15 months - too young to stop using cot?

[ohthegoats]

She sleeps far better in our bed or the spare bed, whether we're in it or not.

Wondering whether to go mattress on the floor.

I use a bed guard for DD, we co sleep, you could put one on the spare bed maybe?

We use this one

Many people never use a cot - they just co-sleep right through. I have heard about families who utilise the "family bed" or the "family bedroom"

Or are you thinking that you will leave baby to sleep alone on a floor mattress at 15 months, rather than co-sleeping?

If you have a baby who doesn't go to sleep independently, trying to teach this when not in a cot is significantly more difficult.

DD slept in a toddler bed from 13 months as she could climb out of the cot and I was terrified she'd break something. Worked fine for us

Our 14 month old has been in a toddler bed for a couple of months and loves it. To be honest, I think if we gave her a double mattress she'd be thrilled, but just no. As FATE says, it is easier if she can go to sleep independantly/self-settle, at least in my experience.

We've got this bed: www.tesco.com/direct/kidkraft-boat-toddler-bed/782-1560.prd (note: we didn't pay that for it!) and it fits the bill in terms of allowing her to get in and out when she needs to, but not falling out in her sleep. Although if we were doing it again I'd probbaly just do a single mattress on the floor...

OK thanks.

Small goes to bed alone in her cot just fine - no bedtime issues at all. It's the hours between 12 and 5am that are really fucking difficult. She just wakes up every 40 minutes like she was doing this time last year. I think I'm getting less sleep now that I was when she was 3 months old! Certainly haven't had more than 3 hours in a row for months.

Last night for example she just wanted to play at 4am - she was in bed with me and cried/shouted/screamed/fake screamed until 5am, then rolled over and went to sleep. She's constantly got a cold, which definitely wakes her up, but I'd rather she was awake in her own room where she can get up and play (but be contained by stair gates), then go back to sleep when she's had enough.

I'm not sure that would definitely work, but we're pretty much at the end of our tether/s.

Do you think she would scream and shout when awake and alone in her room? Or quietly play on her own?

If you think leaving her to play and entertain herself in the night might work, then I'd probably suggest putting (safe) toys and activities in the cot, to try it out. Personally, I don't like the sleeping space/time to be used for playing. But everyone is different.

If she's got a cold, have you tried introducing a pillow into her cot? Pillows can be used from 12 months old and are useful for keeping a snotty head raised a bit to help with sleep.

At 15 months old you could try controlled crying or cry it out, if so inclined. I wouldn't suggest while she's poorly though.

Just a really quick reply & its hust a thought but...

My DD constantly had a cold & woke every 2 hours at night,

We have since discovered she has a cows milk allergy, & since stopping the milk, no more coughing, runny nose, sleeps right through, no sore/spotty skin rash.

I don't have toys in her room at the moment, so even if we did go down that route it would mean introducing different things at different times. She finally has a 'sleepy' type toy though, which is in her cot - she has sometimes spent quite a bit of time playing with that when she's awake in the morning without shouting or crying for us.

Meht - mine doesn't have any skin problems, or obvious stomach issues related to milk, just the endless colds, BUT her dad has a cows milk allergy, so I'm almost always on the look out for symptoms. I think probably it's just nursery germs for now.

Having said all this, she's just been given antibiotics for her cold/ear stuff, so maybe the painkillers weren't dealing with the pain for her, so finally get it fixed might work in breaking this spell of crap sleep.

She has had periods of better sleep, just not for some time. Yawn.