Well night 2 transitioning to the big boy bed was a bit better. He still cried immediately after we left the room. I put him back in bed about 5 times and then just laid down with him again till he feel asleep. I'm torn as to what to do because I know if I don't do that he will cry, like a lot. But its not a permanent solution. I can't do it every night and the more I do it the more he will expect it. Ugh! Parenting is hard, man.
But on the bright side, he did stay in his bed and asleep till 6am. So that's improvement at least!
Night 3 was rough. I talked to some parents during the day just to get more info on how they handled it. I also did a bunch of Internet research. Basically all sources all agreed that you have to let them cry for a few nights but they eventually will get it. This reminds me of the sleep training we did around 10 months. It was SO hard to hear him cry but in the end it was the best thing for our family. So I talked to Steve about whether this was the best decision for our family this time. We agreed that the timing really wasn't great with us leaving for a trip next week and that will probably mess up his sleep anyway. We discussed doing a series of transitions like we did with the sleep training, such as sitting next to his bed for a week, sitting by the door for a week, right outside the door, etc.
So anyway, we decided not to start that until we get back from vacation. But we did talk about letting him cry a little bit to see how he handled it (the previous nights we had gone in right away after he whimpered a bit). So that night we did the same routine and as soon as we left he went right to the baby gate and started whimpering for me. I went in after about 5 minutes and put him back into his bed and left. Well, later/rise/repeat for about an hour of that. Finally I let him go more like 10 minute intervals and he started screaming instead of crying/whimpering. Yikes! That was not fun but at that point it was like well we've come this far, if I go in now do I undo all the progress we've made? WELL cranky/tired mommy won over logic and I went into lay down with him around 10:30pm. Well that little stinker wouldn't go to sleep! He stared at me for about 45 minutes. I pretended to sleep all that, and every time I'd sneak a peek at him he'd just be staring at me. SO frustrating and I was SO tired! UGH
He finally feel aslep at some point and I went back to my bed. Well then he woke up at 3am. Awesome...not! I had to go back in there and lay with him until 4:30 again. SO needless to say I was super tired and cranky the next day.
So we needed a new plan!
Monday, May 6, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Adventures in Transitioning to the Big Boy Bed
Parenting is like this crazy roller coaster with many ups and downs and the times of straight, smooth sailing are few and far between. And raising a toddler is the craziest roller coaster I've been on so far. Well my crazy toddler threw us for a loop this week. He is turning 2 and we knew it would be time to move him into his big boy room and bed soon. I had conveniently planned a timeline of that to happen in my head: after his birthday party, our vacation, and so we'd have time to remodel the room for him. Steven however, was not privy to this timeline and apparently had ideas of his own! Side note, he apparently requested (demanded) to sleep in a big boy bed at Grandma Riegerix's house 2 weeks ago...so that may have something to do with it.
So the last 2 nights have been horrible. Our great sleeper who hasn't had a problem for the past year was crying and screaming at bedtime. Steve and I were both like what the heck? We tried to let him figure it out, we tried to soothe him, talk to him, sing to him, etc. etc. Finally Monday night I couldn't take it anymore and brought him into our bed to sleep. Well that didn't go well for anyone! He tossed and turned and kicked me in the face all night. I had intended to let him fall asleep in our bed and move him to his crib but every time I tried to move him he woke up and screamed to lay back down in our bed. Steve moved to the guest room at some point in the night (abandoning ship? or genius? you decide).
So that wasn't happening again on Tuesday night! So Tuesday evening Steven was playing in the big boy bed (which is the guest bed right now and the room is still a disaster). And he was pretending to sleep in there. So I asked him, do you want to sleep in your big boy bed tonight? And he was like "YES! Sleep here!". Steve and I both looked at each other and were like "oh boy..." Then it dawned on me. Maybe he wants to sleep in that bed and that's why he's been crying in the crib for the past 2 nights.
So I began preparations trying to make room around the bed for pillows (just in case), removing harmful things he could get into, etc, etc. We did his bedtime routine but read books, sang songs in his new bed. I talked to him about staying in his bed until Mommy comes to get him in the AM and all that jazz. We kissed his little head goodnight and walked out. Probably 4 seconds later there's a little hand on our bedroom door trying to open it. LOL So I put him back into bed about 4 times. Finally I told Steve to go get the baby gate. (So we could lock him in there good.) He really couldn't get out of the room with that on the door fram. Unforunatley he could still get out of the bed. So he started to whine at the baby gate a short while later. I let him whine for a little bit until he started really crying. Finally I laid down in his bed with him until he feel asleep.
I was nervous leaving him in there and honestly didn't too much sleep myself (unlike my husband who was snoring away all night). I was doing the mommy sleeping with one ear open routine. I woke up about every hour listening for any little whimpers. But I really didn't hear any! Around midnight I think he did cry for me a bit but calmed himself down and went back to sleep. Then around 4:30am I hear the baby gate banging. He's trying to escape! I went and got him and brought him to our bed but I get up at 4:50am so he didn't get to go back to sleep.
So overall I would say first night in the big boy bed was a pretty good success. I'm so proud of him that he slept till 4:30am by himself. It'd be better if he slept till 7am like he usually does, don't get me wrong. But I think/hope/pray we will get there. My OCD is a flaring up a little with his room not being done and ready to go completely yet but I guess he wasn't on my timeline (when is he?).
Almost can't believe that my baby is at this stage but at the same time he seems so much older than 2 most of the time anyway.
So the last 2 nights have been horrible. Our great sleeper who hasn't had a problem for the past year was crying and screaming at bedtime. Steve and I were both like what the heck? We tried to let him figure it out, we tried to soothe him, talk to him, sing to him, etc. etc. Finally Monday night I couldn't take it anymore and brought him into our bed to sleep. Well that didn't go well for anyone! He tossed and turned and kicked me in the face all night. I had intended to let him fall asleep in our bed and move him to his crib but every time I tried to move him he woke up and screamed to lay back down in our bed. Steve moved to the guest room at some point in the night (abandoning ship? or genius? you decide).
So that wasn't happening again on Tuesday night! So Tuesday evening Steven was playing in the big boy bed (which is the guest bed right now and the room is still a disaster). And he was pretending to sleep in there. So I asked him, do you want to sleep in your big boy bed tonight? And he was like "YES! Sleep here!". Steve and I both looked at each other and were like "oh boy..." Then it dawned on me. Maybe he wants to sleep in that bed and that's why he's been crying in the crib for the past 2 nights.
So I began preparations trying to make room around the bed for pillows (just in case), removing harmful things he could get into, etc, etc. We did his bedtime routine but read books, sang songs in his new bed. I talked to him about staying in his bed until Mommy comes to get him in the AM and all that jazz. We kissed his little head goodnight and walked out. Probably 4 seconds later there's a little hand on our bedroom door trying to open it. LOL So I put him back into bed about 4 times. Finally I told Steve to go get the baby gate. (So we could lock him in there good.) He really couldn't get out of the room with that on the door fram. Unforunatley he could still get out of the bed. So he started to whine at the baby gate a short while later. I let him whine for a little bit until he started really crying. Finally I laid down in his bed with him until he feel asleep.
I was nervous leaving him in there and honestly didn't too much sleep myself (unlike my husband who was snoring away all night). I was doing the mommy sleeping with one ear open routine. I woke up about every hour listening for any little whimpers. But I really didn't hear any! Around midnight I think he did cry for me a bit but calmed himself down and went back to sleep. Then around 4:30am I hear the baby gate banging. He's trying to escape! I went and got him and brought him to our bed but I get up at 4:50am so he didn't get to go back to sleep.
So overall I would say first night in the big boy bed was a pretty good success. I'm so proud of him that he slept till 4:30am by himself. It'd be better if he slept till 7am like he usually does, don't get me wrong. But I think/hope/pray we will get there. My OCD is a flaring up a little with his room not being done and ready to go completely yet but I guess he wasn't on my timeline (when is he?).
Almost can't believe that my baby is at this stage but at the same time he seems so much older than 2 most of the time anyway.
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