Removing cot bed sides – a big milestone

It’s been a long time coming, but at 31 months old, N has finally had his cot bed sides removed.

He’s been able to climb out for a few weeks (2 months?) now, and has been quite safe about it, even in the early morning when it’s still pretty dark in his room.  He goes out the side next to the single bed in his room rather than the drawers side, so no serious bumps.  The OH didn’t believe N could really climb out, even after he had climbed out and knocked on the bathroom door while his dad was showering to be let in and I was downstairs.  So weeks after I’d asked him to remove the cot bed sides, they were still on.

This morning though, I was woken by a huge bang and a cry.  Yep, N had tried to climb out and obviously hadn’t quite woken up, so had fallen.  No head bump but told me he had knocked his chin, and wanted ‘cream’ (ie aloe vera gelly).  He was a bit shaken, so he had some gel on his chin, lots of cuddles and back rubs, and then seemed fine.

If the OH wasn’t going to remove the sides, I’d have to track down a screwdriver and sort them out.  Luckily it needed an allen key, so after trying his scooter one which was too big, I scrabbled around the kitchen and utility room drawers and miraculously found a smaller one which fitted.

Now I thought I’d chosen the cot bed so when the sides came off, the ends could be lower than they currently are, but I couldn’t work out how to do that without having the base so high, that with the mattress it would be higher than the current single bed in his room.  But this evening, I’ve located another screwdriver allen key that obviously came with the bed, and it’s now like a proper low toddler bed.  None of it was helped by an excited toddler doing his own building using the spare screws in the spare holes, before putting them all in a nappy bag.  I panicked when I thought he’d lost the one large screw that was needed, but we found it again.

Very traumatic trying to build furniture when there’s a child in the way.

I’ve managed to just about fit it in the gap against the wall between the single bed in his room (which is seriously taking up space – I really want rid!) and the dressing table drawers.  I’d like it to create a bit more space as having 2 beds sticking out into the centre of the room doesn’t leave much playroom.  Maybe then we can start thinking about actually decorating his room, getting some better curtains and a lamp that he can turn on himself when it’s darker in the mornings.

So this evening will be his first night in his own proper bed.  He’s slept in the double bed before, and in a single bed at a B&B, so hopefully he’ll be fine.  I just hope this’ll stop him coming in to me early mornings because he’ll be able to get back in his own bed on his own, or play with his toys.

So far, he’s seemed quite excited trying it out with a proper single duvet, but we’ve just got to make sure he understands bedtime means he has to sleep and stay in bed without getting out all the time.