There are moments of huge significance in your children's lives - last night was one of them. Caleb moved to a big boy bed!
On November 18th, I put Caleb in his crib for a nap like usual and a few minutes later I heard little feet running down the hallway. I was completely dumbfounded that my 19-month-old, who was not much of a climber, had wanted his mommy enough to scale the railings and chase me down. It was then that I began debating if it was time for a change.
Some friends and family warned me that it might not be the best idea to lose the crib just yet. A new bed would give Caleb a lot of freedom, and, with a new baby on the way, I agreed that it did not sound like a great option. One friend suggested a crib tent to help keep him from crawling out, so I seriously considered the idea and even asked friends if anyone had one I could borrow to see how Caleb would react. No one had one to loan me and the more I thought about Caleb's personality and talked with Dave, we thought it would probably make Caleb more hysterical and upset about being "trapped" in his crib. I looked online for some reviews and also found that some kids had been caught in them when trying to get out and strangled themselves. Everything has dangers but the thought of this scared me out of the idea. While I am not against crib tents if they work for other people, Dave and I decided it wasn't the best option for our family.
For awhile we didn't change much of anything. At first, it didn't even seem like Caleb even remembered he knew how to crawl out because he didn't try it again for awhile. When he did start trying again, Caleb usually would stay in his crib and not attempt to climb out as long as we came and got him as soon as he woke up. At nights, we couldn't put him in the crib and walk away to let him cry-it-out a little like we used to, but as long as we sat in the hallway while he fell asleep where he could see us, he did fine. Having a video monitor also helped us watch him to see if he was starting to climb out or laying down so we knew whether to go get him or not. It wasn't the ideal situation but it worked for a short time.
Over the past two and half months though, Caleb's climbing skills have developed like crazy. At my parents' one day around Christmas time, he found a six foot ladder and climbed to the top. Just this week I caught him climbing on the dinning room table and swinging the chandelier. Needless to say, the crib climbing became more frequent as well. He no longer waited in the mornings for me to come get him. Even in the middle of the night Caleb began making his way over the side rails. Thankfully, he never seemed to hurt himself and gracefully let himself down on his feet.
This all changed three nights ago. I was watching him on the video monitor and he was supposed to be going to sleep. I saw him pull his little body up and throw his leg over the side. This time didn't work out like all those times he'd tried before. This time his foot seemed to catch; he lost his balanced and flipped back into the crib landing on his head and neck. It was one of the most terrible feelings to see his body flop like that. I was terrified he'd truly hurt himself. After a few tears and snuggling with Mommy in her bed, he settled down and was fine. The thought of him falling like that on the hardwood floor made me unable to put him back in his crib. Dave and I decided a new bed was necessary.
Since we didn't have safety rails assembled or the opportunity to convert his bed the following day, we tried to let Caleb sleep in his crib one more night. This was a bad choice. At 5 a.m., we heard a startling thud and more crying. This time, he had fallen on the floor. Dave worked hard most of the next day to get the crib set up as a big bed as I laundered the new bedding and helped entertain Caleb. By bed time, the hazard had been removed and our toddler had a new place to sleep.
Caleb had been excited about the whole transition throughout the day, "helping" Dave assemble the new bed and even assisting in carrying the mattress. However, he hadn't seen the finished product complete with pick-up truck bedding, his miniature pillow, and special safety rails to keep him from rolling out. I expected a big reaction but the enthusiasm was lacking at bed time. He even shook his head no when Dave asked if he was going to sleep in this big bed.
Of course, I wanted to get a good picture of him in his new bed but he kept crawling out - a moving target made it tough to get a good shot. I wondered how I was going to keep him from crawling out when it was truly time for him to go to sleep...
He decided he wanted me to read a few books so we climbed into the bed instead of the rocking chair like normal and continued our night time routine.
After the books, I turned on his lullaby CD and rocked him a little to calm him like we usually do before bed. Then, I laid him down in his new bed, wondering how I was ever going to keep him from getting up and following me. I'd adamantly decided that I was not going to lay down with him and start a bad habit that would be difficult to maintain once the baby arrived. Instead, I sat by his bed and repeatedly told him in a calm voice to lay down that he was a big boy and needed to sleep in his bed. He fought me a bit, crying and trying to climb out at times, but as I kept laying him down and reassuring him, he began to calm. I didn't let him cling to my hair (aka his special lovie) but I told him he could hold my hand and patted him. After a few rounds of sitting up, crying, and being laid back down, he finally settled for good. Eventually he let go of my hand to play with his own hair, then reached for me again, and finally rolled over and went to sleep without holding to me anymore. He needed a lot of support, but he went to sleep in his own bed and I stuck to my commitment not to set a new bad habit. I am proud of both of us!
Mommy got the privilege of putting Caleb to sleep in his new bed for the first time but Daddy wasn't far away. I remember looking up and seeing part of his silhouette in the doorway outside Caleb's room watching us. Over the next few weeks, our goal is to transition to being able to lay Caleb down and let him go to sleep without us sitting there. We are planning to use a variation of Kim West's "
sleep shuffle" method that we used to help him learn to go to sleep in his crib by himself, moving a little farther from the bed every few days until he is self-sufficent. (Thanks, Crystal Flickinger for introducing us to Kim - aka the Sleep Lady). Hopefully, everything will go as planned.
We put a nightlight in the hall so he can see if he wakes up in the middle of the night and bought a gate (as suggested by Rose Mary Comstock) to put at his door so we can leave it open and he can look out or call for us but he doesn't have the freedom to run about the upstairs without supervision.
Nigh-night sleep tight, Big Boy :)
Here is a shot of her facing us.
