We're going to be trying DD in a 'big bed' for the first time tonight <gulp>. Anyone care to share any tips and tricks?

[MadameMoe]

DD's new bed arrived this morning, we've been talking about it for a while so she knew it was coming. I've put it up in her room but left her cot in too.

She loves the 'big girls bed', but perhaps she loves it a little too much. She wouldn't countenance the idea of even getting in her cot at all once the bed was up! She was too excited to sleep at all this afternoon...

Bedtime is looming, DP was supposed to be home in time to help but he's just announced he wont be back until later. So, what are your top tips and tricks for getting things to go smoothly?

I'm not one for CC/COI and I've got a six month old to contend with too so we need to keep things as quiet and calm as possible

Oh, and we have a stair gate on her door as we can't get on on the stairs.

She's 2.1 by the way, if that makes any difference to anything...

Sorry to bump so quickly, but it's very nearly bed time.

Anyone?

(COI = CIO)

Thanks inzi . The usual routine is that DP put's her to bed while I do DS. Otherwise I do her first and then DS... Neither of these is a possibility I fear. DS has a looooong BF before he goes to bed so I'm going to have to do him first. Not a good start...

I might see if I can get away with just putting her in the cot. I don't think there's much chance of her having it though.

Am dreading it and am pretty furious with DP for suddenly not 'being able' to be here too TBH.

we moved dd2 inot a bed 2 nights ago.

She was familiar with the concept as she shares a room with dd1, who is in a bed obviously.

it has been absolutely fine. we just went throught e usual routine with them, so teeth, stories, hugs and kisses etc, and then dd2 jumped up onto her new (well, old as it is her cot with sides taken off) bed and sat down.

we didn't make a big deal about staying on/not coming out of room/no messing about so as not to give her any ideas, and she went straight to sleep.

dd2 is 2.11, and she was complicit inthe process - we asked and she said she wanted a bed, so a bed si what she got. w put some cushions by the side incase she fell out, but she was fine.

hope all goes well!

Both my boys slept better in a bed than they did in the cot, and it makes it much easier if you have two kids to deal with at the same time. You can sit them both in one place for a story, in your case I would put them both in PJs (perhaps changing the little one on the bed while big sister puts her PJs on) then tuck up the big girl in her new bed, and sit reading her a story while bfing your little one. Again I never told them not to get up etc as i felt it would give them ideas.

Hope it works

Claire

we started ds2 in a big boys bed last week - first couple of nights were pretty atrocious so you are going to need dp's help I think. although if she is showing so much interest in the big girls bed you may have more of a fight on your hands - maybe tell her that she has to choose some new pj's at the shops tomorrow to wear in her big girls bed - that might keep her in the cot tonight?

HTH

DD was about 2.5 when we did this and she had no trouble at all settling into it. At least you have got the initial excitement out of the way during the day, and with lack of nap, maybe she will be so tired she will fall straight to sleep!

Only advice really is to tuck duvet/blankets in a tightly as possible to help stop falling out, and make sure there is nothing hard/sharp next to the bed just in case... This has only happened once or twice with DD.

I would make a big fuss about how it is a big girl's bed etc so she feels good about it and not scared (sounds like she is already chuffed with it anyway!)

Good luck!

Go for it. We did it with our twins just before their second birthday. They were very excited about big girls' beds. We did bedtime exactly the same as usual - bath, teeth, stories, cuddles and so on. They got out of bed about a million times the first night, though they were too short to reach the door handle at that time, so didn't come out of their room. We just put them back into bed (doing the no conversation supernanny thing) and they went off to sleep eventually. It wasn't ideal but we were expecting it. The second night, it was easier, and within a week, the novelty had worn off and they were going straight off to sleep.

I would say do your usual routine, expect some disruption, but stick to it and don't go back to the cot, as it will be exactly the same the next time you try.

Oh, that gives me hope! Thank you!

I shall behave as if nothing unusual what so ever is happening, and hope Will try to get her into her cot.

cmt1375, that sounds like a good idea for a routine when the DC are older. DD's only just two so not capable of getting into her \pjs herself...

Will report back in any case.

My ds didn't know he could get out of his bed for a couple of months, ds2 was brilliant and went with ease, dd did get out a few times but soon got back in once we pretended to start building the cot!!

You could always use duct tape!

x posts. sorry!

No time to reply now, DD is shouting TIRED TIERD TIRED...

Make sure she is wearing something warm, in case the covers come off (my DD has one of those fleecy sleepsuits even though she's 3!). If you can't get her to stay in bed long enough to go to sleep (which is the real problem with beds as opposed to cots) then put a story CD on for her to listen to. It will calm her down and keep her in one place until she falls asleep.
My DD slept brilliantly for the first month - in fact I don't think she even worked out she could get out of the bed!!! However, once she twigged, she was up and down like a yoyo. A bedguard can help to make it feel a bit more cot-like.
Good luck!

How did it go?

Amazingly well! DD had been insistent that she wanted the big bed so I told her she needed to help me put DS to bed first. That went fine. Then we did her normal bedtime stuff and when it was time to get into bed I asked if she was sure she wouldn't rather sleep in the cot. She decided she would indeed rather be in there! Which was a great relief TBH.

I really didn't think she'd EVER accept going in the cot again

Anyway, this morning she was extra tired and wanted to go to be early (at 11 instead of 12), so I took her up. SHe wanted to sleep in the big bed, so I popped her in it. She asked me to stay a while, which I did and she fell asleep really quickly and with no fuss

Thank you everyone, for all the advice, I'm going to try the bed tonight with DP for back up. I'm sure it'll be alright, even if it is a bit hectic for a few days!

The bed is a small one and has (detachable) side rails, so falling out isn't likely to be too much of a problem. She definitely knows she can climb out (and in, and out, and in, and out) of the bed because she spent about an hour doing just that yesterday afternoon and had another good do when she was playing in her room this morning.

She's had a quilt in her cot for ages, will be be more likely to loose it from a bed?

I am still very keen to hear your tricks and tips though, DD has always been a difficult sleeper. In fact, she's only very recently just about started sleeping through...

DS has got my DN's toddler bed, and thankfully we inherited the clever grobag duvet that you can zip up either side of them to help keep the covers on overnight. DS has had the bed in his room for a few weeks now and once it's stopped being so exciting to jump in/out/ontop of we'll put him in it, probably between xmas and new year so DH can help me. I'm dreading the idea of it stopping daily naps but we need his cot for DS2's arrival in March!

Oh, that looks good. I'll think about copying that design buying a couple if we have problems with her wriggling out from under the covers.

The fleece sleep suits sound good too.

we have safety rails on ds2's bed too (he's only 22m)

we also use a flat sheet under his duvet so that stays generally tucked in.

also we put a long sleeved tee shirt under his pyjama top and if it's a really cold night put socks on him.

we also (becauase both boys are prone to night coughs and we have all had asthma at some point or another) put the heating on for 30 mins at around 2am to keep the temperature a bit higher on really cold nights and that seems to be working for ds2 in the bed.

and we also have lambskins that they sleep on on top of their bottom sheet from here

HTH

Yay inzi! Sounds good so far, will you update?

DD's in her big girl bed tonight too . She went down at her normal time without any crazy scenes and all has been well so far. I fear it may be another story in the morning, but we'll see.

DP unexpectedly couldn't make it again tonight

It's so nice not to feel like I'm doing this all on my own!

It went really well here too! DD woke a little early but we had to be out of the house extra early anyway so that wasn't a problem. She had her afternoon nap in the bed too, it was a little short but she was late into bed which often shortens her nap anyway.

Is your DD going to bed in the same way as before you put her in the big bed? DD has been wanting me to sit in the room while she falls asleep which I never used to do. This afternoon she was ok with me going out before she was asleep, so it'll hopefully probably be ok in the end.

Her cot is still up but I don't think it needs to be anymore TBH, although it is reassuring to have the option. I need to take some photos of it before it's dismantled so I can put it on ebay, so it'll have to wait until that's done.

I think I'm going to put up some fairy lights in her room with a timer so that she has a signal for when 'night time' ends and 'morning time' begins.

I really hadn't expected it to go this well . Oh, and DP is actually going to be home for bedtime tonight!