Is my 16month DD too young for a bed ????

[marmalade32]

DD - 16months - has a taggie that she loves to death but often drops it and obviously, being in the cot cannot reach it - so screams and cries and we have to go upstairs to get it when she is settling herself to sleep at bedtime - that wakes her up and, you all know the rest.....

It got me to thinking is it too early to convert her cot bed into the bed bit? She sleeps in a single bed at my mums caravan and has never fallen out; it does nothing for the 5 am waking every day - another story - but she seems to like it. She feels like a "big girl".

The lazy part of me that would love her to go to sleep without aggravation after a long day at work would love her to be able to get up or lean pver and get it herself, but I would never want her in any danger and would also hate to make her sleep any worse. Any thoughts ?

[ches]

Nope, not too early at all. IMO people leave them in the baby jail too long. If you put her mattress on the floor she wouldn't even have to get out of bed.

[seeker]

Mine went straight from a mixture of our bed and moses basket to a mixture of our bed and a futon from about 4 months. We never had a cot at all. Worked fine for us!

[Tambajam]

My dd (now 18 months) has never had a cot.
Mattress on floor in child-proofed room with gate. Works a treat. I probably wouldn't go for a raised single bed though.

[marmalade32]

Thank you all - its reassured me. Ches baby jail is exactly the way to describe it. Hate seeing her little face looking at me through bars! I want her to be more comfortable and less upset. Thanks again

[seeker]

The other good thing about the futon/mattress on the floor solution is that you can go and lie down next to them if they wake up in the night, so they get soothed quickly, and if you fall asleep it doesn't matter - you don't wake up crippled in the morning like you do if you fall asleep on the floor next to a cot.