Transition: Toddler bed to bed

A year ago in February our baby boy graduated his cot, it was a moment that really highlighted that the little man who had once resided in the comfort and security provided by those four sturdy bars, no longer needed such support and confinement. It was time for him to gain that freedom, we had to trust that he would stay in bed, that he was grown up enough for such a responsibility, that he was ready.

Of course children are resilient little beings, and they won't do anything that they aren't ready to do, and he took to it all like a duck to water. Leo knew that when bed time arrived, that he must stay in bed and go to sleep, and to this day I am thankful that I have been blessed with a little boy who has taken to the bed time routine as quickly as he did. 

When we made the initial transition for him, we didn't want to make such a massive jump and scare him. Coming out of a cot and into a open bed is actually quite a daunting aspect, and it was completely foreign to him. There was one occasion that we attempted it before he was ready, and he soon let us know that it was quite simply not going to happen. We listened to him and followed his lead, and eventually in his own time he let us hold his hand through the transition. 

This last year Leo has slept in his car bed which is still only a toddler bed, but it has most definitely served it's purpose. It was a novelty and made him excited to go to bed, it helped him stay there, it was low to the floor in case he did manage to go over the side and tumble out, and it made him feel safe and secure. That's all that we could have asked for as parents, knowing that our little boy was happy in his bedroom environment and comfortable in his bed at night. 

Toddler beds are made to be outgrown though, they serve there purpose and then before you know it you are back in the market for bedroom furniture to accommodate your growing child. Now although Leo still has growing room in his bed, I have recently been looking at ways to make the very most of the space that he has available in his room, and ultimately that means looking into upgrading his toddler bed in favour of something more substantial.

It is a discussion that I have had with Leo on and off over the last couple of months, he has dreams of a mid sleeper bed. Practically one with a desk and underneath storage is the way to go, but the child in me loves the look of those that come with slides, but if you ask Leo, all he really wants is a bed with a ladder. I see the appeal, I remember when I was his age that all I really longed for, all that I really wished for was a bunk bed. Why a bunk bed? I just wanted a bed with a ladder, just like Leo. It didn't matter that I essentially had two beds, because I just swapped and changed which one I wanted to sleep on! 

As with everything that we have done with Leo, we will let this transition unfold in his own time, when he is ready. 

I think that time is on the horizon.