Ollie is almost 20 months old now, and still in his cot. He's great in there and hasnt climbed out or anything but he does stand up and lean against and over the bars in a morning as he wakes about an hour before he wakes us up (we think), but I'm aware that within 9 months max we'll need the cot for the new baby...

so when would be the best time for him to go into a bed? Before the baby gets here, whilst baby is still in our room or once baby needs the cot? There is a gate on his door, but is it worth buying a safety gate for the bed, or a grobag first duvet that would keep him zipped in.....?

Am really confused as to what i should do, and what works so any advice/ideas/ what worked for you's would be welcome to help us decide when we will move him across and how

Many thanks

Stephe
xxx

they say any changes to ur lo's routine eg moving to a bed from a cot/later bedtime/different meal times etc should be done months before the new baby comes. i am due in may and have just taken the sides of brookes cot. she is 17 months.

i dont like the safety bars as they are really flimsy if the lo leant on it it would just collapse under them and they would fall out. i have just rolled up a double duvet next to brookes bed she aint fallen out yet she has been in there 2 nights. my friend rolls up a pram blanket and puts under matress to stop lo rolling out ( she went into bed at 14 months) which is a good idea.

also the grow bag duvets i dont like coz brooke goes upside down and all sorts i dont like the idea that she wont be able to pull it off her head if she is upside down coz its zipped all the way round. she just has her normal duvet and pillow.

she hasnt got out of bed or got up in the morning till im up then she will get out of bed and come to the bathroom! i have a stairgate at top of stairs but not locking her in room if she wants to come to us (bad dream) or whatever she can..

hope ive been of some help!
xx

wow my lo is 13 months and seems way off being in bed or cot with sides down!!! xx

My daughter has just turned 16 months and I have her in a bed about a week. She just didn't seem to like the cot and loved the comfort of a bed. She now sleeps great in the bed as she has loads of room. I have a bed guard up and a big duvet rolled up so she doesn't fall out. I just have a small duvet for her but she never keeps it on her anyway and she hates grobags.

My boys were both 2yr old b4 going in a bed. They slept really well in their gro bags and never tried to bail ship!
Gracie was due 2 mth afer Alfie turned 2 so he was out of the cot 2 mth b4 she was born and another 2mth ish b4 she went in it for the first time. He never says, that's my cot so it's never registered with him!

Hey my LO is now 22 months and was about 13 months when we put him into a bed (his bed is a cot bed so took the sides off) and he loves it. We put a baby gate on his bedroom door so he cant get out of his room but he can climb in and out of bed and has only fallen out 3 times since, but we had anticipated that and put a spare duvet on the floor so he didn't hurt himself and he was fine. I think every child is diffferent and its whenever you're happy with putting Ollie in his own bed and when you feel he is ready. Harrison loves being able to get in and out and often takes friends and family upstairs to see his 'big boy' bed when they come round, lol.

Hope this helps
xx

For those that have moved them into a bed already, do they still use a travel cot ok? Coz if we moved Ollie across now he would still have to use a travel cot at nanas, grandads, and at the house where he will stay the night while I'm in hospital (the first night) or does that just confuse them even more...?

I understand getting him into the bed before baby arrives would be easier in some aspects, but was wondering if he would then sleep in a travel cot after that...

good point about the zipped duvets - Ollie sometimes ends up upside down... he also plays for half an hour or so before dropping off by himself, or he stands up and cries if he really doesnt want to go to bed yet... so am worried about that with him being in a bed -

we were thinking if we took the mattress off (its about 10 inches thick, on top of a cushioned base thats about 20 inches high itself) and put the duvet on top of the base it would give the same cushioning as the cot mattress does, and then put a rolled up duvet, or a double sleeping bag at the side in case he rolled off....

we chose to have a gate on his room rather than the top of the stairs because of the dog (still needs to get to his water etc) and also because if we let him Ollie would sleep in our bed not his own all the time... :lol: I sleep lightly now anyway so always hear him as soon as he wants me, but would rather he played in his room when he woke up than came into our room at 5.30 am to wake us up... (although hubby goes to work not long afterwards anyway...)

Thanks for all the ideas so far, certainly giving us things to think about! Only got 8 weeks ish till the baby is here so have to get a move on with it all :lol:

xxxx

cant help with the travel cot situation im afraid as my parents and inlaws have cot beds at their houses too. i wouldnt worry about him standing up thats what brooke used to do but now she just gets out if she isnt ready for bed and stands at the stairgate and cries instead!
brooke dosnt get up in the morning lol. she just lays in bed till i go in then she gets up. we are going to leave brooke in her cot bed for a few weeks then put her in a proper bed so she is used to being in a low bed before a proper bed

We bought a lindem bed rail thingy to put on our bed for when I used to bring cole into bed with me in mornings once he started getting active. Its pretty good actually - if i bring him in bed now I put it up and it will stand up to him leaning on it. It just wedges under our mattress but it has some extra fastenings for fixing it more securely under a child mattress.

Also - we just bought some new bigger sleeping bags from an online shop and they had these toddler sleeping bag thingys
http://www.designerkidsandbaby.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=47
dunno if that kind of thing would be any good for you but thought i'd mention it - I was dead impressed with the shop - ordered in the evening, email next day to say completed order and the next day it arrived - both times we ordered.

I'm just impressed that Ollie stays quiet for an hour after waking up! Can he come teach Cole to do that please?

i'd just say if you are putting him in his own bed, make sure he can't get into his drawers and stuff - my mates 2 1/2 year old is still in his cot as he's a little bugger every time they take the sides off - sudacrem everywhere, drawers emptied etc etc!

Hi

we took the sides off the cot when lo was 2 and bought new duvet etc for her birthday she has a lindam guard rail but not sure its that strong although she has never fallen out - she never comes out of bed but prefers to shout 'i waked up' until we get her so stair gate not needed on bedroom - hope this helps x

hiya, we took the sides off my lo's cot at the age of 1 and she loved it, she was in her big bed at 13mnths and loves that even more! but wen she goes to her grandma and grandads she sleeps in a cot and is absolutely fine with it so dont worry

Kia - they look interesting ;\) might have to buy one just to see what they are like.
when i say quiet, i dont mean silent, just happy playing with his dog and teddy and beating up the cot mobile.. :lol:
Hadn't though about the drawers - he does like to empty things.... :\?

The HV said to keep him in the cot until we really needed him to move across to the bed, not sure why...

Glad to know others LOs will still go into a cot as well..

think we might give it a try either next week or the week after and if it is really too much and he's not ready then we can always go back to the cot...

xxx

Oh do let me know if they are any good if you get one. I was thinking of getting one for when we go camping.

Also just had a flick through the new jojo maman bebe cataloge and they have a thing that is like a bottom sheet with 2 foam tubes one on either side to go on beds - it looked quite good. Can't remember what it was called though - will look later whne I go downstairs.

Wonder why the hv said that... not that most of us listen to half of what they say anyway! lol

http://www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/detailfash.php?type=FASH&code=B6253&proddesc=Dream+Tubes&supercategory=BRN00043&branch=&wcategory=CAT00340&catdesc=&super=0040BRN00043~0010BRN00060~0160CAT00340&treecode=TRE00009

is that the one..? They look just right for what we want...

i like these as well:
http://www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/detailfash.php?type=FASH&code=B6259&proddesc=My+First+Snuggle+Sac&supercategory=BRN00043&branch=&wcategory=CAT00340&catdesc=&super=0040BRN00043~0010BRN00060~0160CAT00340&treecode=TRE00009

so might have to buy one of those as well as the other one, see which one works best ;\)
wonder if ive still got a discount voucher somewhere for them....
might need some more safety straps to keep the drawers close, or should i just let him empty them :lol:

xxx

yep those are the ones.
just google for discount codes - I'm sure there will be some online
ooh straps for drawers- didn't know you could get them! no way am i screwing stuff into my expensive pine furniture! Must go look

you can get see through straps from boots:
http://www.boots.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?categoryParentId=3693&storeId=10052&productId=335565&callingViewName=&categoryId=3724&langId=-1&catalogId=11051

they arent cheap, bu i didn't like the idea of screwing into things either. They work wonders are they ar really stiff (even takes me a bit to get them open) but that means baby really wont be able to get them open. Ollie cant anyway. Am gonna search on ebay for them. If you put one over two draws to link them together then fasten one of the drawers with them it uses less and they cant get any of them open because they're linked.... not sure if i can describe it properly! :lol:

think we might try to take the side off his cot tonight - we worked out it was a cot bed yesterday when we looked properly at it - not my fault, it was given to us by MIL with no instructions or any info at all so we weren't to know... ;\) but its the first step i hope....

xxx

http://search.stores.ebay.co.uk/myrazer18_child-safety_W0QQfciZQ2d1QQfclZ4QQfsnZmyrazer18QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQsaselZ851462478QQsofpZ0

this guy on ebay seems to be the cheapest for bulk buying them at the moment...

xx