To think this is unusual for a child this age?

[Sunshinegirl21]

My friends ds is 3 years old, he’ll be 4 in July. He starts school in September.

I go round to see my friend quite regularly but I haven’t been into the bedrooms. I was over there recently and she told me that her ds is starting to climb out of his cot now. So she is going to take the sides of and convert it to a toddler bed.

Aibu to think that it’s really odd and a bit dangerous for a nearly 4 year old to still be sleeping in a cot?

Obviously I don’t say anything.

It’s obviously weird because toddler beds are for toddlers… which he’s about to grow out of being

Another non-climber dry at night here!

And the poster who said that it’s good for sleep on average is correct. I’ve always read the advice from sleep experts that you should try to ride it out when kids try to climb out of the cot and see if it’s just a passing phase. Of course it might not be. However, the freedom to get out of bed under age 3 often is too much for kids and it leads to less sleep (and sleep is so developmentally important).

And I thought they were all quite average and normal lol

If the cot has been meeting the child's needs until that point I don't see any problem with being in the cot still. My mum jokes that she had to slowly dismantle my sisters cot around her as she showed no signs of ever wanting to leave it. I had climbed out of it by about 18 months.

We turned my daughters cot into a toddler bed when she was 2 as we wanted to introduce a duvet. At 18 months she learnt how to remove herself from her sleepsuits and sleeping bags. We moved to pjs and cellular blankets over the summer but switched to a duvet in the autumn.

Odd to me but both my DD’s hated the cot and if I had managed to get them to sleep in it climbed out as soon as they woke, both could climb out by 18 months (both were physically capable not so much on the talking, very late talkers). Dd2 also tried to dismantle things, an early sign that she would be an engineer

Probably at the older end of normal. it’s fine until they are climbing out/ too big for the bed,
but when it’s a convertible one it’s not much different to taking the sides off and then putting a gate on the door / stairs. It’s still restricting them.

I’m sure they are, in most respects!

DD came out as DS went in! She was about 2.
i can’t remember when DS came out - he had a low bed though for years - until we moved when he was 10! Was a single bed, but low to the floor.

YABU because it’s none of your business really.

Most people take the sides off the cot when the kid starts climbing out so he probably hasn’t done that until recently. Some children prefer the cosy and secure feeling of having the sides on

You’re very judgemental.

Is it a cot bed that they call a cot? Looks similar but bigger. I think they go up to age 3/4

My son is almost 3 and sleeps great in his cot and has never tried to climb out. I have bought him a proper bed for his birthday but mainly because we have a new baby who will be needing a cot soon and it doesn’t make sense to have 2. If it wasn’t for that I would probably let him use it for a few more months as it’s still working for him. As long as the child is happy and comfortable I don’t see an issue with continuing to use a cot until they start climbing out.

Neither of my kids ever tried to climb out. DS1 we moved to a single bed at 2.5 because I was pregnant and we would need the cot for the baby. DS2 was in the cot till almost 4, which was starting to feel a bit ridiculous as he was almost longer than it, but DH took fucking forever to choose bunk beds for them. But he never tried to climb out! I think he was still in nappies at night at that point, so toilet trips weren't an issue either.

He's almost 7 now and seems fairly well-adjusted.

DD is 4 and only came out of the cot at Christmas, didn’t ever try climbing out and always slept well in it, I guess it just depends on what works for you and your little one, there is no set ways of doing things! She’s not dry in the night so was never an issue, but even still a lot of children this age aren’t dry at night!