Moving to cot bed- how the hell do I fix this?

[beetlingalong]

I had wanted 2.3yo DS to stay in his cot much longer - at least nearer to 3, but he has discovered he can climb out, and does. Repeatedly. So, because he wasn't staying in his bloody cot anyway and to avoid him hurting himself, we've taken the sides down to make it into a cot bed.

And bedtime has now gone to shit.

I used to be able to tuck him up, give him a kiss and leave him to settle himself to sleep. This might take a while, but he was happy in his cot.

Now, he just gets up or bounces on his bed, or runs up the door to yell for me.

Nothing has worked. I've tried leaving him to play until he's ready to get in bed himself. This has worked only maybe a couple of times. I've tried sitting with him, but he just messes about and I don't want him to rely on that. I've tried going in and settling then leaving, but I'm in and out of his room like a yo-yo.

If I'm lucky, he's now asleep by 9pm, but it's often 9.30-10pm. I've lost my evenings completely. I can't get anything done.

Help!!

We had ours in toddler beds by 15 months, found it so much easier as they climbed out of their cots the little monkeys!!! We read books then put on an audio book

We had this for a while, not at first as DS didn’t seem to realise he could get out of bed but once he did that was it and bedtime was a nightmare. We tried putting him back to bed with no conversation and little fuss but it didn’t work and I spent hours of my evening doing it.

I was pregnant and exhausted and my sister told me I was being too soft and I should put a stair gate across his door and ignore for a few nights and he’d soon stop getting up. It sounds harsh and I really struggled with it but it worked. It might not be for everyone but I really believe if I hadn’t done that he’d still be up at all hours now as it went on for months before I resorted to the stair gate. Sending solidarity, I know it’s hard.

I had this with my eldest - we moved him at 2 1/2 and I genuinely don't think he realised at first it was his bed.

We did the 1,000 walks where we repeatedly walked him back to bed each time he go up. I had a chair on the landing and just sat there. Tools weeks. And I was 8 months pregnant so really wanted him to go to sleep!

What worked for us and I don't know which did it as they happened at the same time:

His toddler bed was three sided with a moveable bed guard. He broke the bed guard so we moved the bed round so the side with no rail went against the wall. Having a low rail to sleep against seemed to stop the 3 hour bed times.

We also ignored the part where it said not to interact when taking him back to bed and started using a firm voice to say 'stay in bed etc'.

@gogomoto I haven't really changed his bedtime routine so we already do books etc. doesn't make a difference!

Thanks for the solidarity @Hopingforbetterluck

We do have a stair gate up, but yeah, I think maybe I need to stay strong and leave him for a bit longer to see if he settles. I really don't want him to get distressed though.

Weeks?! @lifehappens12 I really hope not!!

I think I am going to try a proper bed guard. At the moment he'd got one of those pool noodle like things that go under the sheet to stop him rolling out, but maybe a more substantial guard would be a good compromise from his cot and encourage him to stay put