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Sleep

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Original poster

Are bed rails/guards worth bothering with?

20 replies

SleepySuzy · 05/03/2006 20:50

Just wondering whether to invest in one. DD's bed comes on Wednesday, and trying to decide whether to a) get a guard, b) put her cot mattress beside the bed or c) neither of the other options.

Anyone have any advice? She is 2 btw.

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jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 05/03/2006 20:51

toddler bed or full size single?

crunchie · 05/03/2006 20:52

IMHO waste of money. Tuck her in well with a duvet and if you are worried, put a couple of pillows on the floor.

If they fall out once they don't do it again :)

Original poster

SleepySuzy · 05/03/2006 20:54

Full size bed.

OP posts:

chjlly · 05/03/2006 20:56

I have one on ds's bed and many a time have I found him wedged between the bed & the guard! I think it may depend on ho much the wriggle around in their sleep though

Original poster

SleepySuzy · 05/03/2006 20:57

Another thing worth mentioning is, when I go check on her, she is often huddled up to the cot sides, with her arms sticking through the rails. Oh, and she is tiny, in 12-18 month clothes to give an idea of size.

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Furball · 05/03/2006 20:57

We just put the cot matress on the floor for a couple of weeks. I think DS fell out once and didn't even wake up! Like crunchie says tuck the duvet under the matress as well to help keep her in.

jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 05/03/2006 20:58

with a full size i would buy one, but thats after Jess (19 months nad in a toddelr bed) still regularly moves in her sleep and we have to put her back in properly when we go to bed.

tassis · 05/03/2006 21:03

we moved ds to a bed between christmas anad new year when he was 2y 8m. full size bed and borrowed bed rail. we all love the rail. he thinks he can't get out of the bed (who know whetehr this is because of the rail, but I'm happy!) and we regularly find him leaning right up against it so he would have fallen out for sure if it wasn't there.

i say get one.

Distracted · 05/03/2006 21:21

We loved ours & like others on this thread have said, we often found her right up against it or even sometimes between the bed and the rail. She did actually manage to fall out twice even with it mind you as she had turned around and fell out below it! We started with it when she was 2 and took it off a few months ago (she's 3 3/4 now). Since removing it she has fallen out of bed 3-4 times, but usually barely wakes up as long as we get there quick enough (had one time when she was inconsolable, but actually think it was because she was still asleep and so not responding to our comforting her and she had really banged herself against her bookshelf).

So, it's not true that if they fall out once they won't again! On the other hand maybe it doesn't matter if they do fall, as we still had this after removing the rail?

I've always wondered if dd is such a wriggler (still find her with her feet on the pillow, wrong way up etc. when I check on her) because she had a sleeping bag when she was in her cot? She would sleep any way up in the cot and maybe this makes transition to bed more difficult?

Calista · 05/03/2006 21:30

Had one for both ds's. Ds1 had one till he was about 3.5, but hew is big for his age.

Ds2 is 2.6 and was a sleeping bag baby from 8 weeks old. We changed his cot into a cot bed at Christmas (his brother was having a 'big bed' so he wanted one too!) and put the guard on straightaway. Being used to being in a sleeping bag doesn't seem to have made him any more fidgety than ds1 was, but we often find him pressed right up against the rail, and I'm certain he would've fallen out several times without it.

It's fab, wouldn't be without one. Very unpleasant experience for them hitting the deck mid-slumber and one that I prefer to minimise the risk of tbh! :o

Calista · 05/03/2006 21:31

'He' is big for his age, not 'Hew'!

egocentriczebra · 05/03/2006 21:33

Would have sworn yes with first child (king size bed, sharing with us usually) but that was from birth.

DS2 is now 20m, recently went into a single bed, and I don't need to bother because he doesn't move a lot in his sleep, plus is a very cautious person; he's been in the bed at least 6 weeks & hasn't fallen out,yet.

hannahsaunt · 06/03/2006 04:13

When ds1 moved to a bed we didn't get round to fitting the rail (Ikea toddler bed that 'grows' to full size so v low off the ground). We kept his cot mattress underneath the bed during the day and slid it out at night. He fell twice - didn't notice either time and we lifted him back in. I think it helped him get used to the width of the bed; I'm guessing they'll fall out a couple of times whenever they either move to a bed or the rail is removed?

bobbybobbobbingalong · 06/03/2006 07:16

Ds never used one, but I did leave him in his cot for longer.

ruthydd · 06/03/2006 11:08

My ds1 still has his bedguard and I wouldn't be without it. He had it since age 2. When he turned 3, I decided he didn't need it anymore so took it off and the very next day he fell out of bed and got a nose bleed. Now he has regular nose bleeds after even the slightest bump....how guilty do I feel ?!

We do have a wooden floor which didn't help

Piffle · 06/03/2006 11:09

WE have on on our Ikea little bed, dd sleeps with a leg and arm draped over it, I think we're going to take it off in summer when her rom is lighter so she can see to right herself, my dd is 3 and very small too :)

GDG · 06/03/2006 11:09

Never bothered with them. When I first put them in a bed I just put some pillows on the floor at the side of the bed.

Ds1 never fell out but ds2 has fallen out a couple of times - no harm done though!

wilbur · 06/03/2006 11:12

We used a bed rail for ds1 for ages as he fell out of bed all the time. We were forever finding him on the floor tangled up in his sheets when we didn't use the rail. Used it at first for dd but she was fine and so it's now in the loft waiting to see if ds2 is a chaotic sleeper like his brother.

Original poster

SleepySuzy · 06/03/2006 12:12

Maybe I'll see if I can get a decent second hand one then...

OP posts:

ernest · 06/03/2006 13:59

we got one & have now used it for 3 kids, so feel got money worth. they're not that expensive.

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