Big Boy Bed advice?!

[MissMia84]

We've just been out and spent a small fortune on a toddler bed for my 20 month old son as he seems allergic to his cot and screams at night when he's in it. Also he's getting a bit long for it.

My husband is going to assemble it this afternoon while my son has his last nap in his cot sob

How do we approach bed time this evening? Should we make a big fuss about his new super fabulous bed, or not mention anything at all, and not make a big deal out of it?

What did you do when transitioning from cot to bed?

We made the move recently and he was really excited about his new bed and his new car patterned duvet set. He kept getting on and off, putting his toys to bed etc. At bedtime we made sure as much was the same as possible, only difference was the bed itself, which we'd talked about.

The first few nights he did get up a few times, mostly after falling out (not a problem as we put the cot mattress on the floor) but he quickly got used to it. Naptimes took a bit longer as he's always resisted those but now has the option of getting up.

Thanks MyNameIsSuz Can I ask how old your LO was when you made the switch?

Anyone else have advice? The bed is assembled and bed time is just a few hours away....

He was a little older than yours thinking about it, it was not long after his second birthday.

Are you also making the switch from sleeping bags to duvet? That was harder for us I think as he wriggles a lot.

Both DS each went into a toddler bed at 20 months. We made a big deal of it with new duvets etc, and let them play on it but never ever climb off it on their own, even in the daytime. "No, mummy will lift you etc", and made a show of lifting them off. It seemed ridiculous and unnecessary, but was done to teach them not to get out of it themselves, and apart from one occasion with DS2, they never climbed out in the night but led and waited each morning!

We switched at a similar age. With hindsight it felt a bit too young and after the first excitement, the messing about at bedtime returned. We didn't make a fuss about the new bed.
Second time around, we moved to a bed at about 2.5. Much easier but dd was used to seeing her brother go in a bed. Funnily enough though in the mornings, ds took at least a year before realising he could leave his bed in the morning and would wait for us before getting up!

He's gone down tonight really well. He got out of his bed 3 times, one time he opened the bedroom door (safety gate was closed) but I told him each time to "Lie down in your bed." After about 10 mins of wriggling about he went down very well :)

He's never liked sleeping bags so was never in them, and we haven't got him a big duvet just yet, he just has a nice warm blanket that he likes.

Let's hope he sleeps well tonight. I've put his cot mattress on the floor in case he falls out. Fingers crossed I get some sleep!