When did you switch to a 'big kid bed'??

Hi there,
DS is only 10 months, so I'm not rushing into anything right now, but I was jsut wondering, how old was your little munchkin when you swapped from a cot to a toddler bed???
DS is confidently walking along walls and couches etc and has even stood for a bit holding onto nothing, so I'm thinking it's time to start looking into these things as I don't want him climbing the rails and cracking his head. He's also a very confident climber of anything stationary...

Any advice or help would be great!

Ella

Good question! Annabelle is just over 2 and still in her cot. So Im also curious when most transfer their little one ;)
Single or double?

Yeah we were thinking of getting a cool fire engine bed or something, but also don't know if that's best for DS or whether kids cope better with just a normal single bed????

Either way I know to put one side of the bed against the wall so they dont fall out and a 'side bar' thingy on the other side ;)
I hear of LOTS of boys going into 'car' beds for their 1st bed ;)
I have had my families antiqe (SP) double bed powder coated pink for Annabelle. She's not ready for a bed just yet so Ill hold off. But when she is 'ready' it'll be a double. Wouldn't they have less of a chance of falling out of a double? Might just be a little 'empty' and dawnting (SP)

hehe Oskar is still in a cot too and he's almost 2 1/2. He doesn't climb out and he stays IN and sleeps!! I think it really depends on the individual. Joshua was in a bed before he was 2 but he used to climb out of the cot too so it didn't leave a choice.

Hi,

We moved ds into a big bed around 2 1/2. He never climbed out so I never saw the need to move him any earlier than that. 2 1/2 was the right time for us coz that's when he started to get too tall for his cot (he's a tall kid, in the next size clothes 6mts before the age), and we were given a bed for him.

He's in a normal single size pipeline bed. I have it pushed against a wall and a safety rail on the other side. Ds is 4 next month and I can't see us taking off the rail anytime soon. He wriggles soooo much in his sleep!!!

My gf bought a Nemo toddler bed, good if it's for your first child and you have at least 1 more to use it but she found it only lasted about 12mts before it was a bit on the small size. Maybe a fire engine doona cover instead? Save buying 2 beds.

I moved DD1 out of the cot when she was about 19mths old - we needed the cot for her sister! :lol:

She moved to a single bed, with a rail on the side, and she slept soooo much better in her bed from day one! She was always really restless in her cot, and I think she kept bumping the sides and waking up. She has only fallen out of the bed twice, and she has been in there for a year now! (once she didn't even wake up when she fell!)

we moved Jack at 27mths no real reason just decided to, he went straight into a standard single we did have a safety first safety rail thing but that got taken off after a month or so as it was a PIA!!! he hasn't fallen out, I have friends who moved there kids at 13mths cause they were climbing out of cots etc, they went into toddler beds

with my 1st two winkies they were 2.5 years as I was UTD with the next one and didnt want them to blame the baby, but with DD2 she has only just gotten her Big girl bed and she is 3... it all depends on your child some become climers and it can be safer for them to have a big bed but others can be wiggers and are better off in the cot with all side to keep them in bed without falling out...

Question: Im really worried about Annabelle getting up during the night and playing with her toys in her room. Or pulling something onto herself? Does this happen?

We moved DD into her new bed on the weekend (27 months), only because she climbed out of her cot last week and fell badly :doh:
We just made sure her room was as safe as possible in case she goes exploring during sleep time!

They look soo cute in a bed!
I definitely wouldn't rush it though..unless there's a reason to.

DD moved into a big girl bed 2 weeks ago at 17.5 months old. There were 2 reasons we made the move when we did.
1. She's tall for her age and kept hitting her head on the cot bars and had only about 10cm of room between her feet and the end of the cot.
2. We moved house and didn't think it was worth it to set up the cot for probably only a few weeks.

With the exception of the first night in her big bed (and last night), she sleeps better - usually sleeping all night.

Thanks for the replies girls, I get the feeling DS is going to be an early mover to the big bed as he is so interested in climbing things and is looking eagerly outside the cot at every chance. i won't be rushing it though and I think we might just go with the single bed as you're right I don't really want to have to buy two. Has anyone had bunk beds??? I was thinking that might be a cool idea???

DD went into a single ensemble at 16months. She never climbed, she just simply decided she was never going to sleep in the cot again :rolleyes: It took me about a week to figure out that was what she was wanting as all of a sudden our normally great bedtimes were horrendous and that continued all night long.
She instantly slept better and has never had a rail. The only times she has fallen out are when she was mucking around. One side is against the wall though.
I have more trouble with her now getting out as she is able to make those sorts of decisions. Some people put a baby gate on the child's room so they can't get out in the night, but we never bothered. It's her room so it's safe and my spidey senses hear her step out of that room anyway lol.

My DD1 was climbing out of the cot at 17 months so she got moved to a junior bed, my DD2 didn't really go in the cot. She went straight from hammock, to our bed, to the junior bed. DD1 got a bunk bed but we have had to take it apart as DD2 has fallen off the top bunk twice... she will play up there & fall off... so we took it apart until DD2 is older (she's nearly 3).

We moved DD at 18 months - she had outgrown the cot. She was constantly banging herself and sleeping poorly as a result. We've had few problems with the single bed (we skipped toddler bed). It was about 6 months in the new bed before she realised she could get out and visit us. We knocked that on the head pretty quickly! We never bothered with a side rail and she has only fallen out twice in her sleep. She loves her bed.

If DS starts walking and climbing soon as I think he will, do you think there is a too early point or is it just when he seems ready???

great question - thanks for posting this Ella - DH and i were talking about that last night and wondering the same thing - but we are in no hurry to move Miss B yet - she is growing fast enough already - however i do think it might not be too far away - we have one of those cots that turn into a bed - so hopefully she wont have too much trouble adjusting when the time comes! which is hopefully a little while away!

Hhhmm now that I'm thinking about it, is there a 'best way' to help them adjust, like putting the bed in for a bit before they have to sleep in it?

We did day sleeps for a week prior to trying night sleeps with DD2. With DD1, she slept better in a bed than a cot, but we were in denial that a 16 month old would climb out of a cot, so we put a mattress next to the cot and would lay on it next to her... she started sleeping on the single mattress until we bought her the junior bed.

Personally, if we were going through it again, I would keep them in the cots as long as I could. As long as they sleep well, don't go changing... if they don't sleep well, try whatever works best for your family!

we didn't do anything special. We just took the cot away and put the single bed in. no drama's for us. I agree with Christy about leaving them in the cot as long as possible if they're sleeping ok and there aren't any problems. For us, we did it because DD just wasn't sleeping in her cot that well.

For us it was also a new room for her, so we were setting the room up for her for a few weeks, and telling her all about her "big girls room" and "big girl bed" - took her shopping for bed linen etc.

when it came time for her to actually sleep in there we moved her cot into the new room to help her transition - but she didn't want to sleep in it - she wanted the bed! And that was it, no dramas :)

I think preparing her in advance really helped.

I moved DS into a bed when he was 15 months. He hated his cot with a passion, so it was what was best for us. It was a cot that turned into a toddler bed. DS was used to sleeping on a normal bed as he co-slept with me for ages. That's how I knew it was the right thing to do. I slept on the floor on a foam mattress while DS was adjusting, and just eventually stopped doing that after a few nights. He now sleeps in a regular single bed....(new room and move overseas) and doesn't get out.

As with everything each kid is different and you'll know when the time is right.