This weekend saw a new era in Little Boss’s life. He has moved from a cot to a “Big Boy” Bed.

For a few months now our 2.5yr old has been letting us know that he would like a proper bed, while we have no problem with this – we do tend to like our sleep! Since teaching him to sleep properly at 8 months using the controlled crying technique we have enjoyed peaceful nights and happy bedtimes, we were worried that the transition from a cot to a  toddler bed would upset both his and our routine, how selfish are we?!

So yesterday we decided to put it off no longer and bite the bullet. A trip to Ikea was the order of the day. Bed – check, mattress – check, duvet, pillow and all covers – check. We also popped into mothercare to grab a Gro-Clock Sleep Trainer, a bit steep at £30 but we had heard good things about it – more about the Gro clock later.

The First Daytime Nap…

We arrived home with plenty of time to construct the bed before Little Boss’s nap time, he was uber excited and keen to “help”!

Without too much faffing we had the bed up in no time and into position. We’re not sure who was more excited him or us, it was a very proud moment our little man going to a big bed! (I know, I know, It’s only a bed!)

We explained to him how his new “special clock” (the Gro clock) works, when the picture is stars you have to stay in bed – it’s sleep time, when the picture is of the sun you can get up – simple – and easy for him to understand.

Ok so it was time – we followed the same routine as always, gave him his 10 minute warning that its almost naptime, then tucked him into his new bed, read him a story, kissed him sweet dreams and left the room.

Usually that would be that until he wakes a few hours later – not now he had freedom!

The first time he got up we placed him back into bed with  “its naptime now honey, go to sleep”. the next time (5 mins later) we didn’t say a word and placed him back into his bed (in true supernanny fashion – where would some of us be without Jo frost eh?!). We continued to do this for 1.5hrs EEEK!! We lost count of how many times it was – but it was a lot – still 1.5hrs…could’ve been worse.

The First Night…

When nightime came I was very apprehensive – thinking nightime would be the biggest challenge – I even tweeted asking for good luck!

To my complete and utter surprise he only got up once, we placed him back into bed and there was no further problems – it did take a LOT longer than usual for him to fall asleep (we could hear him singing to himself – or his teddies we’re not sure!)  overall a great success and I am happy to report that at naptime today we only had to go in once and he was asleep shortly after. Lets hope it stays like that!

The Good & The Bad of the Gro Clock

The good – really easy for a toddler to understand as it uses a simple image to let them know when its sleep time and when its ok to get up. It comes with a story book that also helps get the message across of how the clock works which is well written.

The bad – it can only be plugged in, having the option of using batteries in our case would have been nice (as it limits where you can place it). Although only a dim light, the Gro Clock is illuminated all night – no problem if you have a toddler used to sleeping with a nightlight – not so great if you have toddler that has been taught to sleep in complete darkness – we think its having this light in his room that’s the cause of taking longer to settle.

Conclusion – time will tell, it definately works in that he fully understands when its sleep time and when he is allowed to get up – but having a constant light in his room may be a deal breaker. We shall see!

Have you been through the transition of cot to bed with your little ones? How did it go – leave a comment below?