Big Bed Transition - So far so good

[Sarahboosmom]

Hi ladies!

I thought I would post here my success thus far.  I hope I am not jinxing myself by posting this!

DD is 18 1/2 months old.  She is spirited/angel mix.  So I do have my handfull all the time with her energy.  She has been on EASY since birth and it has been wonderful.  We have had our share of illness, vacations, sep anxiety but I've always been consistent with my methods when it comes to sleep. 

Recently she's been VERY interested in big beds.  We lived with my parents for 30 days in Feb while we were in the process of moving states and she got to play with her cousin who is 3 years old and see her bed and sleep with mommy on a big bed a few times.  She was so excited all the time on a big bed.  If we went to a store that had toddler beds out (Toys R Us, or IKEA) she shouts out loud and clapped her hands etc.  She would say nite nite over and over and just be so happy.

She's always slept well in her crib but she always would protest for several minutes.  This started around the time that we moved in with my parents and I thought it was just the transition and adjustment that she started resisting.

It wasn't until I got a step stool for her that I realized that she was crying out for independence (that spirited child of mine!) by carrying her step stool to her crib as she tried to climb into it one day for her nap!  I also was changing her crib sheet I had her mattress out and she pushed it to the ground and flopped all over it screaming nite nite and got her blanket and bear and layed down on it!  She was so excited!  That was my clue.

So last Friday I went to IKEA after she went to bed (DH had fun watching whatever he wanted on TV!  .  I got their extendable bed (its very low to the ground and as wide as a twin bed but you can make it very short like a crib then extend it out as they grow).  I also got a new dresser and some other things to make it a girl room and not a baby room.  On Saturday I let her help me assemble the crib and she was so calm and helpful and I explained this was HER bed.  She said the word bed for the first time and just got so excited.  It was a rare treat for my spirited girl to be so attentive but I think involving her in the process helped her to get excited about the transition.  Once the mattress was on there she freaked out!  She climbed on it and grabbed her teddy and blanket and was so excited!  She pulled very book and toy on her bed and just hung out there while I moved out her old furniture (she actually helped me push it out of the room!) and set up her new room.

For her first nap I held my breath as I laid her down and told myself that if she got out of her bed I would not do anything (unless she cried at the door of course).  I would not intervene even if she played the whole time.  She doesn't like much help especially with sleep, she gets overstimulated.  To my surprise, she stayed in bed (I have a video monitor) and she took a nice 2  hour nap (normal for us).  I watched her at the 2 hour mark on the monitor and when she started to wake up and sit up I rushed in there to give her big praise for staying on her bed and napping.  That night, we had to pick her up out of her bed to get our hugs and kisses!  She didn't even want a bath or her book (both favorites and sometimes a stalling technique!).  She went right to sleep!

Now on day three, again great naps since that first day (very quick to sleep, no protesting AT ALL) and great at night.  At night now she goes down without a fuss, is eager to go to bed and will talk to herself for about 10 minutes before finally drifting quietly off to sleep.  This is just like it was when she was an infant. 

I've been a big believer in watching her signs rather than the calendar.  I hope that I followed her cues right and that this is not some honeymoon period!   The one thing she can always count on is DH and my consistency.  I'm hoping it is that consistency that has made this a breeze thus far.  I was really worried that my spirited girl would pop up and play with everything in her room or cry at the door, but so far so good. 

I just wanted to post this for others as hope.  If you have a spirited LO, or another LO that exhibits the same excitement about beds and you are curious if it is the right time, I say follow your cues not the clock.  As Tracy says, start as you mean to go on and follow through and create a plan for if things don't go quite right at first. 

Just so I make it clear, I was not doing this to solve a sleep problem, we did not have any.  Rather I followed her cues and need for more independence.

Lets hope this keeps up!

[Layla]

Thank you so much for posting your story and thank you for posting the link at the top as well.

Sounds like things are going great!!!

[skatty]

Thank you so much for that! I have a spirited DD and even though she is in a grobag she almost climbed out the cot the other day by pulling up with her arms  All that climbing has made her very strong! We have already bought a rail for when we take the side of the cot off but I think we will wait until she actually climbs out or shows an interest in big beds. She does like to climb in and out of the ones at Ikea but I think this is just because she likes to climb, she tries to climb on all the furniture 

It's so good to hear a positive story! I think with spirited kids if they do stuff when they want to, they do it effortlessly, this is what we have found with Leorah anyway 

Keep us informed on how it goes 

[Sarahboosmom]

Hi there!  Just wanted to give an update.  One week and 2 days later still going strong!  She LOVES her bed.

skatty, I think you are right.  Spirited ones have to believe it is their idea for them to go for it!  I had to really clue in on that.  We've always had an issue with the car seat.  Lately everything is 'I do' so I ask her for her help now.  Help mommy buckle you in  your seat, and she helps snap in the latches and she's so happy and excited about it!

Okay so she's doing GREAT sleeping in her bed.  I try my best to catch her as she wakes up so she won't go wandering her room but it doesn't always work out.  But that is okay, as long as she stays on the bed to go to sleep and doesn't get up and avoid sleeping that is fine I don't mind her playing after she wakes up.  Actually the bed is making things hard on us now!   

She loves that bed so much it was hard for me to tell if she had an ear infection.  She did not cry at all when going for nap or sleep and slept through the night even though today I found out that she had a double ear infection and one was bulging that the Dr warned me that it might rupture if she cries too hard!!!!!  The only thing that clued me in was that when she was awake she was SUPER fussy and clingy and had a fever that would come and go all week.  But she still wanted to sleep on that bed!  Now I know if she was in the crib she would've cried and cried!  She is always so sensitive to pain, SO SENSITIVE she is hard to deal with.  Funny how she only complained during the day and not at night (when she used to in her crib!).

Anyway, I still think this was the right thing, she so loves her bed and is eager to lay down each day, she just loves her new space. 

Hope this inspires others!

[skatty]

Oh no poor baby  I hope she recovers from the ear infection soon 

It is great to hear such a positive BGB story! I know exactly where you are coming from with getting DD to help with everything, this really works for us too, most of her tantrums are if we take her away from something she is focused on or if we take over something she is doing herself! I have started to let her get her fill of whatever she is trying to do and we have a much happier home even though everything takes a long time

As for a BGB for Leorah, I have a suspicion she would LOVE it but she is still a very fidgety sleeper, I am sure she would fall out even with a bed rail, if I check on her during the night she will always be in a different position. upside down or with her legs straight up against the railings, she even went through a phase of sleeping standing with her head resting on the rail  I'm still glad to hear such a positive experience as we reckon we will probably have to transition in the next few months.

[Sarahboosmom]

Hi Ladies!

Okay quick update for you.  This saturday will be one month of a successful transition.  I'm going to call this complete and a habit has been established well.  We have had one or two naps where I've had to go back in and silently lead her back to bed, but I only do that once and she stays put.  Mostly she does that because she's just hyped up.  I don't say anything to her I just lead her back and she will stay.  That has only happened TWICE.

Her ear infection has completely cleared up and now we have two of her 2nd year molars cutting and she is not crying at all in bed.  In the crib she would SCREAM! 

We are all very happy.  The only negative thing is she wants to go to bed so much she'd rather skip going potty and taking a bath.  She used to LOVE her bath, now its just a means to getting to bed!  I'd have it no other way!

I hope others can gain some hope from this!  I am blessed I have to say!

 

[Layla]

She sounds like an angel! I only wish it was that easy with Isabella... but I have a feeling it will be much easier with Jasmine

Thank you for the update and well done to your lo!