Changing from cot to bed

[LiamsMum]

Sorry if this subject has been addressed before, but I would appreciate some advice as dh and I have been disagreeing on the best course of action. DS is 2 1/2 and is still in a cot, mainly because he has never tried to climb out and has seemed happy enough in it. Problem is, he is a big boy and physically is more like a 3 1/2 year old, so I feel his cot is becoming too small. DH thinks that instead of putting him into a bed straight away, we should put a mattress on the floor for him to sleep on but I find this idea completely wrong for ds as I know we would have a hard time getting him to stay on the mattress - in other words I think he would just keep getting up. My idea was to get a single bed and put it against the wall, with a rail on the other side of the bed so that he doesn't fall out. What does everything think is the best way? I just feel the mattress idea would not be very effective - but then again maybe I need to hear from someone who's been through it before. Thanks for your help...

Hi Liamsmum. I found putting my boys directly into beds at about that age was fine from a safety point of view- is this why your dh thinks a matress would be the better option? They didn't fall out or anything, though I did pad the floor with soft stuff for a while just in case. Keeping them in the beds was another matter though... it was very hard to get them used to the idea that a bed is for sleeping on, at least some of the time. They both seemed to think they were for bouncing on and jumping out of and used them as platforms from which to plan evil sorties into the sacred adult only (after 8pm!) areas of our flat. Hope your ds will prove more amenable to sleeping in his bed!

My chuldren were a bit older than yours, Liamsmum, when they went into bed but it wasn't a problem. Our oldest didn't even realise he could get out, at first!! If your DH is worried about ds falling out you could put the cot mattress on the floor beside the bed, to give a soft landing, should he tumble out.

LiamsMum,

My ds went into a bed at 23 months (climbed out of his travel cot on holiday and that was that) and dd went into a bed at 22 months because we were going on holiday and couldn't face taking the travel cot. All we did was put some spare pillows and cushions on the floor next to the bed so that if they fell out they wouldn't get hurt. They soon learn not to fall out - I think ds fell out twice, dd a few more times (but then she's not such a sound sleeper). As for getting out of bed once in it, we've not really had that problem - I think that post-bedtime mummy is far too scary for my kids .

When dd was 2.5 I moved her new bed into her room so she got used to it. I bought a safety rail and put her in the bed after about a week. She did move from cot to bed for another week and then we just removed the cot from her room. She asked where it was a few times and then forgot. She sleeps really well in her new bed and does not make any attempt to get out herself. She did fall out once but was fine!

DS1 went from a cot to one of those beds 3 foot off the ground. It had enough of a rail to stop him falling out and we never looked back. We eventually evicted him from his cot at about 2y 8m when it got too much of a strain putting DS2 in the travel cot. He never showed any inclination to climb out of his cot.

I'd just get a single bed and go for it. Get a safety rail to make you feel safer about it.

HTH

Liamsmum, my ds went from a cot to a bunk bed with railings and it was fine. I'm not sure whether I'd go with a mattress either: far too easy to just get off it and wander about!

Liamsmum

I agree. Best to put him in bed with bed guard if you are worried about him rolling out and pad the floor around.

We've just moved DS, at 14 months, into a bed (albeit a low one with both head and foot boards, a wall on one side and a guard rail on the other) as he hated being in the cot. At least with the bed he can climb back in when he wants to, rather than ending up either spending the night on the floor or waking us to put him back. It's not as far to fall as climbing over the top of the cot either. We did put the cot mattress on the floor alongside it, in case DS managed to fall out, but so far it hasn't been needed as far as I can tell, and he's definately slleping better now than he used to in the cot.

my ds's were about 2.5 when they went into a bed. They were fine.They had watched dh assemble, the beds, and had already picked out a quilt cover with rockets on.So that night, they could not wait to get into their big, boys, beds.
We did not bother with bed rails and they never fell out, but use one if your worried. We had already been through that with my step dd, and realised we didn't need it.

Interesting thrread to read - particularly GillW?s comments. My dd is not yet quite 18 months and can easily get out of her cot - she has the bruises to prove it poor thing. I have been in a huge dilemma as everyone I know has told me not to get her into a bed yet. Come to think of it, not sure why they think this, it just seems to be a common theory.. At the mo, she is sleeping very badly now that she knows she can "escape" and doesn?t want to be in there anymore. I settle her down in our bed and transfer when asleep, the cot is in our room so I wake if she does and leg it across to stop her falling. Totally ridiculous situation and I know it is one I must sort out soon. My mum suggesting tying a blanket over the top (no way) and someone else suggested tying her in with a harness and lead thing...but I cannot bring myself to tie her up like an animal - and I am sure that it could be dangerous/freak her out even more. Sorry if I am ranting but the last fews weeks of this set up is affecting my brain!! If i buy a bed for her, how do I explain to her that she must stay in it all night and not just get out and come throught to our room like she wants to do now? Any advice would be really gratefully recieved as dh and I are baffled. Thanks

Jaytree, I think your little one would be safer in a bed, since she keeps throwing herself out.
As for coming into your room, that one is a bit of a struggle. We put a child gate across the ds's doorway. They did go up to it and continuously cry until they got our attention, but we just had to keep putting them back to bed.
As I said it's a bit of a struggle until they get the idea, but then your not getting any sleep anyway. If it does not work then, the bed will always come in handy later on. We found ours slept much better in their own room, I think we may have been deturbing them.

Thanks for your responses everyone. Just another thought, how do you think a 2 1/2 yr-old would go in a double bed instead of a single one? Has anyone tried this? It's just that dh and I bought a bunk bed my from BIL a few months ago, and it's got a double on the bottom and a single on the top. I don't know if ds is too young for this kind of bed, but I guess it would save buying another one - not sure what to think about this idea.

liamsmum, my ds has had a double since he was about 3 1/2 and loves it. Why not? I think it just means they have loads of room to move about. He went from cot to single bunk, to double as that was what I had spare when we moved etc.

Hi. More expensive option but, we've found well worth the investment - was a child's bed from a company called Funbeds. They're full size (take single sheets etc) but are really low to the ground. We got one shaped like a racing car which has got its own side rails as the chassis goes around the back and down the sides. Ds loves it - it also has his name on the number plate.

Jaytree - your dd sounds very like my DS. I too was about wary about going for a bed this early, but looking at it logically the cot is supposed to keep them safer, and it was obviously doing the opposite in our case. Not to mention that ds hated being caged in so much that we were, like you, having to settle him to sleep on our bed and transfer him when asleep, which is probably counter-productive long-term when it comes to getting them to go to bed/sleep on their own.

We put DS in a sleeping bag for the first few nights, and put a gate across his door (the soft fabric type, as conventional gates are just as easy to climb as cot sides!) so his movement was restricted enough to limit the nocturnal wanderings. Like jac34 suggests we let him watch ht bed being constructed, and also got him used to the idea by getting him to sit on it and play with some of his toys before we put him to sleep in it for the first time.

We put ds in a bed at 1 as he kept climbing out of his cot. It was one of those that went from cot to bed but it was just too small. He's now got a single bed with one of those pull-out beds underneath so if he does fall out he just bounces on that. I think he would prefer a double thought. We put a stairgate across the door at first (mainly as we didn't have a door fitted - dp couldn't work out how to hang it). Once he learnt how to undo that we finally got a carpenter friend to hang the door and we shut that when he goes to bed and he's fine about it (we put knobs on the doors as opposed to handles harder for little hands to open). He has these glow in the dark shapes on the ceiling so its not totally dark, also when we go to bed we open the door so if he needs us in the night he can come and get us. He's very possessive about his bed. He likes to come and climb in with us in the morning but yesterday it was just too early for dp so he thought he'd climb into ds' bed only to have ds drag him out shouting its my bed get out lol.

My ds 19months went through a stage of climbing out of his cot and we had the bed dilemma for a while - padded out the floor instead and a week later he settled back into routine and sleeps 12 houtrs in his cot and when he wakes reads happily until we go into him. I'm loathed to move to the bed as I'm sure he would be out of it - visiting us all the time. 'm really glad I persisted with the cot now - 2nd baby is due in Feb so we are debating whether to move ds before the new arrival gets here but I think it may be wiser to delay as I'm sure it will bring it's own problems . Anyone else experienced the timing like this and succeeded or otherwise in takling the plunge at the same time as a newborn?

We put dd1 in a bed at about 2 years not because she was climbing out of the cot but because we were fed up with getting up for her when she woke up. We were lucky that by that stage she wasn't waking up all that often, so it seemed preferable for her to be able to come into our room if she wanted us. She was also able to cope OK with stairs, otherwise we would have needed to put a stairgate at the top of the stairs.

Ikea does a nice first bed - it has a side rail that can be removed when the child gets bigger. Also the ends fold up to begin with, which makes it an easier transition from cosy enclosed cot to big draughty bed. You can let the ends down as the child gets bigger. Perhaps difficult to visualise from that description, but there may be a picture on the Ikea website www.ikea.co.uk My only criticism of it is that the foam mattress gets a bit uncomfortable for an older child but you can replace it with a normal single bed mattress.

Incidentally, in an effort to make dd1 feel grown up and important after arrival of dd2 (also to give her somewhere to escape from dd2), we have just moved her to a loft bed - she loves it.

Our DS was 2 in July. Just moved from cot to bed (bed against 1 wall). We put the cot matteress on floor covered by spare duvet a few nights - fell out a few times, now fine. He loves being able to play with his toys when he wants and climb back into bed! He then knocks on the door (we close it tight) when he wants to come out in the morning.
Go for it - (no matteress on floor) straight to bed. Good luck.

Great ideas here for me to try - nice to find out that there are loads of little ones out there who grow out of the cot before they shouldl! We have decided to get a bed for her and will try to get one with a pull out spare bed- that is such a good idea Megg thanks. If we can?t find one in our budget, we will go for the cot mattress on the floor idea - simple but brilliant. Loads of good ideas here, I don?t know why I didn?t ask you lot earlier! Thanks guys.