Cot to Bed tips for toddler with language delay

[RiverRock22]

As the title says, my DC has a significant speech and language delay and doesn't really understand instruction. She is 2.8 and has been content in the cot for now but is beginning to scale the sides.

In preparation we have:

-toddler proofed the room (trunked electrical leads
-removed climbable furniture
-locked windows
-shortened blind cords
-stair gate in door (as none on stairs)

Possibly ASD but any traits are all communication at the moment. She is generally a good sleeper and self soothed in the cot - may be a different story in the bed as she can roam the room.

Any and all tips welcome! Thank You

We've just made this transition with our son this weekend (though he is NT as far as I know but I am autistic and his dad has ADHD so who knows).

I think all you can do it try it and see how it goes. You sound well prepared and you can always put the cot back if it doesn't work out :)

My son is also an excellent cot sleeper and it turns out he's the same in his bed. He had no issues the first night but did get out of bed a couple of times last night and tonight. It was all during the initial put down though and not at all during the night. Once he was asleep he was asleep.

Good luck!

DD1 also had significant language delay (now diagnosed with autism). We did as you did - toddler proofed and put a gate on the room. She used to settle herself in the cot but once she was able to get up she'd potter round the room until she fell asleep on the floor no matter how many times we tried to put her back. She'd also empty out her toy box. She did eventually start sleeping in the bed without having to pick her up off the floor every night. We used the same bedding as was in the cot to ease transition. She had a tendency to roll out of bed (she used to like to sleep with her head right in the corner of the cot) so we put a travel cot mattress on the floor for a while as padding

@TheBirdintheCave

Thank you for your reply! I am just waiting for a new mattress to arrive and then we're going to give it a go. I'm glad your son took to it well! Is she still doing ok?

@MustBeThursday

I think we will have a similar outcome as my daughter was content in the cot and cot lie for an hour or more content before sleeping. I would say that she'll definitely potter about before she falls asleep 😊 Did it take long for your DD to get into a routine?

@RiverRock22 He was great the first night, took a few return trips to bed on Sunday and Monday night but last night was awful. After about fifty return to bed trips we eventually realised that he was treating it like a game and was excited to see us when he opened his bedroom door to escape. We decided to see what would happen if we stopped going up. Turns out he quickly got bored of opening his bedroom door to a dark corridor and went to sleep 😂

😂 this sounds like a plan!

All trial and error I guess. I suppose it is all new so everything is a novelty at the start.

@RiverRock22 Yeah I'm really hoping the novelty wears off soon. Tonight is board games night at our friends house so our son will be in his travel cot. It'll be interesting to see if he objects to it :/ I really hope not as we need him to still sleep in it for our holiday in June 🙄

@RiverRock22 it took quite a while, to be honest. She still potters around for a bit at night now (now 8) looking over her doll collection or looking at books. She does it to chill out. But she doesn't fall asleep on the floor anymore! She got better at getting into/staying in bed when her speech and language improved but that was quite some time after the transition.

Fingers crossed it goes well for you!

Tonight is our first night, she has been up nearly an hour and a half and is still pottering around the room babbling to herself.

As I said she has poor speech/understanding and also is very happy (too happy) in her own company so she isn't calling for us nor is she frustrated to be up on her own. I guess she could potter about for hours - literally and hopefully she'll just fall asleep. I need to tire her out a bit more during the day.

@RiverRock22 So far, so good!

My son was out like a light in his travel cot so no worries there :)

@RiverRock22 ah, she sounds just like my DD. She never used to try and get out to us, just happily pottered around on her own. At one point she used to lead us to the door when we changed tactic and tried to sit with her to settle her to sleep! Hopefully it will all settle down soon.