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Original poster

Cot to cotbed or toddler bed or single bed??? - help!!

3 replies

Thatsnotmyfigure · 07/04/2014 14:42

Hi! I am hoping to move my DS out of his cot just before he's 2 and before new baby arrives. So he will go to his 'big boy room' and not feel pushed out by baby. Plan is to settle him in there in a cotbed. I was going to buy a cotbed off eBay as had read that they last till 4 yrs old. Also I didnt want too big a change for him and I liked the idea of the sides, as the possibility of coping with a newborn and an escaping toddler seems like too much! However my Mum suggested going straight to a single bed with bedrail. Or a toddler bed? Seems like too much change for me - any ideas? He's average length and will be in sleeping bags for a good while yet I think. Any suggestions much appreciated!

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freelancegirl · 08/04/2014 10:18

I posted something similar here not so long ago and on weighing up the advice transferred my DS at 19 months, last month, to a single mattress on the floor. The difference is I guess he's always been a terrible sleeper so I wasn't worried about disrupting him! And i am not yet having another baby so we were moving him as he had never been happy in the cot. I did try taking the sides off for a couple of nights first but it was too high off the ground and by then the cot was feeling too short for him. If anything it helps me to lie down with him more easily.

Pros of going straight to mattress are that they are not in a big bed yet so you don't have to worry about them falling off - he has rolled off a couple of times but has stayed asleep - and it will be less of a transition when you do get a proper bed later down the line. Most people tell me toddler beds are a waste of money as you have to get a single not so far down the line anyway.

freelancegirl · 08/04/2014 10:19

I posted something similar here not so long ago and on weighing up the advice transferred my DS at 19 months, last month, to a single mattress on the floor. The difference is I guess he's always been a terrible sleeper so I wasn't worried about disrupting him! And i am not yet having another baby so we were moving him as he had never been happy in the cot. I did try taking the sides off for a couple of nights first but it was too high off the ground and by then the cot was feeling too short for him. If anything it helps me to lie down with him more easily.

Pros of going straight to mattress are that they are not in a big bed yet so you don't have to worry about them falling off - he has rolled off a couple of times but has stayed asleep - and it will be less of a transition when you do get a proper bed later down the line. Most people tell me toddler beds are a waste of money as you have to get a single not so far down the line anyway.

TarkaTheOtter · 08/04/2014 10:21

I'd go cot bed, then after a few months take the sides off. We found dd got a bit anxious when the sides came off her bed and so it might be a bit much in a new room.

We dealt with the escaping problem by stair gating her bedroom.

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