Toddler Bed

We moved Evan to a toddler bed last week. I've held off writing about our experience til now because I thought maybe the first few nights were a fluke. Thankfully, all continues to go well!

We tried to wait as long as possible before making the move, because Evan did not try to climb out of his crib. If anything, he would try to climb in when he was really tired! But we started talking about it and he loved the idea of sleeping in a "big boy bed." He agreed to give Lil' Babe his crib if he got a toddler bed. So we set up his bed and waited for the little dude to come visit us in the middle of the night. Well, it never happened! The first night, he woke up in the middle of the night. I think he was a little disoriented by the new bed and cried out for me. He waited for me to come to him and I reassured him that he was ok. He went back to sleep, no problem.

The next night, I think he slept all the way through. The following nights he woke up here and there, but always waited for me to come to him. I think he caught a cold and maybe got congested. So, even if he woke up in the middle of the night, he called out for me and stayed in bed.

In the mornings, he does the same thing - calls out, "Momma, where are you?" I go in to see him and he's waiting in his bed. Love it!

Last night I woke up and heard a thud. I thought, "Hmm, I wonder what that was?" A few seconds later, I hear, "Momma, where are you?" I go in and Evan is on the ground. He says, "Evan fell out of Evan's bed." He climbed back in and went back to sleep.

I was also very worried that his naps would go out the window. But this has also been going very smoothly, considering. He goes down for his nap, not fighting it, as he had in the past. And does the same thing when he wakes up - calls out for me and waits for me to get him.

I'm really pleased with how this is going and hope it continues! However, if we ever do have a late night visitor, I will stay strong and walk him back to his bed and tuck him in. Although we have a king size bed, there is no room for a little monkey. He has never slept with us and we're not wanting to start this now.

His bedtime routine has changed a little now that he is in a toddler bed. He likes to read his stories in bed now, rather than in his chair or on the ground. We also both tuck him in at night and leave the room together. Previously, Poppa gave him a hug and kiss, hand him off to me, then leave the room. I would tuck him into his crib and then leave. With the bed, he knows he can get in and out and after Poppa leaves the room, he would ask for Poppa to come back. I think he liked the extra reassurance, but my son is also the master at stalling. We're not raising a fool here! He knows how to delay bedtime. So after the first two nights of this, I told Pops to stay with us and we leave together. This has really helped settle Evan and leaves him with no more stalling excuses!