Big Girl Bed
After a month of talking about it, with Fiona and with each other, we finally made the move from the crib to a toddler bed ("big girl bed," as Fiona calls it) on Saturday. Which gives Aunt Kathy the distinction of being the last person to put Fiona down to sleep in her crib when she babysat on Saturday morning.
Fiona took to the bed immediately--as soon as she saw it, she climbed right in and pulled the blanket over her. She then spent the evening climbing in and out of the bed, putting her various stuffed animals down to sleep, discovering that she could bring her own books into bed with her, et cetera.
She was so excited, in fact, that we almost couldn't get her to go to sleep on Saturday night. She didn't want to read stories, she didn't want to hear any lullabys, and she certainly didn't want to have a good night cuddle. So when Andrea finally kissed her good night and closed the door, we were treated to a screaming fit the likes of which we hadn't heard since we were first teaching Fiona to fall asleep on her own over a year and a half ago.
I went in after a few minutes of screaming and discovered that Fiona, regretting her newfound freedom, had pulled her nightlight out of its socket and had plunged her room into darkness. So I plugged the nightlight back in and explained to her that even though she could climb out of bed whenever she wanted, it was still just like sleeping in her crib, and she probably didn't want to pull out the nightlight. I don't know if it was my talk or (more likely) the fact that she has a basic enough understanding of cause and effect, but the nightlight stayed in the rest of the night (and last night, too).
The newfound freedom did mean, however, that at 4:45 am on Sunday morning we were treated to a very, very, very happy toddler suddenly crawling up the mattress to lie down between us. Once again, she was too excited for the trip to really work, and after letting her stay for about 15 minutes, I took her back to her bed and told her we could play again in the morning.
Her next visit came shortly before 6am. That time I tried to take her straight back to bed, and she hopped straight back out. But she did better on the second visit, and actually let us get another 30-45 minutes of sleep with her in our bed. Even so, we still felt like we were returning to newborn sleeping hours.
Since she'd done so well at keeping the nightlight in after the initial incident, I figured there was no need to remove the nightlight on Sunday morning, the way we always had when she slept in her crib, once we got up. But Fiona has been watching our routine all her life, and when she saw that the nightlight was still plugged in, she pulled it out of its socket and carried it over to the basket where we normally keep it during the daytime.
With the bed being a clear hit, we decided to take the crib down on Sunday (we left it in her room on Saturday night in case the bed turned out to be a massive failure, but since her room is only about 100 sq. ft., there really isn't room for both a crib and a bed). We said a big goodbye to the crib, but still Fiona screamed and cried while I took it apart. Ultimately, though, we decided it was better to take that path than to have her go out for an hour and discover that her crib had vanished; we don't want her thinking that the things she loves will suddenly disappear.
For the second night with the new bed, Fiona did much better at following her normal bedtime routine. She did fall out of bed for the first time, but the distance to the floor is so short that she barely cried. Instead, she hopped up and headed for our bedroom. Since it was only 5:15, and we knew that stopping nighttime visits before they become a habit is the first task every parent faces once the toddler leaves the crib, I intercepted her before she could reach our bed and carried her back to her room.
I tucked Fiona in and told her that nighttime was for sleeping and that she should try to stay in bed until it was light outside. She didn't say anything, but after I left she stayed in bed and didn't come to visit us.
When she did wake up shortly after seven, she cried out and called us to her room just as she did when she slept in her crib. When we came in to see her, she was still in her bed, worried that she wasn't allowed to get out. I tried to explain to her that it was now light outside and that she could see the light pouring in around her window shades, but she didn't seem to believe me until pulled the shade up.
So it looks like my instructions worked a little too well and we're going to be looking for a middle ground between "don't come into Mommy and Daddy's room in the middle of the night" and "don't ever leave your bed no matter what." I guess in 10-12 years I'm really going to miss the days when she followed my commands too much.
Fiona took to the bed immediately--as soon as she saw it, she climbed right in and pulled the blanket over her. She then spent the evening climbing in and out of the bed, putting her various stuffed animals down to sleep, discovering that she could bring her own books into bed with her, et cetera.
She was so excited, in fact, that we almost couldn't get her to go to sleep on Saturday night. She didn't want to read stories, she didn't want to hear any lullabys, and she certainly didn't want to have a good night cuddle. So when Andrea finally kissed her good night and closed the door, we were treated to a screaming fit the likes of which we hadn't heard since we were first teaching Fiona to fall asleep on her own over a year and a half ago.
I went in after a few minutes of screaming and discovered that Fiona, regretting her newfound freedom, had pulled her nightlight out of its socket and had plunged her room into darkness. So I plugged the nightlight back in and explained to her that even though she could climb out of bed whenever she wanted, it was still just like sleeping in her crib, and she probably didn't want to pull out the nightlight. I don't know if it was my talk or (more likely) the fact that she has a basic enough understanding of cause and effect, but the nightlight stayed in the rest of the night (and last night, too).
The newfound freedom did mean, however, that at 4:45 am on Sunday morning we were treated to a very, very, very happy toddler suddenly crawling up the mattress to lie down between us. Once again, she was too excited for the trip to really work, and after letting her stay for about 15 minutes, I took her back to her bed and told her we could play again in the morning.
Her next visit came shortly before 6am. That time I tried to take her straight back to bed, and she hopped straight back out. But she did better on the second visit, and actually let us get another 30-45 minutes of sleep with her in our bed. Even so, we still felt like we were returning to newborn sleeping hours.
Since she'd done so well at keeping the nightlight in after the initial incident, I figured there was no need to remove the nightlight on Sunday morning, the way we always had when she slept in her crib, once we got up. But Fiona has been watching our routine all her life, and when she saw that the nightlight was still plugged in, she pulled it out of its socket and carried it over to the basket where we normally keep it during the daytime.
With the bed being a clear hit, we decided to take the crib down on Sunday (we left it in her room on Saturday night in case the bed turned out to be a massive failure, but since her room is only about 100 sq. ft., there really isn't room for both a crib and a bed). We said a big goodbye to the crib, but still Fiona screamed and cried while I took it apart. Ultimately, though, we decided it was better to take that path than to have her go out for an hour and discover that her crib had vanished; we don't want her thinking that the things she loves will suddenly disappear.
For the second night with the new bed, Fiona did much better at following her normal bedtime routine. She did fall out of bed for the first time, but the distance to the floor is so short that she barely cried. Instead, she hopped up and headed for our bedroom. Since it was only 5:15, and we knew that stopping nighttime visits before they become a habit is the first task every parent faces once the toddler leaves the crib, I intercepted her before she could reach our bed and carried her back to her room.
I tucked Fiona in and told her that nighttime was for sleeping and that she should try to stay in bed until it was light outside. She didn't say anything, but after I left she stayed in bed and didn't come to visit us.
When she did wake up shortly after seven, she cried out and called us to her room just as she did when she slept in her crib. When we came in to see her, she was still in her bed, worried that she wasn't allowed to get out. I tried to explain to her that it was now light outside and that she could see the light pouring in around her window shades, but she didn't seem to believe me until pulled the shade up.
So it looks like my instructions worked a little too well and we're going to be looking for a middle ground between "don't come into Mommy and Daddy's room in the middle of the night" and "don't ever leave your bed no matter what." I guess in 10-12 years I'm really going to miss the days when she followed my commands too much.
posted by BWC at
10:09 AM
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