Mothers Forum

hey everyone, I have 22 month old daughter, last night was the first night in her big bed........ the cot and big bed have been set up together for about 3 months..... we took the cot down yesterday. we did her usual bedtime routine put her in her big bed...... she got really upset so I stayed till she fell asleep! 2 hours!!!!! she woke again at about 3am, cried and got really upset so went back in and climbed into her bed........ just find it really hard when she gets so upset!!!! im currently 32 weeks preg so any advice would be fab....... i know I need to be more tough!!!!

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you just have to be consistent. it will be hard for a while and will be very tiring (i get it, i have a 19mo & 39wks preg). We put our girl in a big bed quite early. We were up and down 4-5 times a night with her getting out of bed and us having to put her back over and over with only saying, no its bed time and walking her back to bed and pulling up the covers and leaving again but after about a week she got the message. still gets out and comes to our room randomly in the night every now and again but not often.
good luck
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you definately need consistancy. she will be upset, a big bed is huge to a toddler, and not as secure feeling as the cot.
One thing I can suggest is getting a side for the bed, the ones that are to stop your child from falling out of bed. This will not only serve the purpose of a safety barrier preventing a fall, but it adds the security that the cot had.
Try and stick to the usual routine you had before with the cot. If you didn't stay to settle then, don't start now. Be positive, and reassure her that she is such a big clever girl now :).
 
When my children went into a big bed, they had a week or two of getting up and down, but they settled really well once they got the message that that was now their bed and they had to stay in it :)
All the best!
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A bedtime reward chart may help too click here for one of our free printables
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Julie, Kidspot

hey - just thought i'll add my 2 cents worth in - i also transfered my toddler in her own bed when she was 2 - it took me about 2 weeks to get her sorted but what i found that worked was the "braeburn" method - so when she crys in bed for the first time go in and give her a kiss and tuck her back in (i also got a nightlight and projector light that projects stars and would turn that on when i went in there) , if shes still crying after 10 mins go in and do the same (kiss and tuck in and leave and put her back in bed if needed), if shes still crying after 20 mins repeat what you did and keep going for 20 mins intervals after that - worked for me!

Hi there, my 22 month old daughter has been in a big bed since she was about 15 months old, It took a couple weeks for her to get use to it, but now she is fine.  We have a routine for bed time that I think helped, I read her a story every night, and when the move to a big bed happened I think the fact mummy could lie beside her and read was a lot better that sitting outside her cot, you will experience them waking several times but they get use to it, (several times she ended up in our bed, calmed her put her to sleep then put her back in her own bed). A night light with music, moving pictures, even glow in the dark fairies or stars can also calm them I found & novelty duvet covers or blankets they know that is their bed let them choose which one.
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