How to know when to transition to BBB

[K-JDA]

Just wondering how you decide when to transition to BBB and what age you did this?

DS is 32 mo, still sleeps in cot and a gro bag and has never attempted escape although will always stand in corner of cot staring at the door every night for 5-10 mins before settling down to sleep - think he is always hopeful that he won't actually have to go to bed!!! He also regularly sleeps all over his bed/up against the rails.

Not in a rush to transition although he hates a travel cot so we feel pretty restricted in terms of going away for a night/holiday and want to book something towards the end of the year.

Was thinking of transitioning to a gro duvet cover thing over the summer as a next step then side off cot sometime after that whilst in a fairly decent sleep phase but we are in the 1-0 transition with nap down to an hour/45 mins/the odd NND so sleep is a bit hit and miss at the moment with some NWs which are incredibly difficult to resettle and don't want to add to the drama with getting out of bed antics!!!

Interested in how other have approached this. Thanks!

[trimbler]

We transitioned when DS was about the same age as yours (but not in 1-0 at all!), purely because of a holiday we were going on. He'd also been in a sleeping bag and was very excited about the prospect of a BBB! We chose the duvet cover/pillow set together online and he was so excited when it arrived! We just about managed to set up the BBB and cot in his room together, with perhaps a mm to spare, but it worked He hadn't used a pillow until this time, and since the pillow arrived before the mattress, I decided to let him try it at nap time, in his cot. He was so incredibly excited about his Mickey Mouse pillow that I feared he wouldn't be able to sleep at all, so I said "don't worry, if you find it too exciting and just can't sleep, I'll take it away and you can sleep without it, as you're used to". Well of course I could just hear him playing around at nap time so after half an hour or something I went in and told him I'd take it away if it was keeping him awake. Well he just carried on so I had to keep my word and he was so upset, I can't remember if he actually napped at all in the end, but the next time, there was no messing around at all, straight to sleep So when the mattress arrived and I set up his bed and he was incredibly excited again, I told him "don't worry, if you find it too exciting and just can't sleep in your BBB, you can always sleep in your cot and try again tomorrow" - after the pillow incident, he knew I was serious and there was no messing around at all, I don't think the idea of getting out of his bed even occurred to him as he still had the monitor and was used to getting our attention that way, in fact he continued to use that rather than getting out of bed until DD was born and she got the monitor I can't honestly remember whether he just did naps in his BBB at first, and then nights once he was used to it for naps, but the cot stayed up in his room for a while and once he was in the BBB he certainly didn't want to go back into the cot, so there was no messing around at all! I should add that we had a guard rail, which certainly helped keep the covers on as well as stopping him from falling out.

[michaeljacknnugg]

We didn't buy gro-bedding, it is so expensive! Instead we got a thin duvet and just tucked it under the bottom of the mattress. That and a pillow is a good transition, as is helping to make the new bed up.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

DD1 had to be out of her crib at 2.5 because she learned to climb out (and she could get out of any sleep sack anyways so became a safety thing!). We actually used a mattress on the floor at first and emptied the room of everything else as she was a spirited climber! DD2 was 16 months when we took the side off her crib, but totally different as she does not move in her sleep or get out of bed unless told to - we used a twin size duvet and tucked it up to keep it in place. Once DD3 is ready (she can climb out of her crib but so far has not figured out how to escape her grobag!) we will use that same duvet and just use the crib as a toddler bed until she is too long or heavy for it.

On holidays, we always co-sleep even though I bring a playpen. DD3 is the first one of my kids to ever sttn in the playpen at a hotel (ok she woke once but DD1 settled her not me!) but I probably won't bother bringing it anymore.

[K-JDA]

Thanks guys - really useful.  definitely got a sleep wobble going on right now so might leave it for a bit as he has not yet attempted escape. Think he can stay in his cot til school?!!