Preventing Nighttime Walkabout

[Raalix]

Our ds is nearly two and we are thinking about getting him his own bed. His current bedtime routine is well established and works without incident 99% of the time. If he wakes up in the night, he chats to himself, plays with his toys in his cot and then goes back to sleep.

However, when he moves into his own bed, if he has the option to leave his bed - he will take it! There are various options to making sure he stays in his room. Stairgate over the door, reposition the door handle so he can't reach it, hook/eye on the door, cot bars on his bed etc.

What works best for you and what would you recommend?

I never liked the idea of a child being shut in their room with the door closed, and never shut DS in either when he was in the cot or when he moved to a bed - so for me, options like moving the door-handle or "locking" the door with a hook & eye would have been right out.

But I'm a bit claustrophobic myself, so that may be just a personal reaction!

I don't think bed bars stop them from getting out - they are just meant to make it less likely to roll out by accident while they're asleep.

We didn't do anything to keep DS in his room, just had a stairgate at the top of the stairs so he couldn't have an accident. We found that he didn't wander - he was happy in his room and got the hang of staying there at night without any problem.

But if you really don't think he would stay, then I guess a stairgate across his door would be a safe option - that way you can still hear him and he wouldn't feel trapped, but he has to stay in his room overnight.