moving from cot to bed - tips please

I have decided that it's time for Nina to go into a big bed. Reason being is that she keeps waking herself up at night as she's hitting the sides of the cot, and also I need the cot for this new baby, who is due in less than 4 months. So I'm in need of some tips on how to do it. I plan on taking the cot out of her room completely, that way I don't get tempted to put her back in the cot if it gets to hard.
I'm not expecting it to be smooth sailing, so if it is, then bonus for me!
So any tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks :)

Hi i put my DD1 into her "big girls bed" at 18 months for the exact same 2 reasons. We not only got rid of the cot but changed her into a diff room completely. We painted it and got the bed made up etc and kept telling her it was her new big girls room etc. I was going to wait until i finished up work before putting her in their but one night half heartedly i said "do you want to sleep in your cot or big girls bed tonight?" She went straight into her nursery grabbed her cot quilt walked onto her new room stood next to the bed and said "up". Even though she had a new big quilt etc i let her use the cot one that night and we had no probs i tucked her in and she slept through as normal. I think making a fuss of the new bed and room before hand really helped as she was excited by the change also me giving her the choice that night and not demanding that she go in the big bed helped. We have had no majo issues since and she is now 22 months. She did go through a faze of if she got up early she would entertain herself by emptying her drawers etc and trying to get dressed. To stop this i put a small desk with some books in her room. I never have a prob with her getting out of bed at night but she will always get off it in the morning and play for half hour before i go to get her. Friends from playgroup dont like to shut the door to their toddlers rooms and have them hopping into bed with them throughout the nights or exploring the house in the mornings. I personally shut DD's door but she still has a monitor in the room. I think when she can open the door and let herself out i will be putting a gate up as i dont think she will come and get me but go exploring and she likes to play with my oven etc.
Good luck i hope it goes as smoothly as our transition did and i hope i havent rambled too much

Krystal got her 'big girl' bed for christmas, i put it in our room for a week, then moved it into her room, and she has been fine! i slept so lightly when she was in our room, everytime she moved i sat up!

when she wakes during the night now, she comes into our room - i can hear her footsteps on the tiles! we leave the bathroom light on, which is directly across from her room, and ours, but i have all the other lights off, as i know she wont walk out to the lounge without the lights!

having said all that, Krystal is still feeding to sleep, so she is put to bed asleep - probably a bit easier than getting a little on to go to sleep in a new bed..

oh and we took the cot out completely.. it sits near the front door, flat. to which Krystal says everyday 'oh no, bed bwoken' lol so cute

Good luck with it!

Hi Jodi,

I went through this a few months ago and it took a good month for DD to settle properly into her new bed. Good to see you are doing this now before you get too big and can't move!! I decided to transition DD in my second trimester and I am so glad I did.

One big mistake I made was to try and get DD to sleep in her big bed during the day and then put her in the cot at night. I did this for 3weeks and every day time sleep was hell. I eventually got rid of the cot and she transitioned within a week.

Tips

Be consistant
Tell her before bed that she is going to her big bed to sleep
Prep room for sleep - draw curtains, take bubs shoes off, put music on etc ( do this every sleep time)
Tell DD to hop up on bed and put her head down on the pillow
Say to her "It is time for sleep"
Rub/pat her if need be (only till she is calm)

ok now the tricky bit.....your dd may not want to stay on bed....my dd got up constantly and this was the hard part!!!!! This is what I did :

Sit beside the bed on a pillow with my back to DD. Everytime she got up I put her back down and repeated calmly...it is time to sleep. I did not make eye contact and I did not say anything else. This may go on for an hour. DD did end up in tears a few times, but she went to sleep in the end.

After few days I moved myself to the door and waited for DD to settle. Then some days I did not have to sit and wait....now she knows not to get off the bed and she loves her big bed.

Don't forget to make a big deal of your dd after she wakes up from sleeping in the big bed.

Goodluck