One Huge highlight of the month was Little Man's SECOND birthday! I'll get back to that event tomorrow probably, but tonight I wanted to tell you about what he did a couple days before his birthday...
he got a big boy bed!!
One morning one of my awesome daycare parents came in and asked if we by any chance wanted a toddler bed. Seeing as Little Man was about ready to move up to a bed, we were either going to need to buy a mattress for the bed parts we already have, or find a toddler bed. So, yeah! We were interested! A few days before his birthday I drove over there to take a look at the bed and was pleased as punch at what great shape it was in. My daycare kiddo took great care of that bed during the time he had it!
My baby, and yes he is still my baby, was really excited when we surprised him with it an hour or so before his bedtime. He was having so much fun playing on it I was a little worried he'd never sleep in it. I worried about this with each of my kids, but really they all did a pretty great job sleeping in their beds, including LM!
I was even more skeptical when I put him to bed and he was doing this (look up at the last picture and down at the next two). I started thinking the only way he'd stay in that bed was with duct tape... FYI: duct tape is a frowned upon method for child-rearing, though it makes a great craft item!
LM's room is really dark at night, which helped us out because though he was sitting up when I walked to the door, when I turned off the light and shut the door his room was instantly very dark. With only a faint nightlight in the room, he stayed in bed either from fear of walking around in the dark, or because he got teh clear idea that it was bedtime.
One of the common things I've noticed when we've moved our kids to real beds was that usually it doesn't dawn on them to get up and play once they've been put to bed because they are so used to being stuck in their bed! This isn't the case for every child, and I'm not sure how much age has to do with it, but it is what happened with our kids. Eventually they give us some trouble but at first they've done pretty well.
I know I'm jinxing myself here but so far LM's been in his big boy bed for almost 2 weeks and I'm pretty sure the only time he's gotten out of bed was during his first naptime in it! There might have been another nap where he got up, but it has gone extremely well!
It was a lot bitter sweet taking apart his crib. I was putting a crib away for the last time. No more sleepy babies to snuggle into a crib at night. No more crib toys attached to the bars. No more tiny newborn babies in a giant crib.
You know what though? Beds are nice too. It's easier to read them a bedtime story in their bed, easier to get in and out of, easier to snuggle them when they are waking up but not quite ready to get up, easier to kiss them goodnight.
3 comments:
Yahoo got her big bed too and i was surprised to that she doesn't get out of it either. Nice bed too! Isn't free stuff great?
We still have the crib in the attic. I've been afraid that if we get rid of it I'll jinx myself and we'll have a "surprise". :) Now I just think I'll keep it for grandbabies some day.
I remember the first time our now 5 year old slept in his big boy bed. I set up a baby gate in his doorway (in a way that the door could still shut) and triple checked that everything in his room was super baby proofed, but I still lay awake for a looooong time worrying that he'd somehow get out of bed, out of his room, and into trouble. He didn't though. I agree with you. I think they don't immediately realize that they *can* get out of bed. It took him a few nights to start giving us trouble. Even then, though, all he would do is get up and start playing with the toys in his room. :) I actually thought it was kinda cute till I needed to go to sleep and he was still playing. Then it wasn't so cute. ;)
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