Help! Should I take the side off the cot?

[mumman]

Hi!

Here is my dilemma and I hope you can help me.
My lo is 2y3m and he has never slept through the night. He has glue ear and a lot infection so I have never been able to do any kind of sleep training.
I was intending to leave him in his cot until I can get he sleep sorted. Unfortunately he found out how to escalate the cot and escape.
To prevent him from escaping I first put him back in a sleeping bag. It s been 2 weeks now and I have the feeling that it disturbs his sleep even more. He wakes up screaming "toes gone" and when I walk in he ask to have the sleeping bag remove and will even manage to have his arm out.
What would you do? I feel I can t put him back just with the duvet as he then would escape and might hurt himself, but I am worried that my night will get even worse if he can just walk out of bed. And also would you use a rail guard. They seem quite high and I am worried my lo might hurt himself escalating them.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks a lot in advance for your help xx

 

[sherylb]

We were in a queen size bed by the time my daughter was that age. We took the side off the crib and put up a rail at 18 months but I don't think it was worth it. We used it a few months and now it just takes up space. Mainly I was worried about her leaving her room so we have a doorknob guard on the inside of her bedroom door. She's a great sleeper though and never gets out of her bed until I go get her.

 

[lauraemily17]

We have just gone through exactly the same thing.

We had no choice but to take the sides off as he hurt himself climbing out of his cot.

I'm not going to lie, it was really hard work and destroyed his sleep routine for a while. We actually put the cot back for a week and created a soft landing but by then he didn't want his cot so created up even more for his big boy bed!

Things are starting to go back to normal now a few months on. If you're going to do it be prepared & committed. I don't think all children find it as hard as my lo & the arrival of his little brother probably didn't help, so you may find your lo adjusts quickly.

 

[lauraemily17]

Oh and we have a stairgate on his room to stop him roaming the house while we're asleep.

 

[Button#]

I would definitely take the sides off if he can climb them. It's tricky to say how it will affect his sleep, some children it gets worse but for some like my DS it actually makes their sleep better.

I have a cotbed with the sides off and it's pretty low so I didn't get a rail, I put pillows on the floor so he doesn't hurt himself if he rolls out and I rolled a towel up and tucked it under his sheet at the outside edge and that seems to have done the trick.

 

[mumman]

Thank you all for your help and advice!
It seems that the sides will be off next week end then... Wish me good luck, I am dreading it!

 

[Zephram]

We found moving LO to a bed actually improved his sleep. He hated the cot. If he can climb out you must take the sides off, it's a safety issue.

 

[the why bird]

Our kiddo never slept either (at 2yrs 10mths she's still up once a night on average) but the transition to a big bed was really easy. We took the sides off her cot when she turned two and put a safety gate on her bedroom door to stop her wandering the house in the middle of the night. We made her room as toddler safe as possible.

She was so excited to get in her big kid bed. She did sometimes get out of bed at the very beginning of the night just to play in her room but the novelty wore off since there's nothing for her to do in there. But for the most part she stayed in bed without any work on our part.

I won't lie - it didn't solve our night problems because she still wakes crying but she stays in her bed. But it also didn't make them worse. She's gradually improving on her own anyway and sleeps through a couple of nights a week now.