How to keep a 5 year old in bed?!

[JustAMum31]

As in how do I physically stop him falling out of the bed?!
Are people still using bed rails at this age? I don’t know a single other person who still does 🙈

Perfectly normal sleep set ups I believe - went from cot to cot bed with rail when he started climbing out the cot. Then into a full size single bed. At various points along the way we’ve tried with having no sides etc and it just doesn’t work 😳🙈
Each time we’ve tried consistently for a good couple of months and he falls out every single night multiple times. We’ve tried rails and also towels/pool noodles under the sheet. We’ve also tried a mattress on the floor to get him used to having no sides but he just falls off and wakes up upset.

Am I missing some major parenting hack somewhere?! 🫠

No hack, you just treat the child individually.

It doesn't matter who else is using bed rails, if your child still needs one then so be it.

I'm pretty sure one out of my three DC still needed one when he was about 7.

He's 22 now and still occasionally falls out of bed! 😁

Switch to a floor bed?

Or just continue with bedrails!

@TinyTempest We’ll absolutely keep doing whatever he needs 😊 My only reason for questioning it is that he continues to end up all over the place even with the rails. He’ll end up with his head down the side of the bed against the rail - or his whole body. I’m concerned that he’s getting too big for the rail and it won’t hold him and he’ll get injured. But if I don’t use it he also ends up injured 🙈

@HundredPercentUnsure He still falls off of a mattress on the floor so seems silly to waste money on a floor bed tbh 😅
We will keep using the bedrails - I’m just concerned as he rolls against them and down the side of the mattress so I’m worried about him being injured.

You need to weigh up which is the greater risk for him hurting himself - having the rail and potentially trapping himself or going over the top so falling from a greater height, or falling from the mattress onto the floor?

I'd remove the bed rail and put an extra mattress on the floor beside the bed, put him on the mattress on the floor to sleep or, if the room is big enough, put him in a double bed against the wall, but your answer for your child may be different.

Also, try lowering the room temperature slightly. If he’s too hot, he’s like to move around more in the night.

Bed wedges?

This child needs a floor bed. The priority is safety.

I genuinely can't understand doing this: Each time we’ve tried consistently for a good couple of months and he falls out every single night multiple times.

She doesn't matter op, if he needs a bed rail use one. Is he just a deep sleeper and failing to feel the edge of the bed? I know I used to fall out of bed as a child quite a bit and I can remember it. Dd2 is 4 and quite often still ends up with her feet hanging out and doesn't wake up so I just have to shove her back in

Age not she

At this age I would opt for duvet and cushions on the floor next to the bed for a soft landing as I would also be worried about the safety of the bed rail now he is bigger.

@JustAMum31 I’m just concerned as he rolls against them and down the side of the mattress so I’m worried about him being injured.

Ask yourself which will be safer then - injuring himself on bed guards or falling over them/out of a single bed, or rolling 10cm off a mattress to the floor?

It sounds like both are going to continue until he outgrows it, which risk are you more comfortable with?

What about one of the wooden slatted bed guards? I think that would be sturdy enough to hold a five year old, and you could attach it to the bedframe to be extra sure it stays flush to the edge of the mattress.

Bed rail 🤷🏻 it’s an easy fix, nothing to agonise over

Super king bed? More space to roll? 😂

Velcro on his PJ's and on his bed sheets.

What about a mid sleeper or high sleeper/loft bed? They’re built with the rails which will be solid than anything you’ve fitted yourself, so he won’t be able to fall out and they look more tween than toddler, if that’s a concern especially when he has mates round to play.

You can use a pool noodle or rolled up towel under the sheet, hopefully something more subtle like this will help him to learn to sleep in the bed

Sounds like he’s having adventures in his sleep!

id just take the bed out and put a thin mattress on the floor with a soft landing. Maybe even a Japanese style mattress so it’s barely above the floor. Am sure he’ll outgrow this but at least he won’t get hurt.

Bed rail is perfectly ok 👍🏼

What happens when he falls out? DS - also 5 - has gone through the odd phase of falling out his bed. He just puts himself back into bed (or decides to sleep on the floor)

They’re hardly gong to get injured rolling up against a bed guard, or indeed falling a short distance to the floor 🙄

If it makes you feel any better my nearly 4 year old is still in her cotbed with the bars on still, whatever works! I’m delaying it as long as possible because I know for a fact she’s gonna be a nightmare when I take them off as she already is currently!!

I'm 44 and still need either a bed rail or a mattress on the floor near me or to sleep next to a wall. Otherwise I fall out. Age has nothing to do with it
I'm just a very movable sleeper.

Cabin bed? Built in rails but doesn’t feel babyish?