Should i buy another cot for the new baby or a bed for 18 month old DS?

[Junglemum]

DD was 18 months when DD2 was born. DD transitioned into a regular singlebed with a safety rail with no problems. I bought a new bed spread with cool dragonflies on it, and put it in another room. DD helped me put some toys in there and we played a bit and i was talking a lot about the big girl's bed and about how when she was bigger she could sleep in there. After a few days she asked to sleep in the big girls bed. I told her she was only allowed if she stayed in bed! She did, i don't think she ever got out for about 6 months, she'd wake and call out to me! We had DD2 in a bassinet for a couple of months so if she wanted/needed to go back into the cot she could, but she never did.

[Beautitude]

We are having the same dilema. DS has only just started sleeping better at night and i dont really want to move him out of his bed and undo all the work we have done. Plus he LOVES his cot and doesn't sleep well anywhere else. I think at this stage we are going to get the new bub a cradle as they are slightly bigger than a basinette and use that till ds is ready to go to a bed. We figure if we can get 6ish months in the cradle ds will be nearly 2.5 and will prob understand the transition a bit better. Plus DS is such a monkey im afraid that we will have a horrible time getting him to stay in the bed but by that age we might be able to reason with him a bit more.

[*EJ*]

It's a tricky one and we've been there also and about to be there again.

For us we were lucky enough to be able to borrow a cot with the first new arrival and i think we can again this time around. It worked really well for us, when the transition was made to a bed DS1 had absolutely no issues and would still wait in bed for us to come and get him (only for a short time )

I'm hoping it's as smooth for DS2

Good luck and hope it's a smooth transition.

[maz]

with the first 3 they all went into a normal single bed by 12 months..seeign we co slept most of the time before hand I saw no difference from going into a single to my bed KWIM

With tank we bought a toddler bed because of the distance from the top of the bed and the floor. That jolt of getting down was no good for his cerebal palsey KWIM. We bought it hte same colour as his cot (not that he slept in there much) and the transition was a bit hit and miss as he slept with us most of the time....thankfully he is our last cause i dont know how I could do it with a baby

If your going to d it I would consider doing it before bub arrives hon. You dont want him to be jealous of the baby taking his cot KWIM

[Traveller]

I had 15 mths between DS1 and DS2, and decided to put DS1 in a bed so the new baby could have the cot but this did not work for us as he loved the bed for the fact he could get out of it 100x a night. In the end we borrowed a cot for the new baby and had both cots in the same room until DS1 was over 2. However I know a lot of kids are happy in a bed at a younger age so it really depends on your oldest child and how they cope.

Do you have anyone who could lend you a cot as a temporary measure? I bought a new mattress following SIDS guidelines (although not sure if they are still current) but it was much cheaper than buying an entire cot.

[rufalina]

We didn't get a second cot... I just moved DS onto a mattress on the floor at about 16m and he is still there... We haven't got around to buying him a bed yet... (oops). We bought a good mattress, just need to find the right base for it... I did have DS2 in a bassinet for a while, but had moved DS1 to the bed before he come along, so he didn't feel too displaced...

[Raupe]

Maybe the extendable bed from Ikea (mentioned earlier) might be a good idea. You can have it short (toddler size bed) to begin with so he is snuggly and feels safe, and then extend it when he needs a bigger bed (or you have to be in the bed with him ) This way you don't have to get a toddler bed as well as a single bed later on...