its a low bed he's going into, just put a duvet on the floor, to catch him

it takes time for them to get used to their new surroundings, but now ds will get up and play for 30mins or so before he starts to call out.

good luck!!

i'm just considering changing DS's cot to a bed. I'm going to leave gate at top of stairs, shut all doors apart from his bedroom and our bedroom. He'll only stand shreiking otherwise.

i think my DS will definitely fall out of bed as he is a real wriggler when sleeping. But i have got him a futon just on a tatami mat so not too far to fall !

Think I'll try the gate on his bedroom door, good suggestion having both but as I live on four floors I've already got 3 gates and dont really want to have to pay out for another one !

Thanks for all the suggestions.

NIP - how old is your DS?

He is 21mo, we have been having a lot of problems with him waking in the night and not going back down, almost as if he is petrified of being locked in his cot.

Anyway this weekend we turned his cot into a bed, and he hasnt as yet fell out, (we have a chair next to half of it, and a sleeping bag on the floor where he could end up).

No gate on his door and so far he hasnt ventured out, but i guess we have this to come (which i personally wouldnt mind, saves me having to get up at 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am! )

thats strange my DS did that for a while, waking up saying he didn't like his cot, wanted mummys bed etc. luckily he got over it as i hadnt been able to afford a bed by then.

sounds like you've got it cracked though !

not quite

Spoke to soon springs to mind!

oops, sorry didnt see that thread.

have you tried velcro-ing him to the bed?!!!

still havent put my DS in new bed yet, keep finding excuses not to !!!!