bed or cot?

[happy1]

Hi there, I'm a bit confused. I have ds who will be 22 months old when my baby is due. I don't know whether to buy him a bed or a cot for the new baby. He is also going to have to move rooms aswell. If I do buy a bed, do I buy a toddler bed, a normal single or one of those extendable ones you can get from Ikea and Mothercare? What age is best for moving from cot to bed? And how on earth do I keep him in a bed if I do get one? PLEASE HELP!!!

Will the baby go straight into a cot, or will you use a moses basket for a couple of months? (though it might be as well to get all the changes for your DS settled in before the baby arrives, as you'll have enough on your plate.)
IME, our DS was ecstatically happy to get his own bed at 20 months. We got a little IKEA bed, as they are so close to the ground that it's easy to get in and out, and not far to fall EXCEPT that we found the bed guard supplied for those beds a bit of a hazard, and if we weren't putting his old cot mattress alongside the bed, I'd buy a better guard than the IKEA one. He 'helped' build it, and is very proud of it.
Keeping him in it hasn't been a huge problem: to begin with i waited until he was practically dropping with sleepiness before leaving him in it and turning out the light, so that he didn't get into the habit of escaping. He occasionally gets out after lights out, but we just calmly put him straight back...we have never let him realise that there is life on earth after he goes to bed. In fact I tell him when I leave him that we are going to bed too.
Those little beds will need replacing when they reach about 8 or 9, I guess, but you could buy a proper single when new baby is ready for the little bed. The mattresses are really cheap, so could be replaced in the meantime if necessary.

Alternatively, if you think DS would not take well to a bed, or escape, why not leave him in the security of his cot for another 6 months and buy a really cheap basic IKEA cot for new baby, and then sell it when DS is more ready for a bed, and baby can graduate to your 'proper' cot?

My ds is two, sleeps like an angel at night and I have no intention of moving him until I can't physically cram him into his cot anymore. I suspect some little children resent being evicted from their bed to make way for an interloper, particularly if you are planning to move him out of his room too, so it might be nicer for him to have his familiar bed. So far my ds has never even thought of escaping so it makes my life much easier. Agree that IKEA cots are dirt cheap so you could buy one of these for the first year or so. They are plenty big and sturdy enough.

We are getting DD a toddler bed after our half term holiday. She will be 19 months old. I am fed up of her bashing herself again the cot bars! We are getting the one in Mothercare I think at £60. We are also going to use the same mattress as we have now by making a little adjustments to the bed (via grandad anyway) as we paid lots for the mattress the first time. I like toddler beds as they are so close to the floor and it is easier for her to get in and out, and they also take up less room in her bedroom - more room for the toys

We are getting dd (20 months) a cot bed and the new baby (due April) will get her old cot with a new mattress. I am in no hurry to get dd into a bed due to all the horror stories I have heard about kiddies climbing out in the middle of the night and I am definitely not up for that!

You are all making me feel like an awful mother . DS (now 28months) has been in a cotbed (with sides) from the age of 8 weeks and without sides since 26 months. We recently bought him a full size single bed and have never had problems with him getting out - he also doesn't realise that there is life on earth after lights out so no problems there.

Thanks everyone! The baby will go in moses basket at first, ds went in basket for 6 weeks before dh decided it was time he went in his own room!! Glad he did though, ds sleeps like an angel. I think I will have to buy another cot though, I don't want to disrupt ds too much. Although he too likes bashing the cot with his feet, so much so that it sounds like the cot will collapse!!

Message withdrawn

happy1 - how about braving a trip to Ikea or similar with DS (horror of horrors I know ), but watch how he reacts to the childrens beds. We moved DD at about 18 months into a Ikea bed - the low wooden extendable one - after finding her balancing astride the cot one night. For me it was more dangerous to leave her climbing that high than to risk moving her out of the cot. She doesn?t actually get out of bed, not even in the morning, until we come into the room ? don?t know why, she?s perfectly happy lying there. When you do make the bed transition though, remember to make sure the room is kiddie-proof each night ? no nappy sacks etc within their reach. A friend had a near miss with that one night.

leaving well alone for as long as possible seems to be the best idea: I had to move DS at 20 months after he threw himself over the side of his cot and ended up with carpet burns on his forehead. Ended up with the IKEA bed as all the others had to be ordered and I didn't want to risk the wait!

Same thing Blu; we did a 150 mile round trip the next day to pick up the bed - not a very well thought out one though, as I had to come back on the train - no space for me, DP, DD and bew bed in car! She was so excited about trying all the beds in the showroom, I thinkk it helped the transition. Love the idea of them helping build it too.

dejags - you've given me hope - can I put my 5 month old in a bed? She just won't go to sleep in a cot (but has gone to sleep in various beds) I'll be thinking of moving her into her own room and wondered if I could put her in a bed with sides or even a mattress on the floor. Any ideas?

ninja

I wouldn't do it so young. Once she can sit/stand she'll be over the top and out then you have to childproof everything in case she does it at night etc Persevere with the cot - if she is tired enough to go to sleep elsewhere she will in a cot but you may have to do some kind of sleep training technique in the short term to achieve it.

Ninja,

I would agree with LIZS 5 months is pretty young to move into a bed - DS didn't go into his bed until 26 months which is a little older than some children I know. I wonder if you thought I said he was 26 weeks?

DS has been in a cabin bed for a month now and we have had no problem at hall - he loves it.

HTH