Big Kid Bed

Last month I wrote about our bedtimes woes with Jack. He could climb out of his pack-n-play and many nights were a long dance of toddler climbing out and mommy returning toddler to his bed. 

Since we were in a furnished rental cottage (in January-February), we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. I could tell it was time to move him to a bigger bed, but the beds in our rental were all really high and the doors to bedrooms wouldn't stay shut because it was a hundred+ year old house.

I was thrilled to move into our new house for many reasons, but I was especially thankful that we were able to finally move Jack into a big kid bed... We set up his crib converted to a toddler bed as well as a full-size bed in his new room. The first night we started him in his toddler bed, but he ended up requesting to sleep in the big bed. Also, on the very first night I ended up sleeping with him... it was a new house, he was still recovering from his hives incident and we wanted the transition to go smoothly.

The first couple of nights involved me laying down with him, but the last week has been amazing. We all get in his bed with him, read books and sing songs, and he goes to sleep. We shut the door (it has a child lock on the handle so he can't escape) and he RARELY gets out of bed. He has free rein of that room and I RARELY have to go and put him back in bed. After two months of on and off climbing out of his pack-n-play at bedtime I am in mommy heaven. I actually have my evenings back and I am incredibly grateful.

I am one happy mommy. Here are a few pics of me from my nephew's birthday party that I didn't get in time to include in my blog post: I am "slide-down-a-big-slide-at-Monkey-Joes" kind of happy now that Jack is sleeping in his big bed with no issues. He doesn't even get down and play with toys during nap time. YAY!!!

Life with a Toddler: Bedtime Shennanigans

The saying that "Rome wasn't built in a day" can easily apply to raising toddlers. There are days I wish Jack would master something quickly (like not climbing out of his bed at bedtime) but then I remind myself that parenting is a process that takes time.

I'm sure it doesn't help that in the last 8 months (thanks to Daniel's job change) Jack has slept in a pack 'n play 90% of the time. Not to mention that those first 6 months were in a different room/house each week.

Around Christmas Jack discovered that he could climb out of his pack 'n play. I spent several nights sitting outside the door to his room returning him to bed until he fell asleep. He finally figured out he was going to have to stay in bed, but after a few weeks, he decided to push his luck again.

I recently attempted to take his paci away. I know parents that never started the paci, parents that took it away before age 1, those who took it at 18 months, at 2 years, at 3 years... everyone parents differently. Well, after a day and a half (for several reasons) we caved and decided to wait until we live in a permanent house again and he has transitioned to his big boy bed.

The point of this tangent about the paci is that it has now become somewhat of a bargaining chip. When Jack insists on hopping out of his bed, I threaten to take away the paci. I have taken it away on two separate occasions and it was enough to keep him in bed for at least a few nights. It's not a perfect system but we are figuring it out. As long as he has free will and the ability to climb out of bed, I think I will just have to continue to patiently work with him.

We are getting to the point where Jack is negotiating the bedtime routine more often. There are nights that our bedtime routine calls for "one more book" and "I need water" and request for a "new bi-per" or extra blankets.

For now, on the nights when he insists on climbing out of his pack 'n play, we will continue our little dance of me returning him to bed. I'm counting down the days until we are in our own house again and we can toddler proof his room, stick him in a big boy bed and, if necessary, put a baby gate up or lock his door...