Movin' On Up

This past spring I ran into a little issue with Cooper after he discovered that he could crawl out of his crib on his own. A skill to be expected from a 2 year old, and at that time most parents derive that their little one is ready to move up to a big kid bed. The problem was that Cooper didn't understand at the time what we meant when we would tell him that he had to stay in his bed. Our bedtime routine, which had always been pleasant, successful, and relatively short, was getting longer and longer. On average we were spending about an hour reading, rocking, and singing till our little guy was sleepy enough to lay down. Then we would put him in his crib and leave the room. That was his cue to climb on out and party, party, party! It would take at least another hour of repeatedly putting him back in his crib before he would finally fall asleep. Each night we would count the number of times we had to put him back in bed, and each night that number climbed higher. We reached an average of over 60 times in the evening and Peter and I were just worn down. To make matters worse, he would than wake up at some point in the middle of the night and the whole thing would ensue again. I found it easier to spend about an hour rocking him back to sleep than 2 hours chasing him back to bed.

Then we did some research, and had my Aunt Brenda bring this peace of heaven with her from the States.

Ahhh . . . the crib tent. It was the answer to all our prayers and sleepy time woes. It worked perfectly and Cooper just loved it. In fact, when I would go to wake him up in the mornings and unzip his tent, he would stand up, re-zip it and fall back down into his bed to enjoy more sleepy time.

When we found out we were expecting baby #2, we knew that we would have to make the transition soon. Plus, our tall little boy would soon be much to long to stretch out in his crib. So, just after Christmas we brought in the big boy bed. Here's Cooper's new bed, and it even has a tent!

We didn't know what to expect with this transition, but given our previous experience we were prepared for a battle at night. Surprisingly, it was so much easier than we ever thought. Proof that our last attempt was only unsuccessful because Cooper wasn't ready yet.

The first night he cried and was a little scared. After a few tries, I put him back in his crib. The second night he was content for about 20 minutes and then got scared again. Peter soothed him and left him in his big bed. Then he climbed out and Peter and I traded off putting him back in. It was only a few times over the course of an hour, but he finally fell asleep in the new bed. Each night got better, and I have to credit Peter for really taking over the project and getting Cooper accustomed to the new arrangement. Each night got shorter and shorter, and after just a couple weeks, he goes to bed like a champ and typically does not get out of bed at all anymore. Nap times didn't happen for a while, and Cooper would just stay awake. However, he now goes down easy for naps as well.

I would love to show you an adorable picture of my sweet little angel soundly sleeping in his new big boy bed, however we have a very strict policy in this house that we fully adhere to at all times. It is called "DO NOT WAKE IT!!"

We are so happy the transition was as easy as it was. I didn't want to write about it too soon and jinx it. We are now one step closer to welcoming the new baby into our home with an empty crib!