Cot to cot bed

[2020firsttimemum]

So the time has come where our 2 year old (was 2 in July) has mastered climbing the cot. So it's 8:30 nearly and we've taken the side off as it's not a one time climb tonight.

Problem is now, he won't get into bed and there's no way to make him 🙃

There's a stair gate on the door.

Any other tips to get him into this bloody bed?

I'm dreading this stage so following with interest!

Childproof his room and leave him to it? Do the bedtime routine, kiss him goodnight, turn the light off, shut the gate and leave. He'll sleep on the floor for a bit, and then he'll realise it sucks, and he'll start going to bed.

That's exactly what I did, the novelty soon wore off. He's 2 and half now and is good at going to bed and staying put at bedtime, some nights he will get out to retrieve a book or a cuddly but always puts himself back into bed to fall asleep.

Sorry I probably should have said - it's not really an option to just leave him to it because he's not content at all.

He cries (and did) hysterically, for mummy and daddy and he's so strong willed he's not the type of child who would give up after an hour or 2 and just go to sleep. The boy would resist come hell or high water sadly and then no one is getting any sleep!

First night:
I sat with him and stroked his hair until he fell asleep. Went to sleep 9-11:30pm.
Woke up after this and again would not sleep and crying etc. eventually about 2am I put him into bed and told him I was also going to bed and he seems ok with it at this point so slept 2:15-7:30 when I woke him up for nursery.

Only fell out of the bed twice and put himself back in both times so that's a bonus

It sounds like he's not really ready to be in a bed, tbh. At just 2 that's not unusual, developmentally it's more like 3. We had this issue with DD1 who climbed out of her cot at 15m - we taught her not to, and left her in the cot til nearly 3. And then when she went into her big girl bed she was ready and we didn't have any issues.

Yeah I mean I absolutely was not ready to put him into a bed and I would have kept him in there as long as I could but he's got other ideas! Unfortunately he's a typical climber boy 🙈
My other thing is that I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant with our second, so I need to make a decision / get him sorted with it before the baby comes cause there's no way I can put the amount of nighttime into him when I have a newborn too.

Any tips to make the transition easier?

Just for reference - he's not silly. His understanding is amazing (when he chooses to listen) and he's very capable. His talking has come on leaps and bounds over the last 2 months or so as well so he's not a silly boy!

What was bedtime like before? Did you sit with him until he fell asleep? Put him in his cot and leave? Rock him to sleep and then put him down?

Bedtime before was generally good! (There would be the odd periods of time where he would refuse bedtime but we adjusted naps etc for this)

We would always take him up and follow the same routine of closing curtains and blinds, little nightlight on, big light off, read a book, cuddle and put him in his cot. Then he'd just fall asleep on his own accord. Sometimes quickly and other times he'd play about a little but no complaints from him.

We've just been on holiday for 3 weeks (thank u hurricane Ian) and he was in a travel cot and mastered escaping rather quickly. So he's now used that technique for his cot at home the little so and so 😂

Do you have a bed guard? We never used one - we rolled up a towel lengthways and put it under the sheet and that was enough - but maybe a proper bed guard might help with him feeling a bit more secure?