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Talk to me about moving to a toddler bed/taking sides off the cot
F has just turned 2 and, up until now, I wasn't planning on converting his cot to the cotbed because he sleeps so well as it is and there have been no escape attempts as yet. However, I am beginning to wonder if we should perhaps start making the transition mainly because I'm finding it increasingly different to lift him in and out with my head/neck issues especially as he's getting heavier (and this is all going to become harder in the coming months with a growing bump too!)
My main concern is that he's always been very active in his sleep in that he'll literally move over every inch of the cot during the night. Gro bags have been magic in that I haven't had to worry about him getting covered by a sheet or blanket or anything. If we switch to a pillow and duvet I'm just worried he'll end up right underneath it during the night or something. Anyone elses LO been similar and got on okay with a duvet and pillow?
Also, did you have any problems with them trying to get out of bed constantly? I'm worried that we'll never keep him in bed at times!
Please share your experiences, tips, etc. Also any recommendations for pillows would be fab.
ETA sorry, it seems to have removed all my paragraphs. Hope you can read it all okay.
My main concern is that he's always been very active in his sleep in that he'll literally move over every inch of the cot during the night. Gro bags have been magic in that I haven't had to worry about him getting covered by a sheet or blanket or anything. If we switch to a pillow and duvet I'm just worried he'll end up right underneath it during the night or something. Anyone elses LO been similar and got on okay with a duvet and pillow?
Also, did you have any problems with them trying to get out of bed constantly? I'm worried that we'll never keep him in bed at times!
Please share your experiences, tips, etc. Also any recommendations for pillows would be fab.
ETA sorry, it seems to have removed all my paragraphs. Hope you can read it all okay.
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We moved J to a bed a few months before he was 2 and he was fine. He used to move about in the cot but always stays with his head on the pillow in bed. I just used normal pillows and a 4 tog duvet. He does get out of bed sometimes but we have a stair gate on his door and I just keep it closed
J was in a bed a few months before he was 2. He had a duvet and pillow from 12 months, so was already OK with those when we took the sides off. At that age, they are capable of covering/uncovering themselves when they need.
J got out of bed a few times, it's novelty, isn't it?? but soon settled down.
We never bothered with a bed guard either. If he fell out, it was only a small fall, and I wanted him to get used to the boundaraies of the bed, without having the the guard to stop him. He has fallen out maybe twice in almost a year.
Thanks for sharing. I think we just need to bite the bullet and go for it. His cot is quite low to the ground already so he would probably be fine if he fell out - I'm just wondering if a bed guard might help him feel a little more secure to start with. Did you also stop using the monitor as well? If he's free to roam around his room I might need to remove the monitor due to the cables.
I never used a monitor, so that wasn't an issue for us. If you feel you still need/want to use it, is there somewhere you could put it, where the cables can go behind something, like a chest of drawers?
We just moed P one night to her toddler bed. She'd been in a sleeping bag previously and had no problems with a duvet. I go in when we go to bed and tuck her in if she's wiggled out, she never wakes up cold. She still doesn't have a pillow as i don't see the need and she seems very comfy. One night we just explianed it was her bed and she sleeps there now. SHe slept in it fine from night on1. She doesn't even come out her room in the morning although she will sometimes be up in her room when i go in. Mostly she calls me from her bed. She's been fine napping in there too although i did have to take the books out of her room as otherwise she sits in her bed reading them at nap time. Again never comes out her room though and we just pull the door nearly shut. We stopped using the movement monitor and but carried on with the sound one for first feew weeks. She was playing with it in the morning though so i've taken it away now. I can still hear her easily. It was all much simpler than i thought it'd be but i think it maybe because we didn't make it into a big deal.
Not really, unless when I detach the sensor pad and just go for the main unit to pick up sound I can move that to higher ground/somewhere out of the way. Hmm, think I'm going to need to have a proper look at his bedroom...
M never gets out of her bed, she's been really good like that. She does have a bed guard and I feel she needs it, she's still a wriggler in her sleep. We stopped using the monitor, we hear her if she wakes up, suppose it depends how far your bedroom is from his. Although if she wakes in the evenings, I hear her from downstairs so it's not been an issue.
Thanks AR and Weekender. I think we could probably do without the monitor now, although if anything it's mainly for my peace of mind even now!
We had no problem with moving Molly either, although she does sometimes get out of bed. She started to climb out at about 2 1/2 so we changed the cot into a bed and the transitation was pretty seamless, apart from needing to buy a bumper bar which we got from IKEA. She is a real wriggler and the sleeping bags were ideal for her but she moved over to a duvet really well, I used a lightweight single which we wrapped down the back of the bed so that it was very hard for her to compeltely wriggle out of
I've been wondering this too. We've bought E a toddler bed as A is getting too big for the crib and will need the cotbed. I don't know whether to give her a duvet for a few nights in her cot bed to get her used to it or just go whole hog with the toddler and duvet and pillow at the same time?
We're going to switch in the next couple of weeks...like F is a grobagged wriggler who hadn't tried to climb, but we are moving house mid April, so rather than change when we move we'd rather have him used to it before. My bump is growing by the day and I'll struggle with the cotbed sides the further on I get.
we don't use the monitor now as we hear him anyway. I has had a pillow for some time and he stays much more still with it, but we'll use a bedguard to begin. I've just ordered his bedding and duvet :-)
A few people have said to me actually that he might move around less with a pillow, etc. What bedding did you go for Coco? I can't decide where to get F's from.
He's having a Disney theme in his new room when we've moved (we've a cool handcrafted pinocchio puppet to hang from the ceiling, and lots of cool Disney accessories!) so we've gone for toy story bedding and a 4 tog duvet