'Big bed' follow-up

We've been away for a few days visiting family, which is why there had been no new posts this week....

Last month I wrote about my preparations for moving my son from his cot to a big bed. It's been just over two weeks since he made the move. That's included four nights away in a different big bed in a different location so I thought it was a good time to update you on how the transition has gone so far.

The first night he spent in his big bed went like a dream. He settled down fine, slept well and woke up calling for us, as he used to in his cot. So, he didn't once get out of the bed himself. The next night was similar but in the morning we were awoken by a door opening and the pitter patter of little feet approaching our bed. It was nice to be woken that way rather than the usual yelling of "mummy, mummy" that continues until I can drag myself out of bed to go and get him up!

The third night, he got out of bed after we'd put him in it for sleep. He opened his bedroom door and peeked out but didn't come out into the hall. I went swiftly to him and firmly told him to get back into bed. That happened twice but then he settled down.

The same happened the next night and later that same night we had a major two-hour period of disturbance. Our son woke crying loudly and every time we thought we had him quietened back down to go back to sleep, it would start again. He seemed quite upset but wasn't able to tell us what was wrong. It's not like him at all and even if he seems to have had a bad dream, we can usually get him settled down again quite quickly. The only thing he said was that he wanted to sleep in mummy and daddy's bed. This is a child who is unable to sleep in our bed - if ever we bring him in, he assumes it's playtime and starts jumping around so it was a funny thing for him to say. I couldn't help but worry if it might be 'big bed' related anxiety....

Fortunately, that was a one-off! Since then he has slept really well. He doesn't get out of bed after we put him in and he seems to enjoy sleeping in a big bed and having space for all his soft toys around him too. When we went to stay with family earlier this week, his 'big bed' was a single, rather than the double he has at home but he seemed perfectly happy with it. It took a while to get him settled down for sleep the first night but once he was asleep, he slept soundly until the morning and was fine for the subsequent nights.

Returning home last night and being back in his own big bed seemed to have the same comforting feeling that it has for us - nothing like being back in your own bed when you've been away!

In summary, so far, so good. I'm not naive enough to think it'll remain this constant. I'm sure as our son gets older, even more independent and inquisitive that there will challenges along the way but for the beginning of his time in a big bed, I'm happy with how it's gone.

Do you have any stories to share about your children either moving into a big bed or difficulties that arose at a later date?

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