Today is April 29, 2011 and our newly turned 3 year old daughter has been in her bed for a few weeks now. Why did we move her to a big bed? She never tried to climb out of her crib and she never complained about her crib. She loved her crib. She housed many of her animals in there as they slept with her, she turned on her mobile and fish that played music every night and in the morning. She was so content why did we move her? Our second child is due to arrive at the end of May and we needed the crib so we were in a bit of a time crunch. However, we really felt she was ready. How did we know? From what we have read about moving a toddler to a big bed there are things to think about. Is your child old enough to understand the rules of being in a big bed? Some may say rules? What rules? Well, from the beginning we have worked hard in creating routines and teaching our daughter the importance of sleep. So now that she will be in a big bed, I don't want to be awakened every night by her coming into our bedroom. So one rule is that once she is in bed, she needs to stay in bed until it is time to get up. How does she know it is time to get up? We go in there when it is time to get up. For nap she goes to bed at 1pm. We don't get her until 4ish even if she is up and playing. At night she goes to bed at 7:30 and we don't go into her room until 7am at the earliest, even though she wakes up earlier than 7. Does she call us to get up? Yes, but we consistently tell her, "It isn't time to get up and we will come back when it is time."
Now back to transitioning to the big bed. When her room was done and the bed was set up, we gave her the choice of sleeping in her bed for nap or her crib. She chose her bed. We followed our normal nap time routine and when she laid down, we carefully explained the rules of sleeping in a bed. We told her, "Once you are in your bed, you can't get out of your bed until it is time to get up and Mom or Dad will come get you when it is time." Her first response was "Why?" We said, "Well, when Mom and Dad go to bed, we stay in bed until it is time to get up and it is important to get your sleep." With that being said, we left her to sleep. So the first nap time was a success. She cuddled under her covers, slept great, and laid in bed until one of us came to get her. Then night time came. Again, we gave her the choice of where she wanted to sleep. She chose her big bed again so we followed our normal bedtime routine and reminded her of the rules of the bed before we left. Everything went smooth and she slept straight through the night and didn't get out of bed until one of us went to get her.
The second day nap time came and we reminded her of the rules and she again asked, "Why?" We gave the same explanation as the day before. About an hour after she went down for nap, I saw this little girl in her pull up and shirt walking down the hall rubbing her eyes. It was so surreal because until this point she had no way of getting out of her crib. I calmly said, "What are you doing? We need to go back to bed. Remember we have to stay in our bed until nap is over." That is all it took. I am thinking she was testing a bit to see what Mom or Dad would do if she got out.
Since then, she has done awesome! She sleeps great in her "Big Bed" and doesn't get out until we come in and get her. I have to be thankful for the routines we have set up from the beginning and believe that our transition to this bed was the right time for her to understand the rule and be successful! She loves her big bed and having her own pillow.
Another major transition in her life that went very smooth without any power struggles.
What is the next major transition in her life? Adjusting to a new baby brother or sister who is always going to be around!
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