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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

Is 8 months too young to consider moving into a bed?

21 replies

novadandypowder · 28/06/2006 10:44

Ok, lets laugh at the naive first time mum, but hear me out...

8mo DD likes to move/flip around in her sleep, but keeps hitting the side ot the cot and waking herself up. When we sleep with her on the bed in the nursery she sleeps much better as she can spread out.

So...do you reckon it would be ok to put her in a single bed with bed guards so she doesn't fall out? Or will this be a major prob when she starts standing?

OP posts:

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sassy · 28/06/2006 10:48

I wouldn't. Like mine coralled for as long as possible, me.

If you do decide to go with this, I suggest you put matress on the floor so she can't hurt herself when she rolls about and starts to try to crawl out and find you. You'll need to keep the bedroom/stairs safe for her too .

Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads · 28/06/2006 10:51

I'd be worried about the gap between the wall and the matress and a little worried about her toppling over on standing. I don't think that bed guards are that great (not the ones you add to divans). We have beds from Flexa- you can buy rails that go all the way around the bed, but I would worry a little about a baby learning to stand in them. Toddler bed, or cot bumpers? I think they say no cot bumpers under 1 but I have used them with a younger baby before (my cot matress was quite thick so I made sure they were well squished in so my baby couldn't get underneath them if you see what I mean.

Jimjamskeepingoffvaxthreads · 28/06/2006 10:52

If you do this then make sure that if she gets out she can't pull a chest of drawers over onto her or anything (and make plug sockets safe etc).

soapbox · 28/06/2006 10:54

No - way too young IMO

milward · 28/06/2006 10:54

It will pass - soon she'll be standing & be able to get herself comfy again. Didn't move mine to a bed until just before 2yrs.

ilovecaboose · 28/06/2006 10:56

I moved my ds at 9 months as he hated the cot and straight away slept much better in his bed. However its a cot bed so only 2 inches off floor. We put a matress down next to him in case he fell off and shoved an old towel between wall and bed so he wouldn't get stuck down there. I didn't want bed guards as I was terrified of him falling over them. He fell out of bed a couple of times and didn't wake up. Now he's fine and the only problem we have had was getting him to stay in bed, but that only took a week to sort out.

My mum put me and my sister on mattresses at around 9 months cos we kept climbing out of the cot. She didn't have any problems.

soapbox · 28/06/2006 10:56

If you must take her out of the cot - then a matress on the floor would be safer, with soft mats around it, should she roll off.

LIZS · 28/06/2006 11:00

Once she's properly mobile you will have all sorts of problems convincing her to stay put imho. Even if you buy one with rails she'll pull herself up on them so could topple over the top easily and the rails would not be designed with such a young baby in mind so she could get herself trapped more easily than a toddler or older child might. I think you'll find this phase will pass anyway given time.

waterfalls · 28/06/2006 11:05

My rule was to not move any of my children into a bed until they could climb on and off my bed by themselves, they were all 19 months when they went into beds, and none of them had bed guards.

novadandypowder · 28/06/2006 11:14

I love the way on here that you can get such opposite responses

But the general consensus seems to be leave her in the cot. It was just something I was toying with after getting fed up going into her for the nth time.

Thanks for your input

OP posts:

bundle · 28/06/2006 11:17

too young

moondog · 28/06/2006 11:21

Why hurry??
In a few months,cot will be a Godsendwhen it keeps 'em temporarily corralled while you get on with something.

CheekyGirl · 28/06/2006 21:42

Just a lurker offering my opinion, but my ds is the same. In the end, I bought a huge length of fleece and laid it underneath the mattress so it extended up and over each side of the cot. I then secured it with short ties. It provides a complete 'wall' each side of the cot to soften the bumps a bit! HTH

Ledodgyherring · 28/06/2006 21:45

What about a travel cot? They have mesh walls so she won't hurt her head if she bangs against them, come to think about it my dd always slept better in the travel cot when we went away maybe this was why.

koalabear · 28/06/2006 21:46

get her a cot bed - they are considerably bigger than a cot, and convert to a toddler bed later - last until they are around 5/6 yrs old (depending upon size of child)

PanicPants · 28/06/2006 21:47

I agree with the cot bed

Chandra · 28/06/2006 21:48

Erm, DS was constantly hitting himself against the side of the cots, now that he is in a bed he hits himself against the wall or falls out of bed.

Another vote her for keeping them in a cot until they can climb out of it.

riab · 08/07/2006 21:31

I'd steer clear of a bed- I don't plan on putting DS in a bed til he is well over 3 yrs old.

In a cot they are safe - they cna't fall/climb out and you know where they are.

If your daughter moves around alot - is she in a babysleeping bag? I found at that age this really cut down the amount DS moved around, you can also try creating a 'nest' for her with a soft blanket so she doens't hit against the cot sides.

I agree that a cotbed might help they are bigger.

Bedguards are really unsuitable for babies, once she is crawling she will easily be able to crawl past/over the bedguard and could have a nasty fall.

expatinscotland · 08/07/2006 21:33

put her in a travel cot - higher sided and soft sides.

IslaAndMomma · 08/07/2006 21:38

we went through exactly the same thing with dd and i'm really glad we stuck to our guns and kept the cot.

i know they're not advised but we used a cot bumper so that she wasnt hitting the wood of her cot. maybe you could use rolled up sheets of something tucked against the bars?

sleeping bags are great too as they restrict the movement and if they do bump the sides of the cot, the padding stops them hurting themselves.

noonar · 09/07/2006 09:55

My youngest climbed out of her cot at 18mnths and hit her head, so we opted for a futon with bed rail and cushions around it. There was nowhere for her to fall. 8 mnths is a bit young as she has yet to each the dangerously mobile phase so you could regret it later!
My youngest is 2 this month and still in a cot- have no intention of moving her till 2 1/2. If it aint broke....Anyway, i think she's comfy in her cot partly cos she's in a sleeping bag, which limits the amount of thrashing about to some extent. Worth a try?

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