URGENT advice required! 21 month old moving into toddler bed tonight!

[Taurean]

OMG, DD has worked out how to escape from her cot!!

I put DD in her cot to play while I have a shower so she is 'safe'. What a joke! I found her yesterday straddled up on the side of it with her leg stuck between the wall and the cot Today we did our usual routine and as I was getting my clothes to take to the bathroom, DD yells out in a very happy voice 'Mummy! Mummy! Up! Out!' and yep, I found her straddled up on the side rail again but on the side that faces out into her room. One little leg swing and she would have been down. I watched her for a several minutes and she does it with such ease and she is so damn proud of herself - we are screwed!

I kept thinking we'd have a bit longer as DD is still in sleeping bags but now I'm worried that she'll keep practicing her new trick at night while in her sleeping bag and will end up diving into the floor. So we've made the executive decision to turn her cot into the toddler bed - TONIGHT.

So please HELP me, what do I need to know and what on earth can we expect??? We've been having an awful run with sleep for the past few weeks now so I figure a bit more sleep deprivation won't hurt. We've bought locks for all her draws and cupboards and I'll be moving anything dangerous from her change table too. We've also bought a new kiddy gate (one of those retractable mesh sort of ones) to put across her door and I'm getting a bed rail once she wakes from her nap.

What else do I need? Any tips to make this transition easier? I'm so not ready for this!!!

[~Trish~]

What a cheeky monkey! Do you have a mattress you could put on the floor next to the cot JIC she falls out overnight rather than changing over to the toddler bed? Otherwise, the only advice I can give you that worked wonderfully for DS1 (who was 23 months) and DS2 when they went into a bed was to tell them they aren't to get out of bed unless mummy or daddy comes to get them! They could call out to say they are awake, but they were not to get out of the bed until we arrived. Even at a young age, toddlers understand a lot more than we give them credit for . Both boys to this day stay in bed until we come into their room or call out to them, even though we've told them they can now LOL!

Good luck tonight!!

[onthefly]

I don't know as DS stopped using the cot at around 8 months and he just slept on a mattress on the floor before going to a proper bed around the same age as your DD now. So it wasn't such a big change for him I guess.
I wouldn't bother with a bed rail. Yes, she may fall out, but she probably won't hurt herself and will quickly learn not to. And Trish's advice is good about the 'rules' for bed.

Anyway, good luck!

[OceanPrincess]

Pick her up and put her in there, like you did the cot. We did that with DD and it took her ages to work out that she could climb herself!

Is she a wriggler? We got one of those mesh bed rails from Target and we still have it up - 2.5yrs. We have found her smooshed up against it several times so I've no doubt that without it she would have fallen out.

No other real advice.. We just made a big deal over "big girl bed!"

Good luck hun!!!

[Artechim]

Good luck! Both of mine moved to big beds when they were about 18 months old but I can't for the life of me think of any hints lol. They were co-sleepers prior to that so they were used to being in a bed and neither ever fell out.

Hope she doesn't give you too much trouble xx

[nattyfred]

Good luck! We put dd in a bed at 19 months. She used to go down really well in the cot but it takes a bit of time to sit with her to keep her on the bed. Now we are dealing with night time wakings and wanderings but hopefully she will settle soon if we stay consistent, not easy when tired ourselves. Please let us know how you go

[Taurean]

Thanks for all the tips and well wishes girls. We are in for an interesting night!

DH is currently installing the gate at her door, her cot has been converted (looks so cute!) and the bed rail is in position (same one as you have OP!). I just need to put all the locks on her draws and cupboards and we are ready to rock....and I'm shaking in my boots! OK, so I'm really wearing my fluffy slippers but I'm pooping my pants! Sleep fairies, throw me a bone please!

Will let you know how we get on!

[FabFiona]

I can just see myself in the same position as you. My son is a complete cheeky monkey and I know we will find him trying to climb out of his cot.

Good luck and let us know how you go.


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[Miss E]

How did it go? I've been wondering about changing DS's cot over, but am still a bit chicken!

[NaeNae]

I am wondering how you went as well x x x

[Taurean]

And the verdict is in! We have good news and bad news

DD didn't go to sleep until 10.30pm She's been hard to settle of late but 9pm has been by far her latest stint. In her defense though, it was a tad bit exciting (lots of up and down, wandering around her room - in her sleeping bag Maggie Simpson style - and a shout of 'Hooray!' every time she climbed in or out of the bed, lol. It was also obviously weird for her so she did have a few meltdowns at the new gate at her door when she realised I wasn't there. But when she finally settled, I sat on the end of her cot with her and she loved that.

She only woke once (probably because she was so exhausted!) but she's been doing that a lot lately so that was nothing new. However, it's been taking me ages to settle her lately (up to 2 hours or so!) but not last night! I climbed into the end of her cot and patted her and 5 minutes later she was asleep!!! She's only just woken now at 8am

So I think you could call it a success although I think her day sleep today could be very interesting. And until the up/down novelty wears off, I think getting her down (both night and day) might be a struggle.

Will keep updating though!

PS the cot rail was certainly needed as boy does she roll around a lot but it definitely didn't trick her into thinking she was 'locked in' - she worked out straight away she could get down from the cot Oh well, it helped regardless

[OceanPrincess]

Well that sounds like there were some small wins! Good luck with her day sleep!

[OceanPrincess]

Oh, and...

...in her defense though, it was a tad bit exciting (lots of up and down, wandering around her room - in her sleeping bag Maggie Simpson style - and a shout of 'Hooray!' every time she climbed in or out of the bed, lol.

So cute.

[Taurean]

Oh, and...





So cute.

I struggled to contain my laughter at this! It was adorable!

[OceanPrincess]

Don't you hate it when that happens? They do something a little naughty or somewhat undesirable and you're trying not to laugh cuz you just know its going to encourage them!

DD said the other day "Mummy I got poo on my finger and put it in my mouth!" and after I made sure I heard her correctly I had to try and tell her why we don't put poo in our mouths, while trying to maintain a straight face...

[Taurean]

Don't you hate it when that happens? They do something a little naughty or somewhat undesirable and you're trying not to laugh cuz you just know its going to encourage them!

DD said the other day "Mummy I got poo on my finger and put it in my mouth!" and after I made sure I heard her correctly I had to try and tell her why we don't put poo in our mouths, while trying to maintain a straight face...

Ewww but PMSL!! I'd be struggling not to wet myself at that comment too!

Next update!!!

Tried to put DD down for her nap but she wanted to play, despite me sitting on her bed trying to relax her. I gave up after 10 minutes and told her it was time for sleep and mummy was now leaving her room. She went mental and tried to follow me out so even though the kiddie gate was closed, I shut her door too so she couldn't see out. I figured I'd give her 5 then try to settle her again. Well I don't reckon she made it to 2 minutes before she went quiet. I listened through the door for a bit and could hear she'd turned her musical seahorse/night light on. That was a good sign as she turns it on to help her fall asleep. I thought I'd give her 10 minutes before I opened the door for a sneak peak. Well, she's back in her bed sound asleep I'm not sure how long it'll last but I'm one happy mummy right now!!!

[OceanPrincess]

Yay!!! That sounds great!! Now for the joys of when they get out and bring things back into bed with them... One night we found DD tucked up in bed (like four hours after bedtime), fast asleep under the covers, with her toy pram ON the bed.

Yes she had gotten out, grabbed the pram, put it on the bed and very carefully got back into bed, tucked herself back under the covers and went to sleep

My DD is a character, that's for sure...

[Taurean]

OP - classic!!! That is the sort of thing my DD would do too - for sure! DD was walking around with her shopping trolley last night and all her little groceries in it PLUS all her dad's jocks that had been drying on the clothes horse! I guess I should be glad she had the clean jocks!

I'm trying to work out how to lock her sliding (mirror) wardrobes and she managed to get into them last night (the sticky locks didn't work) and pulled all her shoes out of the cupboard I just googled and found Dream Baby have a device that should work, it's designed for glass sliding doors. Fingers crossed!