Despite her inability to confidently walk unaided (although we’re getting there, step by step) my girl is feisty, chatty, independent and extremely bossy. She certainly isn’t the tiny, helpless little bundle we brought home from the hospital.

Which means – we think – that she’s ready for a bed.

The whole “moving from cot to bed” is yet another milestone that parents can become obsessed by. On the scale of riveting conversations, the discussion about my daughter’s bed readiness ranks pretty low (about a 1 or 2 I guess) and isn’t something I’d expect anyone other than myself to give two hoots about.

But, as with all these milestones, the ones who are immersed in it are the ones who become obsessed by it. And boy, have I become obsessed.

I’m excited to try out her new Dunelm Sleepy Owl bedding. She already loves the matching cushion, taking it everywhere with her, including to wake up her grumpy dad on a Saturday morning…

I’m excited at the thought of being able to sit next to her in her bed, while we read a bedtime story. I’m excited at the lack of back pain as I constantly bend down, reaching over the bars to extricate my toddler from her nightime prison.

But I’m also rather scared.

What if she falls out of bed? Will a rail stop her rolling? Is a rail necessary? What kind of stair gate should we get? What if she decides to throw a party for all her teddies at 3am and won’t go back to bed? What if she comes into our room at 5am on a Saturday morning and gives up sleeping altogether?

All of these questions are, I’m sure, desperately unoriginal ones. But they remain at the forefront of my mind, as I postpone removing the side of the cot for yet another day.

Aware of my self-postponement tactics, I’ve now set a date and actually written it in my diay (I know – pathetic, right?). The Day Of The Cot To Bed will be next Saturday.

Which gives me a week to fathom an answer to all of the above questions. In the meantime, have you got any advice?

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Disclosure: I’m on the Dunelm parent blogger panel. The Sleepy Owl bedding and cushion were one of the samples I received for the purpose of review, which will be posted once the cot prison is finally discarded.

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