We have been talking up the Big Boy Bed for some time now.
Because one, we need his crib for the girl. And two, his room is all new and shiny, and we figured that would be the perfect time to introduce The Bed. It's just a single bed on a box spring. Grown up, but not too tall.
Jordan was excited! We got sheets with cars on them! A quilt with an airplane! His own bed, just like Mama and Daddy!
Now, to be fair, we didn't approach it right. I read about it on the internet, uh, last night. After the experiment FAIL. You're supposed to maintain continuity. Not rock your kid's little world. Put the bed in the same place as the crib and all.
Because of construction, Jordan hadn't slept in his own room for a few weeks. The guys finally finished on Friday, and we got J's room cleaned up. On Saturday Nick and a friend moved all of Jordan's furniture back into his room, and extra furniture upstairs.
We can't put the bed in exactly the same place as the crib because there isn't enough wall. It doesn't fit. It's in the same corner, though.
Anyway, Nick and his friend went out for beers, and Jordan and I made his bed. He reveled in the designs. The pillows! All of it! I felt certain this was a very good sign.
We borrowed a bed rail from a friend, whose son, who is Jordan's age, started sleeping in his own BBB at age two, and now no longer needs it. She said he got in bed and treated it like his crib - not realizing he could jump out anytime, and calling for his parents when he wanted to get out.
Jordan? Not so much.
That night, he did not want to fall asleep in his new bed. Did NOT. So Nick put him down in his crib. And then, once he fell asleep, Nick carried him into his room and put him down in the bed.
Nick then laid down next to him. He said he figured that if Jordan woke up he'd be scared, and then Nick would be right there.
Woke up scared? Ha.
Nick awoke at midnight alone in Jordan's car sheets. Jordan was nowhere in sight. His bedroom door was wide open. Nick ran down the hall in a panic.
We've taken all the baby gates off of the stairs because they started getting ripped out of walls when people were moving furniture and construction stuff. So was he up? Or down?
Nick said he heard my mom's TV on. So he decided to check upstairs first.
Where he found Jordan sitting up in bed with Nana. Eating coconut cream pie and watching Rachel Maddow.
Kid you not.
Naptime yesterday consisted of Jordan pulling all of his clothes out of his dresser, chucking them all on his bed, and having a diaper dance party in his room.
We're back in the crib for a while, is what I'm saying.
Well maybe you're going to have to tell J that the baby will just get to have the big bed all to herself and those great sheets and he'll just have to stay little and not get to be a big boy. The key to life? People want what they cant have. Works on little kids sometimes too.
ReplyDeleteI had the opposite problem with my daughter. She cried to get out of that crib until at 18 months I put her in a double bed and that was it. Slept through the night and never looked back. But then all of her issues came up when she was much to old for me to have any say. I wish you luck!
Yah - we have a number of friends with kids younger than J who just started sleeping happily in beds one day. That was that. J has always viewed a bed as a dance party. He never, ever slept with us, and if you try to get him to cuddle with you for a nap or when he's sick, he just spends his time poking you in the ear or examining the contents of your nose or walking on your head.
DeleteThey all do it differently. My daughter went from her crib, to a mattress on the floor. (She HAD a bed, she just didn't want to sleep in it.) So we did the mattress thing for a while and then slowly we moved her into the actual bed. He'll get there. Can the girl have her own crib? A bassinet in your room for a while?
ReplyDeleteWe have a Pack n Play bassinet that I think we will use for her. J was in his crib from the beginning, but we could do that with her. And if it goes on for months and months, we'll just buy an Ikea crib.
DeleteThe Boy moved to his BBB with rail when he was a little over two, he never, not once got out of bed I don't think he realized he could (but for a minor lapse of a week in which he had to "pee" every five minutes for an hour after bedtime). The girl tried a BGB for two weeks at my mom's... She turned into a literal jack in the box, and bedtime became a nightmare of screaming, crying, frustration (me), and gleeful running around most of the night (her). She'll be in a crib until she learns to follow directions or goes to college, whichever happens first. I suggest a bassinet or one of those cute wicker baskets for the baby!!
ReplyDeleteI am with you on the stay in a crib until you're read to stay in bed or go to college. I am fine with that. And actually, he's so HAPPY in his crib. Last night I gave him a Big Boy pillow and his airplane quilt in there and he just curled up and fell asleep. I think we just rocked his world a little too soon.
DeleteIs now the time to tell you that it took Declan TWO YEARS to stay in his bed all night once he moved to the BBB? No? I thought not....
ReplyDeleteYikes. Only if you want to make a very pregnant woman cry. TWO YEARS???
DeleteWe moved our daughter right after eighteen months to avoid doing it too close to baby's arrival. Our biggest tricks, which may make me sound evil--is a baby safety knob cover on the inside of the door. Then the little ones cannot be wandering the halls at all hours. Then, She would stay IN her room, and get out of the bed.
ReplyDeleteEventually, she'd wear herself out and fall asleep. And we'd move her into her bed. This went on for maybe two weeks where she'd fall asleep anywhere in her room BUT the bed, but eventually it "clicked" and she figured out that the bed was much more comfortable than the floor. So i guess my advice is to partially just wait out the novelty of it. Eventually he'll realize the bed is the best place to sleep!
I think this is good advice. We'll try the bed again in a couple weeks or so...and make sure he can't get out of his room. Unfortunately, it also means taking all the clothes out of his drawers and putting everything else up out of reach because I can't handle him trashing his room daily.
Deletewon't little sophie be sleeping with you or in a bassinet for the first 6 weeks anyway? no worries, it will all work out!
ReplyDeleteThat wasn't what we did for J - his room was connected, so at night we just walked the 10-15 feet and put him in his crib. She's going to be in the same spot as he was, but I guess we'll just stick the bassinet in there. The thing I like about having the babe in the crib is that we have the Angelcare monitor that freaks out if there isn't any movement for 20 seconds, and you need a board under the crib mattress for that. Maybe it's a false sense of security, but it made me feel better.
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