Am I missing something/ how the heck do you get baby in and out of cot once you've lowered it?

[soundsystem]

Sorry, I'm clearly being a bit dim with this but...

We've got the IKEA Stuva cot that is adjustable to two levels. Up until now DD has slept perfectly happily in it on the higher level, so very easier to put her down and pick her up.

At 9 months, she's figures out how to get herself from lying down to sitting and then pulling herself up on the bars. She's quite tall and at risk of toppling out.

So easy solution: lower the mattress to the lower level. Just put her down and my back wasn't massively happy. Trying to lean in and pick her up is quite awkward and painful.

I'm an average height and don't have a back problem so am I doing this all wrong? Is there something I'm missing? Do I just need to accept having a sore back until she's big enough for the side of the cot to come off? (When do you take the side off?)

I've got a toddler bed for her that she'd quite happily sleep in but it seems time for that is a long way off yet!

What do/did you do?

I put my daughter into a bed at 10 mo this with a bed guard. She slept a lot better and so much better for my back. We just have a gate in her door and at the top of the stairs I case she got up through the night. She usually comes to us about 2ish all sleepy and cute

I just want point out that (I think) IKEA cots are fairly small cots. I've seen cots in other shops that I could probably comfortably sleep in myself and have higher bars. Our IKEA cot is the height of my hip so it's not like I have to really bend over the bars. So maybe that's why I don't find it difficult to pick up DS out of it.