Cot To Bed Transition

Once your little one is old enough they will transfer from the confines of their cot to a toddler bed. This will happen at around 2.5-3yrs of age -any earlier than this is not ideal. At around 2yrs old they are not yet old enough to understand WHY they have to stay in their bed. The entire process can become rather overwhelming to them and actually create a sleep issue which wasn’t there previously. Saying this, I have known children who are absolutely fine sleeping in their bed at just turned 2yrs of age- however this is the exception rather than the rule.

Transitioning to a bed can be a really exciting and positive experience for your toddler but equally they can also become anxious when presented with the reality of this. If you think about it, they have known nothing but the safe sleeping space of their cot their entire lives where the option to leave the bed hasn’t yet existed! Not only will your toddler have the freedom to leave the bed as they choose but we also take away the security that they have known up until this point. What we want to aim for, is a toddler who creates a positive association with their new bed from day one.

When you decide the time is right, explain to your toddler that they are going to have a ‘big boy’ or ‘big girl’ bed like you. You will first need to purchase a child's pillow, duvet and duvet cover. Before the next stage you can read your toddler some books about cot to bed transition, talk about the process over breakfast and perhaps even watch some YouTube videos of children happily going into their beds. Children are very visual and understand a concept through play with far better clarity than just telling them- so some role play with teddies/ dolls would be ideal. You can include your toddler in the choosing of the duvet cover as well, we want to build their confidence during the cot to bed transition so giving them some choice and a little control over the process is fine.

They will stay in their cot with all the sides intact whilst you introduce their duvet for one week, with their regular sleeping bag on for the first three days. This is just to get them used to the concept of a duvet in their sleep space. Keep their sleeping bag off from night 4, they will then remain in the cot with their pillow and duvet for the remaining four nights. At first they are unable to keep a duvet covering them all night as we are able to do -but they will get better at this. A further three days later you will remove a side from the cot every two days, making sure to replace the long sides with bed guards to keep them feeling secure.