When do you swap cot to bed (or cot without the bars)

[AnnamariaHun]

im currently pregnant and expecting my second child in september. my son will be 2 in september also and we need to move him to another room and was wondering if 2 is old enough to be put into a proper bed and weather he will be able to understand the concept of staying in there.

Any advice appreciated

dd moved to a big bed just before she was 2 but ds was in his cot till he was 2 1/2 as he was still happy in it

You could get an extendable bed: the Ikea Minnen goes from cot bed size (with the bars making a side guard) to full single bed size.

As to when: completely depends. Mine have gone at 13 months, 19 months & 2.5 years dependent on temperament of child and impending birth of sibling. It took 4-5 months for Ds1 to realise he could get in and out

I never had a cot at all. Variously, moses basket, our bed and a futon matterss on the floor.

Not sure that helps at all. Sorry.

Sounds about fine, ds was 18 months I think and he was completely fine. In fact he was much better in a bed than in his cot.

I'm wondering about moving DS2 out of the cot at 16 months. Although he generally doesn't mind going to sleep in it, he hardly ever ends up staying in it! Maybe a mattress on the floor would work for him too?

We moved DS1 into a big boy's bed at about 2 without any problems, apart from the odd fall out of bed! Make sure you've got some padding or one of those thingies to stop them falling out accidentally. You might also want to have a stair gate on the door so they don't appear unannounced in your bedroom ...

DD moved into a bed for her 2nd birthday. We still have a bed guard on 6 months later, she doesn't move at all in her sleep so wouldn't fall out, but she likes it there as she is more 'enclosed' iyswim?

Mine all moved at around 2. DS1 still falls out of bed at nearly 7 so has always needed to be properly tucked in - duvet spread across the bed rather than lengthwise and tucked under mattress. DD never moves in bed and would still at 4.5 prefer if we came to get her every morning though does reluctantly get herself out of bed. DS2 has been in his bed for a few weeks, however, he has the top of a set of bunk beds with four full sides on it but at floor level so really just a bed sized cot! He is happy in his big boys bed though!!

How do you know when they're ready? Are there any indicators or do you just decide when to do it and go for it?

I am going to go against the grain here and say don't even think about it until nearer to 3, unless you have the issue of a toddler climbing out of bed (in which case you really have no option).

2 sounds a bit early to me, especially with baby on the way. OK, as others have said, he might be OK. But he might not. Do you really want to run the risk of him being completely unsettled, needing you to stay with him for ages in order to settle to sleep, getting in and out of bed for hours at a time either at bedtime and/or through the night and so on and so on when you have a newborn as well?

Obviously this is just my experience, and purely anecdotal, but I can honestly say I've never spoken to anyone who made the cot-bed transition around 2 who didn't have issues of some form or another. Equally, no-one I know who left the sides on the cot till nearer to 2.5/3 years ever had any problems whatsoever.

So I'd say by all means move him to his new room (and sooner rather than later, so he doesn't associate it with baby's arrival) but if I were you I'd leave him in the cot. Beg borrow or steal a new cot for the baby if you need to. But leave those cot sides on as long as you can!

We're about to take the cot sides off our DD's cot-bed at the weekend. She is 2.2. I think she may be ready for this as she can now cock her leg over the top of the cot bars and tries to climb into bed when outside of the bed. She is however still in a gro-bag and I want to introduce a quilt as well at the same time as I don't think she would get around very well in a gro-bag if she wanted to get out of bed! I'm going to put her in a cardigan at night, on top of her pyjamas so hopefully she won't wake up cold when the quilt falls off. I may be mad doing all of this at the same time but will give it a good go. If all fails we will put the sides back on the bed (as a friend of mine had to do when she tried it with her DD at 2.2!)

My boy turned 2 in January and has always slept well in a cot, he leverered himself out of his cot and landed hard just after his birthday. So I moved him to a bed. He's gone from sleeping brilliantly to getting up quite a lot when I first put him to bed and then several times a night and I then have to put him back to bed silently (rapid return) this has been going on now for 8 weeks or so and he's still not letting up. So I wish I'd waited until he was older tbh and perhaps just put him to bed in a gro bag so he couldn't climb out So in retrospect I wish I'd waited. My DD was also tricky when she moved to a bed for a while too.

I guess every child is different though.