BB Bed--will he "get" that you sleep in one spot?

[Jessi]

Well, I don't exactly mean one spot.  Everyone moves around.  I'm asking about this because I'm getting ready to move my 18mo ds into a big boy bed (#2 is due in January).  Anyway, he's all over the place in his crib, in a different position every time I check on him before going to bed.  If he were to do all of this moving in a regular bed, he'd be on the floor in no time, even with safety rails.   He also will not sleep with any blankets on. Dh thinks he's not ready because of this, that he won't get the concept of a bed.  I'm anxious to get the transition done with before the new baby comes.  I'm actually pretty hesitant about it though, because he's a great sleeper and I don't want to mess it up.  I've posted about this in the "And then there were two" board.  My other issue I go back and forth with is whether to leave the crib up or not.  Ds is a bit sensitive to change, which makes me want to leave it up.  But what if he just wants to stay in his crib??  Alright, I started out on one topic and moved into another.  I apologize.  It's just that it's a nightly debate between me and dh right now and I'd love as much input as I can get!  Thanks in advance!

Jessi

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

As far as the moving around.  Does your ds have a pillow?  I found this "anchored" Nathan pretty much into one place whereas prior to that he was all over the place too.  You could try one before doing the switch.

We went cold turkey when we made the switch to bb, but my ds always seems to surprise me with his adaptability.  Is the bb already up in his room?  I think this helped us as it was a normal thing in his environment and we had used it on and off over the previous year to co-sleep with him if he was unwell. 

When setting up the bb to make it cosy, I arranged his soft toys all around it including behind the pillow so he was less likely to whack the wall with his arms or head.

Does he sleep with a sleeping bag or sleepsuit instead to keep warm?  I wouldn't think blankets are necessary to make the switch. 

BTW, we made the switch when my ds was 20mths in preparation for #2.

Those are just some random thoughts, HTH

[Katet]

We made the transition when ds#2 was 3mo (ds#1 was 25mo) & I got sick of bending down to the pack & play... we did it one day & gave ds#2 the cot the next day. No real problems as ds#1 had a new 'digger blanket' which made it so special for him
The 2 things we did was let Aiden have all his naps on a mattress on the floor for 2 weeks prior so he got used to that concept. Then I bought a big safety rail as Aiden rolls all around his bed too (even with a pillow). last night I checked on him & he was literely upside down. He has never fallen out as the safety rail runs about 2/3 the length of the bed.

[Baby Nanny]

Maybe just the mattress on the floor for a while?  That way if he falls off, he doesn't fall too far

A couple of families I have worked with, have bb beds that have the rollout bed underneath.  Dring the day, the underneath bed is rolled away, but at night and at naps, it is rolled out about half way, so that if the children roll out, the fall about a mattress height to a soft surface (the mattress of the under bed)

My charge is going to be moving bed at 20 months (new baby   ) and we will be putting him straight into the bb bed with a wooden guard rail along the whole length.  Reason for this is his new bedroom is so small, there is no space for anything else!!   BUT, he has quite a few of his naps on a big bed and he sleeps so much better (and moves around less!) in the big bed  :roll:  :lol:

[Stacie:Emma&Josh Mom]

My dd also moved around A LOT before changing her crib to the toddler bed.  And I hadn't thought about it before now, but that's also when we gave her a small pillow and that may have been it!  She still moves around some, but is always facing the same direction I laid her down in (we don't tuck in covers yet in the toddler bed).  We wanted to just cover her with her "regular" covers to help in the transition as well.  She's only fallen out once and that was before she fell asleep when she was just playing around.  She also used to wake up right against the crib railing so we were worried about that, but she figured it out on her own.  Haven't even used rails in the toddler bed...  Good luck!

[jessica and emilys mummy]

My dd#1 was also a great big fidget in the cot.we put in to a BG bed without a safety rail and she was fine.I do think the pillow helps though.