From cot to bed... When did you do it?

[lil]

DS is a big mover in his sleep and, apart from the one fall last week, has never had an issue. I usually have to turn him around the right way before I go to bed so I can put his covers though...

[LoveNeverFails]

Great to read everyone's stories! Sounds like I started a little late... But I'm not worried as I know it was the right time for DD. Someone mentioned they had trouble with day naps in the normal bed? Our DD is the same. She's so excited to be in the big girl bed she takes a while to nap... Sometimes doesnt. I think it also has something to do with her curtains though. We actually had block out curtains, had to change them as our window got mould, and the new curtains aren't full blockout. I think we have to get full blocking curtains again as the less bub can see, the more likely she will sleep.

Lol @ kids getting up and out of room. My twin sisters used to do that at night. Mum put a lock on the door (the wrong way around so it locked from the outside) and locked them in for the first few hours (checked on them with video baby monitors) and we watched them creep out of bed, go to the door, turn the handle, chuck a fit and eventually climb back into bed haha. After about a week they stopped trying and she took the lock off after two weeks. Worked a treat! I don't have that prob with DD ... Yet.. Hope I don't! If i do i might make like Miss C and try the door rail though. But yeh she's pretty good in the morning she acted just as she would in the cot and waited for me to come :-)

Now it's just mastering potty training... Sigh. Might have to start a thread on that!

[LoveNeverFails]

Good grief speaking of kids running a muck in bed... DD is supposed to be taking a nap right now and I can hear very loud BANGs hahaha. I know it's her feet hitting the wall though as our walls are extremely thin, not brick. She is singing and pounding her feet on the wall. Sigh. At least she's happy and not getting up hahaha.

[frenchieM]

We made the change by necessity as I was due with DD. We moved DS when he was 2.5yo (I remember it clearly, we moved him on boxing day!). I don't do anything in halves so there was no "only day sleep" thing LOL, if he was going to be in a bed I decided it was all or nothing!! and we moved him 6mths before DD was born because I didn't want to think she was to blame for the change IYKWIM?? So I do think the sooner the better, don't leave it till the last minute.

I told him the cot was for babies and the bed was for big boys. We set up a bed rail for him so he wouldn't fall out, and he went in a normal single bed (in a different room too).
I didn't have any problems, he has always been a good sleeper at night-time though, it took him months to figure out he could actually get out of bed. He used to just call out for us in the mornings to come get him. When he did figure out he could get out of bed, we bought him a groclock and now he is 4.5yo and only gets out of bed when he needs to go to the toilet (and then promptly goes back to bed!) or when the sun comes up on the clock and he knows it is morning.

[LoveNeverFails]

Frenchie: we're pretty much in exact same situation. Bub nearly 2.5, normal single bed not toddler bed, different room, no problems so far. We had the time to do the day nap thing as this next one was planned and We knew we could take it slow but yeh same reason as you for completing the transition right now. Dont want a big change like that for DD1 in the midst of the new arrival. I moved all DD's stuff into the single bed room today and told her its her new special big girl room. She is loving it and keeps climbing into the new bed just to chill in it haha. So we had a very peaceful transition, and still have 5 or so months to go before next one Arrives :-)

[frenchieM]

Well done, you sound like a planner like I am I like being organised.

[LoveNeverFails]

Lol frenchie... I like being organized very much and sadly
I am NOT at all a natural at it. I was completely useless at being organised a few yrs ago, couldn't get anywhere on time, forgot everything etc... but my hubby is fantastic at being organised and "trained" me well. I'm like a greatful puppy dog as pathetic as that sounds hahaha.

[Jellybubble]

DD1 was 2yrs 2months. we moved house and DD2 was due in a month so decided to put DD1 into her big girl bed because we would need the cot for DD2 and didnt want DD1 thinking the baby was taking her bed iykwim. She went straight into a single bed with a rail on it. DD2 wasnt 2 yet im not sure exactly when she went into a bed off the top of my head but it was definatly before she was 2, she started climbing out of her cot so i didnt have much choice. i was going to convert the cot to a toddler bed for her but i ended up going straight into a single bed because i had it there. I pulled the cot down straight away.

DD1 did beautifully and woulnt crawl out and actually called out to me to get her out of bed until she realised she could crawl out herself. DD2 liked to climb out of bed for her night sleeps so i put a gate on the door and she would eventually crawl back into bed.

I think you just do what is right for you and your child, every one is different and what works for one person might not work for someone else.

[bink84]

This is good for me but I am starting to feel that I will be doing the transition much earlier than most. My DS is nearly 14 mths and will be going into a big bed soon as I am 13wks PG and he is also getting too big for his cot (its much smaller than a standard cot). I was also thinking of getting a safety gate for his doorway to stop him from getting up in the middle of the night and playing with everything he shouldn't.

My biggest worry is that we will be attempting to have DS plus the new bub in the same room. We do have a spare room that we can convert to our kids bedroom but we have a lot of family that come and stay with us so we really need the spare room with the double bed.

[xjessicax]

We moved DS1 into a toddler bed at 18 months, as his brother was due when he was 21 months. I would occasionally have to sit in his room, particularly to start with, but he soon got the point that bed time was bed time, not play time.
DS2 moved into a bed at 18 months of age as he kept climbing out of the cot
We had more trouble with the boys then as they'd run across the hall and jump into bed together.

I think the main thing is that when sent to their rooms, they aren't sent to their bed, therefore don't associate their beds with anything negative. We also let them pick a doona to help with the transition, and they had a special cuddly to take with them. Good luck!