Toddler Transition from Cot to Bed

Mrs. Nicole Basham at 26 weeks pregnant squeezing in to the cot with her toddler till he falls asleep!!

A mother’s cot to bed story from blogger Mrs. Nicole Basham

When we transferred our 2 year old daughter from her cot to a bed, she stayed in her big bed from the first night. A few month after our energetic boy, Luca, turned 2 years old we decided to make the transition from his cot to a bed in preparation for the arrival of our third child. I thought “what could go wrong?” From the day he was born, he had always been a good sleeper! Until the day we moved him from his cot to a big bed.

Toddler Transition from Cot to Bed

He was very good for about 2 weeks and we were so impressed with his transition from cot to the bed, but unfortunately it didn’t last. After about 2 weeks he kept getting out of his bed and wandering out of his room and thought it was funny. His newfound freedom had him testing out his boundaries. We kept walking him back to his bed, over and over each night till we ran out of steam and ended up either sitting with him till he’d fall asleep, sometimes even laying with him in his cot till he’d fall asleep.

A rocky start to a smooth cot to bed transition

I was put in contact with Stephanie Bull founder of The Baby Sleep Teacher. Which I am so thankful for as she helped guide us to where we are now, which is a lot happier then what we all were 3 months ago.

Steph is a mother herself to two gorgeous girls, she runs a family daycare in Perth, has experience in early childhood, primary school teaching and to top it off is a qualified baby sleep consultant.

I reached out to Steph for some advice on Luca’s sleeping troubles and Steph was so helpful, after telling her what had been happening she helped go through some steps to get us to where we are today.

Being developmentally ready for the bed transition

I learnt from Steph, that Luca being only 2 years old was very young to move from a cot to a big bed. He was not developmentally ready yet for the freedom, new set of rules and boundaries that come along with the transition from a cot to bed. Since safety was a concern, we thought we had no choice as Luca had worked out how to climb out of his cot and getting hurt was becoming a strong possibility. After working with Steph, I’ve learned that lower the mattress to the floor, or turning the bed in the room were options we missed which we will try for our third child.

Steph advised me that children are not developmentally ready until closer to 3 years of age to make the transition from cot to bed. At 3 years of age, children are more accepting of the ‘why’ they need to stay in bed because their comprehension, reasoning and processing skills are more developed. Unlike my 2 year old who just thought getting out of his bed was the thing to do because it was funny. I understand now why waiting longer would have made the transition from the cot to big bed easier on all of us.

The continued support and the game changer of us

Steph often checked in with me at night to see how I had gone that night. It made a huge difference mentally knowing that if I had had a bad night with him, I could confine in her and she would reassure me that I was doing a great job and to keep it up and not give up.

The game changer for us was the baby gate that Steph had suggested! Because Luca’s room has double doors I didn’t think I could get a gate to fit but Steph advised otherwise. The next day we bought a gate.
The gate changed everything because he could still see out of his room but had a boundary.

The big bed freedom brings easy and rough nights

I’ll be honest and say that not every night is that easy but I can usually tell why, like he may have had a late day nap or it’s a later then normal bedtime because we’ve been out and he is now overtired. Luca going to bed has improved hugely and it’s a big thank you to The Baby Sleep Teacher with all her little tips and guidance and constantly checking in.

I would highly recommend to reach out to Steph if you are having sleep issues with your little one, there is nothing worse then a mumma deprived of sleep, we all know that from one mum to another! Thanks for reading! Love and light! Mrs. Nicole Bashman

About client and guest blogger Mrs. Nicole Bashman

Mrs. Nicole Basham is an avid writer of all things motherhood, home, lifestyle and travel. Originally from Denmark, she is raising her family in Perth, Western Australia. Nicole has 3 children, a girl and two younger boys.