from cot to cot bed

[pommie]

Just wondered what age people moved their child from a cot into a cotbed? My daughter is 16 months old (is big for her age) and I am struggling to sometimes even lean over to get her out of the cot. Also i am worried she may try to climb out of the cot (head first!).

[Pickle]

I only just moved my son (just turned 3) after Christmas! It made the transition very easy, as he's old enough to understand when I tell him to stay put. My daughter is 19 months and I plan to keep the side on her cot for as long as possible, as I know she'd be a nightmare if she had an opportunity to get out. Our cot beds are very deep, so I would struggle to reach and lift her out if she was lying down, but she always stands up when I come into the room which is helpful :)

[pommie]

yeah my daughter stands up but shes not a light baby so sometimes find it hard to pick her up!!

[prdarling]

Mine both moved from a cotbed with sides on, to an adult size single bed just after they were 2. With DS1 it was easy peasy as he loves his sleep so it never occurred to him to get out once he was in. DS2 is slightly trickier but because he shares a room with DS1 and wants to be grown up like him, we made the move sooner than we would have just for some peace and quiet. We have to make sure he's on-his-knees tired before putting him down, otherwise he does get out and mess around but there is a babygate over their bedroom door so he can't go far

[Gubodge]

#1 child was about 18 months, #2 around two. Both times we only took one side off to start with, just in case it was a disaster. It never was though and they were very happy with their big girls bed with a fold down bed guard. They never even attempted to get out in the night, #1 because she's just ever so good, #2 just didn't seem to think of it. It was a bit of a pain actually, she'd wake up in the morning and rather than trotting into see us would still just lie there and bellow until we came and got her. Weirdo.

[Moos]

I read this thread (and wasn't there another one recently? anyway, couldn't find it) with great interest, as Moosling is not many months away from 3, and still in a sleeping bag in a cot.

Decided at the time to leave him as he was happy where he was but then circumstances changed and we needed to change the cot to a cot bed. That was 2 nights ago, and maybe we have trouble ahead of us but so far he's slept very happily in his new big-boy bed, and all is well. Amazing! and feels terribly exciting, like a bit of a milestone. Next step - switch to a duvet...

[Bishberro]

My lo is a few weeks off 2 and has so far shown no inclination to climb over the cot bed rails so going to leave the sides on for as long as possible. But for those like Moos who left them in a cot until 3ish, what did you do when you went away? My son is starting to look a bit cramped in his travel cot plus we're expecting number 2 in the summer so wondered whether I'd need to buy another travel cot. I didn't want to risk a sleepless holiday by suddenly putting him in a bed if he's not used to it at home but wasn't sure what age travel cots last up until.

[underhillroad]

we decided we had to make the move from cot to toddler bed when our daughter (then about 22 months) decided that she would fling herself over the sides of the cot whilst still in her sleeping bag. Not ideal and possibly pretty dangerous! The cot was at its lowest level for the mattress and it wasn't a cot bed so we couldn't take the sides off. We got a toddler bed - off the EDforum actually so 2nd hand and it is great (but no thanks to the person who sold it to us with an incomplete set of screws and support bits to fix it together and that is a whole other story) and our daughter took to it pretty well. We got her used to the duvet in her cot first before we moved to the big bed. When we first moved her it took her about a month to realise that she could get out of bed herself and this coincided with her being unwell so it was a whole month of her hollering at night to come and get her and early in the morning too. Then she stopped being ill and slept right through in her bed from when we put her in at night (though now bedtime is a little less rigid as she does have to be pretty tired or nearly pretty tired to just stay there but this is about 90% of nights in reality) and in the morning she started to just get out of bed and start playing with her toys or going to her big brothers room to play with his (usually he is awake before her but when he isn't she soon wakes him up which is usually ok but sometimes it is just too early and in that case I or my husband have to swoop in quickly to take her out of his room before he wakes up). I still have the stiargate at the top of the stairs so she can't go downstairs before we're awake incase she starts causing chaos in the kitchen or something but otherwise it works pretty well. Except for the nights when she decides that she wants to be awake (probably once a fortnight) and then she refuses to go to bed at bedtime and keeps getting up when you've put her in bed and no amount of reasoning or anything will work (shes 2 and nearly 4 months). But in her defence this is pretty rare. Good luck with the transition.

[Sanne Panne]

pommie Wrote:

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> yeah my daughter stands up but shes not a light

> baby so sometimes find it hard to pick her up!!

Same here, my 20mo is massive (14 kilos) and I'm 6 months pregnant so we have a good reason to transition her but she's still so happy in her cot and such a good sleeper (don't want to EVER mess with a good sleeper - I've been on the other side)... for now my husband does most of the in-and-out-of-bed lifting but we may have to bite the bullet within a couple of months :(

[Vickster]

After finding our son balanced along the top of the rail of his cotbed last night ::o screaming his head off, we have decided to take the plunge and take the sides off. He is 2 1/4 and I don't really want him roaming around the house on his own in the night if he does get up, so have decided to put the stairgate across his bedroom door as recommended above. Is this what most people have done once their child has moved into a bed? How long until you have let them have free roam?

[nunheadmum]

Just having moved no2 into a bed, we've had to reinstate the stairgate. I can't remember exactly how long we kept it with no1 but essentially it was until we felt she could reliably negotiate the stairs without falling - with a bit of leeway to anticipate the fact that she might be sleepy.

Ours is across the landing and keeps us gated too so it's a real nuisance - but worth it for the peace of mind.

[The Nappy Lady]

My 21 month old has just started sleeping with her 6 year old sister in a big double bed - soooo cute, and she is sleeping later in the mornings as well which is a brilliant result. We've put rails along her side of the double bed and have had to threaten a return to her cot a couple of times if she didn't snuggle down as she gets a bit excited at bedtime, but her big sis is very good at helping her to settle.

We've still got a stairgate, though haven't had any issues with night time wandering, and the first thing she does in the morning now is come in to me. Much nicer being woken by her smiley face next to my bed than her crying/shouting from the next room.

Molly

[nicolemodesti]

If only I could get mine into his cot bed...will only go in our bed now! Gone from independent sleeper to co sleeper at 22 months. Any thoughts? Has slept in it about 3 times then found his way to us at about 2am! He becomes quite hysterical at going in there to the point of throwing up though will quite happily play/sit/read on it during the day. He is quite a tall boy and does tend to move around alot during the night so wondering if we should invest in a larger bed? We are also due to move house very soon and want to try to get this sorted once we have moved....so many friends have told me their own children slept with them til 5!!!!

Maybe Molly would like to loan out her older daughter........

[The Nappy Lady]

LOL but you'd have to have her little Sis too - not sure she'd settle without her now.

Poor you with your son - maybe moving house and a bigger bed will do it - fingers crossed.

Molly

[nicolemodesti]

Molly I would gladly take them both at the moment or send mine round to you!!!!