When do I have to move my baby into a toddler bed?

This is a common question I hear from parents.  As with most things there is no one right answer.

The timing of when to move your toddler into their own bed varies. For some this doesn’t happen for quite some time, maybe when their child is closer to three years of age or longer, depending on the family sleeping arrangements, values and beliefs.

For others this happens quite early depending on many things one of which is that a new sibling comes along a little earlier than planned and thus their cot is needed for the new baby.

For families who share a sleeping surface, a cot may not even feature in their home so this hurdle may never arise. It may simply be a case of sharing beds during the night.  One of my friends with three little boys simply swapped beds all night long.  They would move around from bed to bed sleeping with others or sleeping alone for some part of the night until someone came and joined them. These children simply learned to be independent in choosing where they slept – sometimes with Mum and sometimes with Dad.  Sometimes all three boys were in the one bed and mum and dad in another.  For them there was no issue about moving from a cot to a bed because the baby was hardly ever in the cot and got used to being in beds from an early age.  I am not advocating this for everyone.

It worked for my friends but does not suit the majority of families.

As a general guide, when your toddler starts to climb out of the cot is a strong signal to move them into their own bed.  This is clearly a safety consideration rather than anything else.

Some parents will push this time and their toddler may stay in their cot for much longer.

Again it depends on the child and the parents and what works. Safety is usually the driving factor.