Big Bed
A while ago I posted that we had moved a twin mattress into Anya's room with the hopes that some day she would sleep in it and we could have her out of the crib before the new baby arrives. Well, I'm happy to report that we have made this transition.
Ever since we moved the mattress into her room, it has just been used for our bedtime story routine. We all hang out on the bed and read a few books and then put Anya in her crib. Well, this week we decided that she has had enough time getting used to the bed as a hang-out spot and that if we were really going to get this happening before April, we should just get going. So, on Tuesday night we just casually asked her if she would like to sleep in her big bed or her little bed. She chose the big bed. The mattress is just on the floor with nothing else underneath it, not even the box springs, but we still put some pillows on the floor next to the bed in case she fell off.
At around 1:30am, she woke up face first, halfway off the bed. I went in to check on her and she was pretty shook up and wouldn't calm down to sleep in any of her beds, no matter what size. Steve and I were both really tired, so we just took her back to our bed and she eventually was calm enough to sleep there for the rest of the night. We fully expected this traumatic even to discourage her from wanting to sleep in the big bed again, but the next day for her nap, I asked her to choose a bed and she chose the big one again. This time she slept with no problem for several hours. And this has been continuing for nap and night sleeping ever since. We did fold up a blanket and put it on the edge of the bed to act as a barrier and that seems to be helping because she hasn't fallen out again since the first night.
It has been strange to leave her in that big bed and walk out, knowing that she could just get up and play with all the toys in her room, but so far she doesn't seem to want to test that out. We still use a baby monitor, so we listen pretty closely for sounds that she is up and moving about, but so far she has stayed put. And we decided to open her door during the night and put up a gate so that she can get out of her room, but only get into our room if she needs something. But so far she hasn't left her room.
Yesterday Steve and I were talking and realized that maybe since this was all going so well, we should just take the crib out of her room before she wants to sleep in it again. I was a little afraid that she would lose her enthusiasm like with the potty training (by the way, we aren't planning on working on this transition for a while, at least probably until after baby #2 arrives). We decided that maybe we should just move the crib out now and not give her the option. We had wanted to move the crib out before the baby's birth anyhow, so that we could setup the new room and so that Anya didn't have an association with having to give her bed to this strange new person.
So, that's what we did last night. We told Anya what we were going to do and she helped Steve take it apart and saw that we put all disassembled into the guest room.
Anya didn't have any sort of negative reaction at all. And we brought in a few other things from around the house to fill in the empty space. Now it really looks like a kid lives there and not a baby. It was kind of a big deal for us, even if Anya didn't react badly to it. And while I cannot be happier that this transition went so smoothly, it does make me a little sad that she is so grown up.
We obviously don't know if she'll ask to sleep in her crib again some day, but it really isn't an option, so we'll just have to deal with that if it comes up. And I wonder how she will react when we set up the crib again in anticipation of the baby, but we'll just have to see about that when it happens, too. For now I am just amazed at how something I was dreading has turned out so easy.
Ever since we moved the mattress into her room, it has just been used for our bedtime story routine. We all hang out on the bed and read a few books and then put Anya in her crib. Well, this week we decided that she has had enough time getting used to the bed as a hang-out spot and that if we were really going to get this happening before April, we should just get going. So, on Tuesday night we just casually asked her if she would like to sleep in her big bed or her little bed. She chose the big bed. The mattress is just on the floor with nothing else underneath it, not even the box springs, but we still put some pillows on the floor next to the bed in case she fell off.
At around 1:30am, she woke up face first, halfway off the bed. I went in to check on her and she was pretty shook up and wouldn't calm down to sleep in any of her beds, no matter what size. Steve and I were both really tired, so we just took her back to our bed and she eventually was calm enough to sleep there for the rest of the night. We fully expected this traumatic even to discourage her from wanting to sleep in the big bed again, but the next day for her nap, I asked her to choose a bed and she chose the big one again. This time she slept with no problem for several hours. And this has been continuing for nap and night sleeping ever since. We did fold up a blanket and put it on the edge of the bed to act as a barrier and that seems to be helping because she hasn't fallen out again since the first night.
It has been strange to leave her in that big bed and walk out, knowing that she could just get up and play with all the toys in her room, but so far she doesn't seem to want to test that out. We still use a baby monitor, so we listen pretty closely for sounds that she is up and moving about, but so far she has stayed put. And we decided to open her door during the night and put up a gate so that she can get out of her room, but only get into our room if she needs something. But so far she hasn't left her room.
Yesterday Steve and I were talking and realized that maybe since this was all going so well, we should just take the crib out of her room before she wants to sleep in it again. I was a little afraid that she would lose her enthusiasm like with the potty training (by the way, we aren't planning on working on this transition for a while, at least probably until after baby #2 arrives). We decided that maybe we should just move the crib out now and not give her the option. We had wanted to move the crib out before the baby's birth anyhow, so that we could setup the new room and so that Anya didn't have an association with having to give her bed to this strange new person.
So, that's what we did last night. We told Anya what we were going to do and she helped Steve take it apart and saw that we put all disassembled into the guest room.
Anya didn't have any sort of negative reaction at all. And we brought in a few other things from around the house to fill in the empty space. Now it really looks like a kid lives there and not a baby. It was kind of a big deal for us, even if Anya didn't react badly to it. And while I cannot be happier that this transition went so smoothly, it does make me a little sad that she is so grown up.
We obviously don't know if she'll ask to sleep in her crib again some day, but it really isn't an option, so we'll just have to deal with that if it comes up. And I wonder how she will react when we set up the crib again in anticipation of the baby, but we'll just have to see about that when it happens, too. For now I am just amazed at how something I was dreading has turned out so easy.
posted by Lara at 2:42 PM
4 Comments:
You're right - it does look like a "kid's bedroom." I love that new red chair. Isn't funny with kids that sometimes things that your are sure will be tough transitions are no big deal and other things - which you are just sure won't make any difference at all to the child turn into big productions! That's having children, for you! BTW - your glucose entry was very funny.
Glad to hear the first night trauma wasn't much of a big deal after all! She does look so grown up in her room-now.
Yay for Anya...that so cute to see her room all like that...and amazing to me. I'm not going to bank on it being that easy for Dylan, and then hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised! The room looks great. When/where did you get that new great CHAIR?! Awesome!
What a trooper!
So what are you doing for the new baby's room? Did you paint it yet? Are you going to stencil fire trucks all over it?
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