How old before babies can sleep in their own bed?

[pixi]

My daughters little girl is 20 months old and she is thinking of putting her into a bed rather than her cot.  As my kids are now 19 and 13 I honestly cannot remember what age I put them in their own bed.  I told her as long as shes got a safety gate up and makes sure theres nothing dangerous she can reach or mess with (eg put socket covers in plugs etc) then she should be alright.  Then thinking about it I wasn't sure.  Anyone got any ideas?

[ratbag66]

Anytime from about 18 months should be ok, depending on the child. My youngest daughter was 2 in April and is still in her cot at the moment because she is quite happy in it.  My nephew was in a bed at 18 months old because he started climbing out of his cot and it was a safer to move him into a bed.

[pixi]

thanks ratbag66 thats more or less the reason my daughter is thinking about putting her in a bed, she climbs up the side of the cot then launches herself to the floor.  How she hasnt hurt herself is a miracle.  The cot bottom is as low as it can go and shes very tiny for her age so we dont know how she manages it

[llindsey1]

 It should be fine at 24 months with like you said a safety rail. My daughter was in a toddler bed at 2yrs. And a twin bed at 4yrs.

[Hgrove]

I put my daughter in a toddler bed at 21 months because she was climbing out and falling down.

[pixi]

Thank you everyone

My daughters on her way to see me now, so I'll show her this and maybe she won't feel as nervous about trying her in a bed now.

[hellywellywo]

my son was 20 months when we put him into a bed.  we put some toys into his room, baby-gated the doorway and covered up the sockets.  the first 3 weeks were hard and tiring with lots of Eddie crying by the gate, but we went up every 10 - 15 minutes to put him back into bed and some nights we were so tired that he had no choice but to fall asleep by the gate.  but please persevere, because Eddie doesn't get out of bed infact he loves his bed and all that hard work was definately worth it.  he is just about to turn 2 years old and he is the lovliest boy on the planet.

[Otrere]

My daughter was 21 months when we changed her cotbed from cot to bed. This was because she twice climbed over the rail of the cot and went crashing to the floor and two near heart attacks was quite enough for me!!

We made sure she was there whilst we changed it so she was well aware of what was going on. She was so excited that she could get in and out of her own bed - she was leaping all over it when it was "up and running".

We have a stair/safety gate in the doorway and a guard rail on the side of the bed.

And to be honest its the best thing we ever did. That was almost a year ago. She is more inclined to stay in her bed because she gets in it of her own accord and she loves being thought of as a "big girl". I'd say go for it - if it doesn't work out, she can always but her daughter back into the cot for a bit longer.