I’d been pondering over the idea on whether to move Arjun in to a bed for a while. I got lots of mixed responses but ultimately I knew I wanted to do what was best for him. Every child is different. Here are the reasons why I felt he was ready:
• I often noticed he felt agitated being confined in his cot bed
• He can now climb up and down a bed by himself so I knew he had the freedom to get out if he needed to and being restricted to do so was frustrating for him
• As it feels like he’s suddenly grown over the last few weeks – he’s no longer a baby 🙁
Just before Christmas, I was speaking to a colleague at work who has a baby the same age as Arjun and who’d recently moved her baby girl from a cot to a bed. Kelly’s positive experience inspired me and pushed me over the edge to give it a go!
I woke up the next morning and decided I wanted to remove the side bar of Arjun’s cot bed to make it a bed.
I spent the day rearranging bits of Arjun’s room by moving all his toys from our bedroom in to his. I also included a little table for him and removed his baby cot mobile and replaced it with the clouds mobile I was gifted. I hung up his first year timeline from his birthday party so that the room felt different and more exciting for him in line with the change from cot to bed. Arjun was really excited by his new room and spent part of the day building towers and playing with his cars in his room. It made me happy to see him feel so comfortable in his, what felt like new, surroundings.
That evening, Preetam removed the side bar. I hadn’t purchased a bed guard at this point as the decision was quite spontaneous – the same way it was when I’d decided Arjun was ready to move from our bedroom to his own, I’d made the right decision then so I trusted my gut this time too. As we didn’t have a cot guard, I cushioned the floor incase he did fall off and ordered one from Amazon Prime that same evening for it to be delivered the next day. I carefully selected the guard based on reviews and recommendations. We ended up going for the BabyDan Wooden Bed Guard in white to match the nursery furniture.
I immediately noticed a positive reaction from Arjun, he climbed in to his bed himself and jumped out himself putting his teddies on the pillow one by one patting them to sleep. It was so adorable! By the time he’d placed all his teddies on the pillow, he was left with no space to sleep himself! Haha! So he awkwardly plumped himself on the other side. He asked my sister to read him a book (the same one about ten times!), and once he was done, he kissed Mr Sun goodnight about ten times (his new favourite thing is The Gro Clock), kissed me good night and lay down. He didn’t cry when we left the room. This was something new for me – I think the fact that he didn’t feel trapped made him feel less claustrophobic.
He toddled in to our room ten minutes later carrying his blanky asking for a cuddle. He ended up falling asleep in our bed (which is the case most nights!) and we then moved him in to his own cot. Arjun slept through the night and came in to our room at about 6am the following morning. It was the sweetest thing ever!
We introduced the bed guard the following day and are so pleased with it. I was a little apprehensive on how he’d react to it as I didn’t want him to feel trapped again. Nor did I want him to stand up against it and topple over. The BabyDan Wooden Bed Guard feels sturdy and it’s easy to glide across if you want to change the positioning. The instructions suggest you attach it around the mattress, however we decided to put it around the base of the cot just under the mattress. We positioned it closer to where his head lays than the by his feet as we wanted to ensure he has enough room to be able to get out of the bed if he wishes without the need to try and jump over.
We’re really glad with how things are going since transitioning, although most nights Arjun prefers to fall asleep in our bed and we then move him in to his own, if he’s in a really tired state, he’ll happily fall asleep in his bed.
If he does wake during the night, there are no more tears, he gets out of his cot and comes in to our room where we’ll have cuddles and he’ll usually fall back asleep. We have sensor lights in the landing which means the moment he steps out of his bedroom, the hall way lights up making it safe for him. We also ensure the other bedroom and bathroom doors are closed as well as the stair gate being locked. The quality of our sleep as well as his has definitely improved too! Haha!
As well as better sleep and generally being more at peace, Arjun often gets in to his bed by himself to read a book or play with his teddies. Something he never did in his cot!
Kelly had shared with me how she’d purchased new bedding when introducing the bed to her daughter. I really wanted to do this for Arjun too but as it was such a spontaneous decision, I didn’t get the chance to. Luckily Arjun was more than excited by the prospect of not having a barrier preventing him from escaping than noticing his bedding.
It’s now on my to do list to order some super cute bedding! I’ll also be introducing him to his new duck feather duvet for these winter nights
When did you move your babies to a bed?x
Hi Harps – I am amazed at how well this has gone for you. It must have been the right time, so well done. I worry about this transition more than a lot of others because Jake is so regimented. He has NEVER slept in our bed – he doesn’t ever seem to want to or need to. He always goes to sleep in his cot and stays in his cot. I worry about how he’ll cope when we transition to a bed, and expect that he’ll just keep getting out and never go to sleep!?