From cot to bed BEFORE age 2?

[MummyNaomi]

we moved DS to a bed (at floor level) at 20 months as he used to roll around and smack his head on the cot and wake himself, he is on a single sized mattress as the cot mattress was too small (he'd roll off it), still rolls of the single actually but as its at floor level it doesnt matter

I have to say that his sleeping improved out of sight!!

[LimeSlice]

When DD1 was about 16 months or so I think, can't remember, we just took the side off her cot.
Easy. No need to buy a toddler bed So she had a 3 sided cot and just slept on that. (DH had to lower the base of it further when she was 1 as she was too tall for it, so it was quite low to the ground anyway)

Anyway, worked well til we gave her the king single about 6 months ago or so. She has fallen out 2 times, once from the bed, once from the cot, never hurt herself and we never bothered with a rail. I used to put pillows on the fall beside the cot for about the first month.

HTH

[Jellyfish]

I moved DD to a bed at around 15mo.

[Catastrophic]

DD 15m, we moves house, I did put her cot up, then decided she can sleep in her toddler bed, I got it as a freebie, we tried one night with the cot still up, and she screamed and wouldnt settle so put her back in the cot, the next day we put the mattress back on the toddler bed and her and her sister played in it and that night I put her to bed and she fell asleep and hasn't been in a cot ever since.
With DD1 I think she was 18m and we took the side off the cot, she was about 2 when we put her straight to a king single bed, with a rail.

It wasn't much of a transition for both girls. They both went pretty easily into settling into their big girls beds.


Love MN ;-)

[Beach Mama]

My DD went in at 15 mths, we had the bed set up in her room because of DS' impending arrival, and she chose to go in there earlier than when he arrived. It was low to the ground but you will probably find that she will sleep better in the bed. As long as you have things set up it will be fine. We also have our DS on a mattress on the floor now - we haven't bought his new bed which is coming next next week but it worked well because it is a bed sized mattress and low to the floor.

[Tinsel]

DD1 moved into the toddler bed when DD2 arrived (she was almost 19 months) and she was fine. DD2 hated the rails in the cot and was getting increasingly harder to get her to sleep so we converted her cot to a toddler bed (with side rails) and she is great. She was about 15 months old. DD1 really wanted a pillow so we got her a really flat cot pillow and DD2 has only started using a pillow and she is 20 months old.

[sloane]

pretty much the same as madB (it was actually on her suggestion that we tried it ) - DS was on a king single mattress on the floor from about 9 months. he's pretty much always shared a bed with me, so there wasn't much time in his cot! but a mattress made it easy to feed (he used to feed to sleep) & settle him. it also meant i could sleep with him overnight when needed (ok, most nights). we've just put the base on the bed at 20 months. we have the cot matress alongside the bed in case he falls off (he's only done it once).

[helle]

A friend of mine moved her 15 month old to a bed after he tried to wriggle out of her cot. She got both her legs stuck and my friend had to call her brother (her DH does FIFO) over so he could saw the cot apart to free her little legs
She has adjusted to a bed fine. It's a normal single bed and she has just attached a rail to one side (one of those mesh ones) and the other is pushed against a wall.

[Glamoreyez]

DD was a shocking sleeper in her cot - I think she is like me and doesn't like small spaces...
At 15mths we were given a toddler bed so we took her cot out of the room and put her bed in. All day she played on it and that night she went down like a dream and has never slept better!!!
She does get up occasionally in the early hours of the morning but she just comes into bed with us - this happened maybe 1 out of 30 nights and is usually when she is sick...

[tanyaya]

thanks for this thread - i've been following it with interest

We moved DS (23 months) to a toddler bed a month ago, as he was able to climb out of his cot and it was dangerous.... although we didn't feel completely ready (or that he was). It was good timing for the family in some ways, as we have another little one on the way soon, not sure if bubs will go straight to the cot though.

we have had mixed success with the toddler bed - he comes into our bed nightly at 2-4am when he wakes.... sigh.... and i find myself putting him to bed really tired, as him getting up after his bottle (yes, we still settle him with a bottle!) is 1) a bad habit (the bottle) and 2) really frustrating when he gets up

so i still don't think we've cracked it. i've had a few weeks of really bad sleep, no doubt due to being pg, but i'm a little worried about how we're going to juggle 2 kids and no sleep, so i think we'll be calling tweedle (or going to sleep school) asap.

[aussienic]

If you want to know if she is ready you can try a bed for day sleeps?

I have moved all 4 of my kids at various ages from cot to bed and only one was 2 the next 3 werre all under 2. DS2 was 16 months when we moved him.. not really sure why but we did and he slept so well

My DD was doing the same thing your DD was doing so we started her on a bed for day sleeps and then took her cot down one morning and went from there.. You will have moments when they run out of the room ect but they eventually get used to it and realize its bed time

[aussienic]

Oh and I never had any interest in a toddler bed until we got one for DS3, now I would recommend them as we had no issues moving our kids from toddler bed to bed

[black_rose]

Dd2 moved to a toddler bed at 16 months by accident. She was going to be sharing with Ds when he was born and we set up the toddler bed in her room just to see if it would fit and she hopped straight in for a nap and never looked back. She put herself down for naps when she was ready.

[HotI]

What type of blankets do you use for a little person (12 months old) on a single mattress/bed?

Is a doona appropriate or not cos of potential wiggling?

Do you put the child at the head end or more towards the foot end (like in a cot)?

Ta

[Gigi]

bilby went into a single bed before two (with rail and HEAPS of pillows UNDER the sheets to build up the sides, so she was sleeping in the recess. but no pillow for her head, above the sheets, to sleep on at that age. As long as she got her breastfeed to sleep, she was fine. But sometime during the night, i would hear a pad pad pad down the corridor, and there she would be, sleepily, coming to find me for a breastfeed. Like a homing pigeon. LOL.

i agree, you know when YOUR child is ready for a bed. the mattress on the floor sounds a great idea.

[LimeSlice]

Does she have a cot, Kate? At 12 months, you may do better to just take the drop side off the cot altogether, so you essentially have a sitter bed. This way they will not feel so caged in, there is nothing to climb out over, but the bedspace itself is still comfortingly smaller.
Then you can continue to do exactly as you do now, just with the side off.

This is the first night with the side off at our place when we went in to check on her. She is still sound asleep in this pic, and did not wake when we moved her back into the bed... Alexis Photos | Facebook

So she was on a pillow, a very flat one, and we put a second pillow lengthways down the outside of the cot. We have never used a cot rail or anything. And she has a cot doona.

HTH

[peanutter]

DS is getting a big boy bed for his 1st birthday. No pillow for a while, though.

Sheets, blanket, and probably a light doona until we figure out if he takes after DH (a hot bot) or me (freezes overnight!)

But we're wondering about how Josh will cope with the transition from sleeping bags to pure sheets and blankets ... we don't use a sleeping bag for his daytime naps, so hopefully will go ok.

Good luck for your transition too!

[HotI]

Does she have a cot, Kate? At 12 months, you may do better to just take the drop side off the cot altogether, so you essentially have a sitter bed. This way they will not feel so caged in, there is nothing to climb out over, but the bedspace itself is still comfortingly smaller.

Cute pic! We have a cot but DD doesn't sleep in it much. She is mainly in our bed. It is much nicer for her and me to get her to sleep on our bed, this is why i am considering ditching the cot altogether. She slept in a hammock and in our bed up to 6 months. The transition to cot has been a long process and never really worked.

The cot we have has a side that goes down, but doesn't even go low enough to be able to use it as a proper side car. I don't think i can take the side off because the sides hold the 2 ends in place.

DH is on night shift the next 2 nights but we are going to give it a go the following night. wish us luck!