Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Big Girl Bed


Back in the summer, when I kinda unexpectedly found out I was pregnant, as parents our minds started racing from here to there. Jim and I were still dealing with a lil babe in our eyes and the idea of another seemed just a bit overwhelming (as well as super exciting).
 Riesling and Mommy August 2014 (sometime at the beginning of my 2nd trimester)

Thankfully human gestation is a lengthy process and it gave us plenty of time for our lil babe to grow up a bit and handle a few things we were concerned about....maybe concerned is the wrong word. A few things we were hopeful would transition by the time she was a big sister. Two big ones were her sleeping arrangement and potty training.

As I mentioned in my Fall recap, we moved Riesling to a twin bed back in September. It really wasn't a choice as much as necessity. I was waiting for about a month or more for her to realize she was capable of climbing out of her crib. I could just see it coming. And once it did there was really no turning back. To be honest I think she hated that crib from day one. We did (and to some extent still do) a lot of co-sleeping. I know it's a controversial subject but I've done a lot of reading about it and we really felt like it worked best for our family. Sure there were some nights when it wasn't the best or most comfortable scenario but for the most part it allowed us all to get more sleep, nurse easily, and bond. Typically Riesling would start out in the crib and end up with us at some point mid way through the night. Once she woke up she was a terror to get back to sleep in the crib, but slip her in between Mommy and Daddy and she was out like a light.  I thought that switching her to a bed would result in no sleep time in her room and full time in our bed.  Although allowable and doable for us, not ideal, especially with Baby #2 on the way.

We considered a lot of options: mattress on our floor, toddler bed, gates, etc.  In the end we decided to go right to a twin in her room and skip another transition stage of a toddler bed. I didn't buy a convertible crib knowing we wanted more kids and they would probably be closer in age.  So the investment in a toddler bed and additional crib mattress just didn't make sense for us. We just put the twin mattress right on the floor with one side against the wall. I had planned to get a rail for the other side but never did. We just put an extra pillow on that side. We did find her on the floor sound asleep a few times in the beginning but now she seems to have no problem with it.

The day the mattress was delivered she was napping so it was propped up in the foyer.  How in the world she knew at 18 months that it was her new bed I will never know, but as soon as she woke up and saw that plastic wrapped treasure she immediately demanded that bed go in her room. It was the funniest thing.  We barely had it on the floor before she climbed up on with a pillow and a stacks of books. She loved it from first site. Although it still didn't eliminate my concerns about any potential issues when it came to actually sleeping.

Well wouldn't you know it, it had the opposite effect. She freakin' loved her new bed so much by the second or third night she slept through to about 5 am. She does still occasionally wake up in the middle of the night and come into our bed but far less than ever before. We have a unique set up in the house where her room is directly connected to ours so we just keep the door off and have a curtain hanging up. Her bed is on that side of the room and we have night lights set so it's a clear bath. I would say the majority of the time we aren't greeted by her little scampering feet until after 5am. She hops in bed and typically will snuggling up for another hour or more.

Our biggest challenge really is getting her to sleep initially.  We never did any type of sleep training or "crying it out" so it's always been a little bit of a process.  Now just a little more so since she can easily get out of the bed.  We try to be very routine with her with her evening and bedtime routine, so that is helpful.  The rest just requires patience and a little off key singing.  

We left the crib up, which she has gladly declared is now for the baby.  We plan on giving room sharing a try....I will let you know how that one turns out. Hopefully we get just as lucky.


1 comment:

Liz said...

I'm so glad you posted this. We are still currently co-sleeping at night. Katelyn hates the crib now LOL when we move, we plan to put a mattress on the floor in her OWN room for her. I was afraid of how that would end. Maybe we will be lucky and she will love her new bed like Riesling! Hope you are doing well with new baby!