[SomeAussieChick]

Hi,

DS2 will be 3 in June and this week we are going to put a bed in his bedroom and slowly transition him from his cot to his bed. He will be going in to DS1 old bed which is a boring old pipe one but it's low to the ground. DS1 new bed got delivered today so I will be moving the old bed in to DS2 room tonight. I won't be putting him in it yet though as I need to get a new mattress.

I just wanted some tips on helping DS2 happily move and accept sleeping in a normal bed. When DS1 moved in to his bed for the first time it was a total disaster. I had to spend the first 4mths of him being in it sitting in the corner till he fell asleep. Also I realise now he was to young and that's why I have left DS2 in the cot nearly to the age of 3.

DS2 is for a lack of a better word a fragile soul. lol Everything has to be done slowly, precisely and methodically otherwise he will balk and we will have to start again next month.

Thanks.

ETA: He does sleep in a low to the ground little camp cot looking thing at daycare. But it took a lot of persuading and gentle strategies to get him from the cot in the baby room to rest on the bed at daycare. He now sleeps happily for at least 2 hrs each time he goes. But home is different to daycare.

This post has been edited by the_big_M: 18/04/2012, 02:06 PM

[mccarro]

If there's room in his room for both, you could have them both set up and let him choose which one? This worked over time for a friend of mine.

[Lightning_bug]

In our case we waited until DS was nearly 3. For a week I talked about how the cot didn't look so good. That it was starting to shake.

Then one night I loosened the bolts. It "fell" apart as I lifted him in (but holding him so he wouldn't get hurt.

We made a big show of calling Opa. That he would try and fix it. Then when Opa came over he said he have to take the cot hom to try and fix it.

He called and spoke with DS about how sorry he was but there was nothing he could do.

DS didn't skip a beat. He just accepted we'd done all we could and slept in his bed (it had a brand new Thomas doona on it and had been in his room for a week before the cot "broke") without a problem.

[lozoodle]

We just went for it about a year ago. I told he she was a big girl and she slept in there now. Never been a drama.

I would think at 3yo you'll find it even easier, just explain to him - make it fun, decorate the new big boy room for him and make a big deal out of it.

[jupiter123]

DS2 is for a lack of a better word a fragile soul. lol Everything has to be done slowly, precisely and methodically otherwise he will balk and we will have to start again next month.

This is exactly what my DD is like.

If there's room in his room for both, you could have them both set up and let him choose which one? This worked over time for a friend of mine.

And this is what we did. Within the week DD had decided with no pressure from us, to sleep in the big girl bed. The following weekend, we packed away the cot. We have never looked back. This weekend I am taking off the bed rails.

[Pup-pup]

I would say my DD1 is a little sensitive too, & we just moved her. Explained that she was a big girl getting a big bed. Cot was disassembled to make room for bed. I think the whole story thing seems a bit over the top. We needed it for her sister so there was no going back. Of course there was a day or two when I wished we had the cot set up, but she settled just fine by the end of the week. She was just 2.