Has anyone just put their toddler into a single bed? How did it go?

[PickledElectricity]

It seems like floor beds are all the rage at the moment but I don't want to buy a new bed when I already have a really nice single bed - I want to move my toddler into it in a couple of months' time when he turns 3. He's in a cot bed right now and to be frank I appreciate having a little prison to keep him contained in the morning.

Anyway, if you went to a single bed: tell me how it went, if you have any advice etc. I presume I will need to buy a bed guard, but I've also read that some people tuck in a double duvet on both sides so that the child can't fall out?

My eldest went straight from a cot to a single bed. She had a trundle bed though - we'd pull out the bottom bed a bit so that if she fell out she'd land on the second mattress. She could also use the second mattress as stairs to get in and out of bed. We also rolled up a towel under the sheet so she could better feel where the edge of the bed was. And we put a baby gate on her room.

We went from cot bed to single bed. Kept the cot bed mattress for a while to put next to the bed in case she fell out but also had one of those bumpers that is like a giant pool noodle which tucks under the sheet.

We needed a bed guard. MiL tucked a bolster under the sheet when he stayed at hers.

For the first year or so he would lie widthways in bed - he needed to feel contained.

Stuck a duvet on the floor and that was it

We went straight to single bed from caged cot.

Just had a bed guard on the side

Another that put a mattress on the floor in case they fell out. People who get stressed with clutter will hate it though as it doesn’t look great but was good to know it was there

ds slept on a matttress on the floor firstly and occasionally we lay next to him,

DC went directly to a single bed from a cot, at age 3 years with no floor bed. The bed was pushed against the wall on one side, and on the other side we put pillows on the floor in case she rolled out. The first couple of night she did indeed roll out but didn't wake up! We just found her on the floor when we went up to bed. She did get out of bed in the morning and come to get us when the Gro Clock said morning, or sooner if there was a problem or she was worried. It was fine.

DC2 has been in a single bed since before turning 2. She still ends up in my bed anyway but what we did is get a bed guard, but also install the head board at the bottom end of the bed, so she is still boxed in. We already had the single bed from DC1.

Our twins who are 2 have been in single beds own room since before 2 and our 3 yr old the same been in a single since before 2, they just wake when they want and whoever is up first wether it's there older siblings or me or dh we will sort them and start the day.. sometimes they play downstairs a while or chatter with each other then come wake me...first thing we did with every single child we have is always go downstairs on your butt and so far nobody has fallen lol rest of house kid proof and kitchen has a stairgate as that's a no entry to the smaller kids, also taught them to use downstairs loo and that goes well the twins bin there night nappies and pop there knickers on mostly inside out but the trying is the plus..3 yr old been out of nappies a while and sorts himself to it's just the teenagers I've got to run to 😂

Ok thanks, glad to see I'm not the only one!

House is pretty safe but I worry he's going to get into the porridge or empty the freezer while we're awake 🤔 how long did people have a stair gate on the door? I feel like he's on the brink of opening it already tbh. They've certainly opened and escaped at nursery before.

just a stair gate on the stairs,

DS went into a single bed at 10 months old because he could climb out of the cot ( this was 45 years ago!)
i put bed guards on each side and a row of pillows on the floor but he soon learned to scramble on and off it.

We went straight to a bed at 19 months. No bed guard, no stair gates anywhere. He’s never gone downstairs without someone and he’s 4.5 now. He either stays in his room and shouts to us or comes through to me. He has a soft rug next to his bed but he’s never fallen out.

All 4 of mine went from cot to single bed. Just put a bed guard up at the sides.
Oldest went into a bed at 18 months as she kept climbing out of cot but landing with a thump!
Only issue was it was harder to keep her in her room at bedtime!
Other 3 were all age 2 and it was all fine.
Can't see point of wasting money on a cot bed.

Controversially ds went straight into a mid sleeper , but it had sides so he couldn't fall out. He now has a loft bed but he's 7

All mine went from a cot to a single bed around one year age when they started climbing out of the cot and I was worried of them getting hurt. No issues at all.

What’s the different between a cot bed and a single bed? Cot bed is cot without the sides right?

My dd went straight to a single from a cot at 2y 9m (the bed was already in her room and she announced one bedtime that that's now where she was sleeping so a pretty easy transition 😆). We used the cot as a bed guard until we got a bolster. No gate on the door, just the stairs as it meant she could come and get us.

DD1 went into a full size single bed with a bed guard at around 2 and a half. We took her out of her cot a few months before we needed it for her younger sister. No problems at all!

My daughter hated her cot from the off! So, she slept on a single mattress visually immediately. Never fell off but anyway there was only a carpeted floor 3-4 inches away.

My just 2 granddaughter has been similarly on a single mattress for 18 months or more as soon as she was trying to climb out of the cot.

We have a mellow mat on the floor. No stair gate here and he’s not 3 until November. He’s fallen out a couple of times but not even woken up. I’ve gone in to lift him back into bed when I noticed but the other night he was sleeping on the floor when my OH got up at 4:30, absolutely sound 🙈 could have been from any time after midnight.

Depends on the child! DC1 went straight from cot to single bed to mid sleeper by the age of 5, with no issues.
DC2 fell out of bed 3 times a night from the minute we took the side off the cot and ended up in a floor bed followed by a low bed with bed guards. Is now 5 and still falls out of bed fairly regularly 🙄