I think give him the choice. Ask if he wants to sleep in his big boy bed & really encourage it. Then if after a week or so of him sleeping in there, maybe ask if its ok if his sister sleeps in the baby bed now. Explain to him that she's getting too big for her bed.
I think let him lead the way, or think he is & things should be ok.
I agree with the gate to the lounge room too. I've never had gates or closed doors to the bedrooms. If my babies need me they come to me. Just remember to tell him where you are if he needs you. That you'll be in bed, not in the kitchen etc.
Good luck
I dont know if this will help but heres what we did with DD1.
*we involved her with finding sheets/pillow etc for her big girl bed
*we were changing rooms at the same time, so we put her cot in the new room next to the bed - she wanted to sleep in the bed though so it was only in there for the first night.
*we layed down with her at first - I had a 4 week plan to gradually move away till I was leaving the room when she was awake and it worked really well!
*we have a baby gate across the hallway about a metre from her door so she can come out of her room but not very far! We have to though, because its upstairs...
Ooh, I'll be watching this thread with interest as I think it's time for DD to go into a big girls' bed herself - for one, she is getting too big for the portacot she's slept in since she grew out of her bassinette, two, new baby is arriving any day now and will be going into said portacot when she's too big for the bassinette. I'm planning on introducing big girl's bed for DD while bub is in the bassinette in DH's and my room to prevent feeling shunted out, kwim?
I personally am working on things gradually. We don't have a bed for DD yet (DH is resisting spending the money *right this second* but I'm pushing for it because I know the longer we leave it, the longer DD will stay in her cot - I'm thinking of using some of the baby bonus to go out and get a bed for DD), but we are doing things like introducing the linens etc she will have for her bed. Her baby blankies aren't terribly warm so the other day I took her out shopping and we chose a single-size doona, and I let DD go nuts choosing the quilt cover for it (she chose a gorgeous white cover with multi-coloured spots on it, it's adorable!). We 'tested' out pillows and I let her choose one that she now sleeps with (complete with spotted pillowcase to match the quilt cover lol), and I hope this will make it a bit easier to transition her from cot to bed because she's now familiar with (and LOVES) her spotty pillow and doona.
We have had a baby gate on DD's room for months, even though she is in a cot (and confined to it when I put her in there, although she can *almost* swing a leg over the side now). This was purely to stop our dog getting in there at night (I leave the door open so DD can yell out of she needs us, and we don't have a night-light in there so I leave the door open and the laundry light on so she can see where she is, she doesn't like pitch-darkness) and peeing/pooing on the floor or tearing up DD's toys, so she is used to it now and it isn't a worry.
I will definitely be keeping the baby gate when she goes into a big bed because she loves playing games - we did have a single bed in there (it was the spare room, DH got rid of it because it was a bit rickety and taking up too much room) and DD slept in it a couple of times but would keep coming out and laughing that she wasn't confined to her cot, kwim? So the baby gate will stay, just to enforce that bedtime means just that, not 'get out and run around and drive mum and dad crazy for three hours a night' kind of thing. I figure it will be no different to her situation now - she can still sing out if she wants a drink of water or has a bad dream and I will come to her straight away, but it will stop that novelty of being able to get out of bed of her own accord and move freely around the house.
Umm and I'm planning on starting a new bedtime routine, at the moment DD has story and a bottle in the lounge room with DH and I, then when she finishes her bottle I put her to bed. I figure I will change this to giving her a bottle and reading her a story once I've tucked her in, and hopefully she will be too tired and comfy to bother getting out of bed, if that makes sense? I think for the most part though, the transition from cot to bed is just one of repetition, patience, consistency and putting them back to bed, and again, and again, and again, until they get the hint.
Good luck with it, hopefully your little man settles in with no major problems and everything works out well for you!!
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