I have a 21/2 year old who we are considering putting in a big bed.... seeing she figured out how to climb out a porta cot and showing signs of the same thing in her cot at home. My question is putting in a bed rail with the move to a big bed- is it worth it? My daughter's issue is- she sleeps every angle in her cot and we hear her clanging the cot bars every night with her movement. Talking to friends and family- they all recommend no bed rail.

Bed rail or no bed rail and can anyone recommend a good bed rail? Are there bed rails that go all the way down the side of single beds?

Like your little one, our 3.5 year old use to sleep in every position in her cot except straight. The big bed can be quite scary for some bubs starting in it - ours refused to sleep in her big bed until the rails were up - alleviated her fear of falling out of bed!

We have the 'universal bed rail' (available from toysrus) which suits most standard beds where mattress sits 'inside the bed frame' otherwise some rails only fit directly under the mattress so make sure you check it will fit the bed (we weren't cluey on this so bought the wrong one at first!). The rails are great as they are usually only one single long 'u' shape steel or plastic bar and covered entirely by mesh or material - so very different to the hard wooden cot bars. There are also different lengths as well but will always have some gap either end for her to get on off bed as she pleases without hurdling over the cot bars!

Our 3.5 year old still sleeps across the bed so the rails have been great for her and our peace of mind. Good luck!

My little one seems to need to sleep up against a hard surface so seeing as the bed is against the wall I knew that side would be ok, but I just knew he would keep moving over in his sleep until he reached a hard surface so if he was moving towards the open side he would simply keep going until he fell out. Much easier with the bed rail.

My 3 and half year old still sleeps with a bed rail. If he didn't he would fall out every night due to his need to spin around every which way in his sleep. He sleeps in a king single and has the rail up the head end. Its and extendable one and reaches about half way down. Covered in mesh material which I'm glad about as he often ends up wedged in tight against it. Not usre which brand is best, but being extendable and the mesh cover have been important for us. Good luck!