When did you know your toddler was ready for the big bed?

Id like to move ds into a single bed before the new bub arrives and would like some tips on how to go about it. DS sleeps all over his cot, he will start in one spot and end up all over the cot so this makes me think that he might not be ready to move onto a single bed. Is there such a thing as being ready or do they just learn to sleep in a big bed? I dont want him to fall out of bed in his sleep!

Also what age did you introduce the big bed? How did you go about introducing the new bed to your toddler? What did you find worked or didn't work for your little one?

Thanks for your replies!

We went from cot to mattress on the floor because she hated the cot, she kept running into the bars and waking herself up.

She crawled around the mattress and would often end up on the floor but we bought her a 'big bed' anyway, because it was nice and on special at the time.

We bought a bunk that came apart, and the top bunk is perfect as a 'toddler bed' because the rails are on (but they can be taken off to be two normal single beds or one bunk bed). She's in the 'top bunk' (but its up as a single if that makes sense, so she's not high up in the air haha).
The first few nights were different for her, but I think it was a mixture of new bed, and new mattress (we all know how hard leepig on a new mattress can be those first few days!). But she is in there and liking it.

She helped us put it up and we made it fun and exciting, let her play on it and be comfortable with it. We didn't do anything special, just her normal bedtime routine, just in the single bed. After the first few nights she slept fine. We may have just been very lucky with that though :dunno:

Oh, and she's been on the big bed for about a month now, and was on a mattress on the floor from about 13-14ish months until a months ago.

Oskar was 2 1/2 when he went from the cot, in our room next to my side of the bed to.... his own room and new bed all in one night! HE decided to do it. The bed was in his room for ages but he wouldn't even have a day sleep on it. Then we moved his room around cos he got a train table for his birthday so I needed to move things to fit it in nicely. He got new sheets on the bed and after about a week I think, he just decided to sleep in there and that was that, he's been there ever since.

DD was 18 months when we moved her into her big bed. She also slept all over the cot so we decided to put a mattress on the floor. Amazingly, she stayed there all night. I dont think she realised that there were no sides and that she could climb out!

After a few nights of the same, we put her in the bed, and put an extra mattress on the ground beside the bed in case she fell out. It only happened once, and all has been good since. We don't, and never have used rails either. Just placed the bed up against the wall on one side, and left the other side open.

Hey,
We didn't take DD out of the cot until she started trying to climb out at about 20 months, then we put her on a matress on the floor. It was really hard, Up 20+ times the first few nights and even now 6 months later she still gets out of bed about once a night. She too was all over th cot and we have had a few falls out of bed. she is in a toddler bed at the moment but we're thinking a bigger bed might be better so there's more room to move.
So not a gerat success story here...yet...but ever the optimist
Good luck!

I would love to move DS1 (21 months old) out of cot into bed but I dont think he is ready. He sleeps all over the cot, while we were at my brothers one night put him to sleep on mattress on the floor and he ended up on floor next to mattress curled up in a ball!!
A few nights lately when he hasnt slept thru the night and has been in our bed or with DH on sofa bed he is all over the place and not staying in bed.

At least currently he can scream and chuck stuff but cant escape and cant fall!

Dd was sleeping in her cot under her doona all night and was bored in her cot but hadn't worked out how to climb out yet. We took the side off the cot for a few days and put blankets on the floor incase she fell out. She was fine so we got her a toddler bed and made it into a big deal and she loved it. She was about 18 months too.

She is going into a big single bed in a few weeks before we have number three as we need a third mattress and don't want to buy another small one. She is almost 3 now and is very excited to be getting a big bed.

oooh I've been wondering the same thing - so glad you posted this Beatitude. Can I add a question? How long would you give them to adjust? I'm thinking I try to move him into the big bed a month before I'm due? My DS also sleeps all over the cot, typically head smushed into a corner & bum in the air. Only issues for me: I have a king single for him (and really don't want to buy a toddler bed) and I was thinking I'd put toddler rails on it. I also have a single foam mattress to put on the floor next to it in case. The other thing is that the room isn't big. So I can't have both beds in there, once the cot is gone, it'll be in the new nursery. I "think" i'll just cut him off from the cot cold turkey, is this a good or bad idea? I just can't imagine how it will work once he has the freedom to get in & out of bed himself!!

DD moved in just after christmas, so she would have been 19months, and it was about 3 months before DS was due. We had to go cold turkey as there was no room for the cot and the bed, so we took the cot down (DS went into a bassinete in our room) and put just a normal single bed in the room. We also got a bed guard that is long enough to stop her rolling out, but leaves the bottom end of the bed open so she can get in and out. To begin with, we just put a sheet on there, no pillow or doona (but it was the middle of summer). She was also a big mover in her sleep in the cot, but it wasn't as much of an issue once she went into the bed.

The first couple of weeks, I started off by lying down with her on the bed till she was almost sleepy, then after a week of that, I'd just sit on the chair in her room, and then once she was used to it, she'd happily lie down and we'd say night and pull the door closed...this only lasted for a month or so, and then she started not staying in bed - DH would turn all the lights off in the house and sit in darkness till she got the idea that nothing was happening! After almost a week of that, by fluke, we made her a frothy milk, and DH and I sat at the table with her having a coffee, and then, she happily went to bed. So that became part of our bedtime routine, after dinner, books and bath, then we'd sit and have "coffee' as a family. I think the extra attention worked a treat.

She generally gets herself out of bed between 5 and 6 and comes down to us - she'll often launch a teddy at our head, and then ask to get in.

I don't think she ever gave a "I'm ready for a big bed" signal, it was more a case of wanting her out of the cot in plenty of time for the baby to come.

We moved DS inot a big boy bed when he was 14 months, we took the rail off the cot at 13 months as he started climbing and a distant friend of ours lost her child when they climbed the rail and got their bib stuck and choked to death, so I would rather DS fall the 35cm to the floor than 1metre from the rail, or anything worse.

We got a race car bed of ebay 2nd hand for $50 and its great as it has the little sides on it so it stops him rolling out. Haven't regretted it once, he's so happy in it and we have our minds at peace!

Thanks for all the replies. I think we might try in a month or two and convert the cot to a toddler bed and see how we go. He is going to sleep without too much fan fare at the moment so hopefully he will transition well. I need the cot probably by December as Lachy grew out of the basinette at about two months so i expect this one to grow out quickly too. Do you think an 18 month old will get the excitement of choosing his own big boy bed linen etc or is that just silly at that age?