im a Mother of 4 10 9 5 and 7 weeks and all my children go from baby bassinette to full bed.I just mad the bed down low and put a saftey rail. Saves money and its easy

i currently have a 2 month old and a two yrold and yes i have two cot but i found it easier to have my tot in a portacot with a cot mattress in it and bubs in a cot that changes to a tot bed once my lil one is less likely to get up every 5 mins and bubs is a bit older i am planning on changing the cot to a tot bed and bub will get the portocot until tot is in a real bed then the portocots going and bub will be in tot bed. as for the tot bed q. i tryed it for a while but she was really hard to keep in there, i would have her running to my bed every couple of mins or she'd be out and playing with toys or getting in to dvds in the lounge. im going to try again when she fully figures out how to climb out the cot. she was 21 monthes old

If you don't want to buy a second cot you have couple of options.

1. Put your newborn in a bassinet for the first 4-6 months.  This has the advantage of being smaller and more mobile than a cot, so you can have it by your bedside or move it around the house during the day.

2. Hire a cot from a baby furniture hire place, if that's an option where you live.  Or borrow one from a friend who is keeping it waiting for their next baby to arrive. 

I'm planning to keep my daughter in a cot until she tries to climb out of it (ie until it is no longer safe to keep her in it.) but I guess it's a matter of personal choice.

Hey Steff.
My daughter was about 22 months when we put her in her "big girl bed". And i am so lucky but I had no trouble with it, I just put the cot mattress on the floor for a few weeks for when she rolled out (which was only twice as far as I know) and all was good.
I did it then so there was 2 months before I had my baby. We then set the cot up in the babies room for Caitlin to get used to seeing it in there and that way doesnt get upset thinking it is hers and jealousy etc.
I would do it soon if you think your toddler is ready, as you dont want to be dealing with trying to get a toddler into a new bed while you are trying to get used to having a newborn demanding all your attention again.
Good luck!

yep done this twice!!15months apart and 12months and 1 week apart.before bubs come along put the older toddler in a bed. it takes persistance but usually only a week as they will get out because they can!!.it works better if the toddler moves to the big kids bed before the newborn comes home so there is no resentment from the toddler toward the new baby of 'you stole my bed',if you get what i mean.I always had a safety guard to prevent them falling out.I had no troubles getting them to a big kids bed.

It's really an individual choice. My 22 month old sleeps in a bed now, but my friends twin 20 month old's still share a cot. I also have day care kids that are 2 1/2 still in cots and 18 month old's who are in bed's, so really just a personal choice. Some parents just forget how fast there little one has grown, so it just never occure's to them to upgrade to a bed until they have a new bub arive.

Basicly you'd have to spend a few day's putting them back into bed, so you'd be back and forth a few time's a night until they got use to being in a bed and learn they have to stay in bed, even though they can now climb out. Most commonly once your toddler learns to climb out of there cot that's a sure sighn they are ready for a bed lol.

hey steff, when i had my 2nd son on the way ben was nearly 18 mths old so i tried him in a bed and this worked really well,so i didnt have to get another cot, but we bought Myah a new Abby Cadabby bed about 2 weeks ago now and tried putting her in it as she is starting to climb out of her cot and it was a huge mistake. She wasnt ready for her big girl bed at all. She is now 18mths old. So it depends on the child on how they feel about their cots,Myah has her bed put away for now and we will be trying again in a few weeks. Hope i helped you out....

naomi xxx