Time for Big Bed?
Moving your little one from a moses basket or cot into a big bed is a natural childhood progression, but it’s not always the easiest of transitions. After our boys made the move, we had our fair share of nocturnal visitors, but there were no major hiccups or upsets. I suspect that was partly down to making sure the time was right for them and partly due to choosing the right bed to suit their personality.
Trainboy was of course obsessed with trains, so a ‘Thomas’ toddler bed was the natural choice. I remember worrying that the bed was quite expensive when we were choosing it, but I managed to justify it as an investment which I would partly recoup by selling it secondhand (Needless to say that hasn’t happened yet – maybe one day!). He wasn’t keen to sleep in it straight away and as we still had his cot, he had the luxury of choosing when to make the move. After a few days he came round and the bed was a huge hit, although eight years ago I struggled to find any toddler size bedding which wasn’t too babyish. My then almost two year old boy was NOT interested in fluffy bunnies and teddy bears, so we eventually settled on a gorgeous child’s sleeping bag with a boat on it and a Thomas fleece throw for when it was cold.
Middle son, Bubble, favoured other forms of transport and he fell in love with his racing car bed as soon as he saw it. The Ben 10 covers probably clashed a little but he’s still happy with them now so they were obviously a good buy.
By the time Zu was out of his cot, the trusty Thomas bed was ready to steam out of loft storage and into his bedroom. We added new Toy Story bedding and a matching lampshade and son number three was snug as a bug in his ‘new’ bed. I wrote a brief article about how my 4 year old still comes into our bed and disturbs my sleep and I’m sure you’ll agree I only have myself to blame for that!
If you’re worried about the transition, the choice of beds and bedding around at the moment might help to make the process easier. Girls can choose from a range of characters like Hello Kitty and Peppa Pig. Boys seem to have masses of options including diggers, dinosaurs and racing cars.
My tips for moving up to a big bed
- Soon after the boys went into their toddler beds, we moved the stair gate from the bottom of our stairs and put it across their bedroom door, for a short time. This helped them understand that, even though they no longer had cot bars, they couldn’t start wandering around the house at bed or nap time. It also gave us peace of mind knowing they were safe in their own room
- Even if you put a stair gate in place, you may need to think about and embark upon a new phase of child-proofing, now your child has access to their room in your absence.
- We chose toddler beds which had slightly built up sides and were low to the ground. As far as I remember none of them have ever fallen out of them!
- We found character and themed beds a good investment for our boys. We wanted them to be as happy as possible with their environment as they do spend a lot of time in there
- If you prefer to invest in something which will be appealing for longer, it might be better to go for a more classic, simple bed frame which can be dressed up with a favourite character or pretty covers and updated when they’ve grown out of it
Do you have any other tips or ideas that have worked for you or that you wish you’d done?
My middle daughter was terrified of losing the security of the bars of her cot so we bought a,wooden bedguard that looked just like a cot rail and attached it to the bed. Worked a treat and about 6 months later we were able to take it,away.
Thanks for the tip Rachel. Both our first beds have slightly raised sides so I think it gave them the same sense of security.