Cot-bed duvet/pillow advice please!

[Paddlechick666]

Hi

DD is 23 months and still in her cot and gro-bag.

She's started demanding a pillow when she goes down and I am apprehensive about leaving it in her cot overnight so I go in and remove it after she's dropped off.

Am planning to convert the cot into a bed sometime soon and am thinking about getting her a cot pillow/duvet now.

Would appreciate some advice on togs and manufacturers. There's a whole heap of stuff on ebay and the price range for new is quite large. Duvet/pillow & cover/case for a tenner up to £26 for just duvet and pillow.

Her room is quite warm and she varies between .5, 1.5 & 2.5 tog gro-bags depending on the weather.

Any advice would be great!

TIA

may i suggest that you read the advice given on the John Lewis website?
I found them very helpful when i was at your stage with my first DC.

No pillow at that age for certain and the lowest of togs. My DD (age 2 and a half) sleeps with a 4.5 tog when her room is at about 18 but any higher and she sleeps with just the empty duvet cover and is warm enough.

BTW, a tip i got from here... when you go into the bed and use a duvet, place it across the bed (rather than length ways) then you can tuck it in a bit either side so that it doesn't fall off your DD.

another bit of adive I was given re the duvet - buy the most expensive one you can afford (Don't bother buying cot bed size though, just buy the full single bed size and use it sideways then you'll use it for her next bed too)

hi mckenzie

thanks for the tips.

i've actually already got 3 single duvets so they'll come in when she goes up to a bed. good idea to use them width-wise.

as we're moving i'm already planning how to decorate dd's new room and i guess i'm getting a bit excited about her having a cute little bed all made up with duvet cover etc LOL.

i thought pillows over the age of 1 were okay?

tbh, i'd be happy for her to stay in her gro-bags another year but i thought if i was buying a pillow now i might as well get a set!

Pillows are ok for babies over 12 month. My DS2 used to lie on his big brothers "quiet time" pillow that we had in the lounge for when he got too old for a sleep in the day but needed wind-down time. So we tried one in his cotbed.

My ds2 is 16 months and I used a flat cot bed sheet to secure the pillow in place as my son is a fidget bottom.

I lie the sheet lengthways in front of me on the floor, place the pillow right in the middle so that it lies the same direction as the sheet. I then fold the side of the sheet closest to my knees up to the top edge of the pillow and then the other side of the sheet down over the pillow towards me. This means the pillow is tightly wrapped but has "wings" at both sides of the pillow that you tuck under the matress.

Hope that makes sense. We will be taking off his grobag soon. We have a 4.5tog duvet for our older son and the room temp drops to around 19 degrees at the lowest. All children are different, we like our house warm so no heavy 10 togs for us even in winter.

I bought cheap matalan duvets as in the long run it won't be long before potty training and I can chuck it in my washing machine and tumble drier at home.

hi fizzy

excellent instructions, great idea too. thanks.

has your ds dropped daytime sleeps then? my dd still needs a good hour after her lunch (and so do I!).

Matalan's a good idea actually. I'll check that out. Ebay's just so easy tho, gotta love armchair shopping!

DD's room goes from 19 to 23 depending on the weather but she does like to be warm and cosy. Or 'nuggly-buggly" as she puts it!

She's obsessed with pillow and blanket at the mo and has to have both on top of her gro-bag. As soon as she dropped off (takes about 10 mins!) I go in and remove them both and she's all set for the rest of the night then.

thanks again

I wouldn't keep her in bed with you if that's whatyou mean - she's old enough and while she's keen for a new bed set it's an ideal opportunity to convert her bed and get her asleep in it!

Ikea do some good half size duvets with matching pillows, perfect for cot bed size and cheap too.

Don't worry about her throwing them off, they soon learn to pull them back on if they're cold - as long as they're not too heavy. That's why I recommend a small duvet she can manage.

hi pixel, we used to co-sleep when she was still bf but that was a while ago now.

she's 7 till 6 in her cot-bed now, no pillow and gro-bag. but she lies on a pillow for her milk and likes snuggling under a blanket for quiet time on the sofa.

i think i might pop to Ikea tomorrow and check out what they have.

I'm moving into a flat before Xmas and plan to convert the cot into a bed then. At the moment I can't fit any stairgates and would worry about her getting up and wandering around.

Thanks for the Ikea info.