At the end of our “vacation”:/news/2008/stay-cation-2008/, we decided to set up a big-girl bed for Lucy. And even today, we still wonder — when will she sleep in it?
From our reading and inquiring of others, it seemed like this was the thing to do: set up the bed in Lucy’s room, go shopping for sheets together, tell her she could sleep in it whenever she likes, and she won’t be able to resist. We got a “mattress”:http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40108126 from IKEA and a twin bed frame at a neighbor’s garage sale. Lucy and I took a trip to Target and stocked up, as seen in the photo, on some bright green sheets (a design choice I’m starting to regret, not thinking about the color of the wood bed) and a hot pink fuzzy blanket (not quite as much regret here). Then Papa built it one afternoon during our “stay-cation”:/news/2008/stay-cation-2008/ while the girls went to pick up some yummy burritos from a local taqueria for supper.
Lucy has been very interested in her big girl bed — so interested that she had trouble sleeping for a few days! It seems that she is trying to get her mind around the whole non-crib idea. She hasn’t actually slept in the big-girl bed yet, but she likes to lie down in the it, tuck in her animals, and generally snuggle there. She did try to sleep in it during one naptime, but after about five minutes we heard her calling “Lucy have arms full of amiwals!” only to find her standing in the middle of the room, indeed with her arms full of stuffed animals.
We’ve been a bit mystified about this process, especially as most everyone we’ve talked to shared stories about how their child slept in a big bed the first night it was offered and never looked back. But Lucy’s curiosity and hesitation actually fits well with her pattern of experiencing new things. I’m confident that Lucy will jump into her big girl bed when she is ready, just as she jumped into the “swimming pool”:http://boydsnest.org/news/2008/airborne-unit/!
p{color:gray}. Photo: “Safety: check. Comfort: check. Familiarity: check. What’s not to like about my crib?”
She’ll get there when she’s ready. My biggest thing is to transition before she learns to climb out of the crib. Kaia figured out how to escape, and after that night 3 years ago, we are still battling to keep her in her bed. she had a great routine before that. I have the toddler bed setup in Mo’s room, and hope to get him sleeping in it on occasion. He’s such a good sleeper, and has slept in the twin bed at Grammy’s house before, so I just need to get it ready before bedtime and try putting him in it. (the Thomas the Tank Engine blankie is a must at our home!)
I pray Lucy’s transition goes well!
You could see if you could find a bed rail that would make her feel a little more “crib” like but still gives her the “big girl” aspect.
Just the other night we had a funny and scarry one (maddy has be in a toddler bed since 20 months of age and then a full size bed since we came home from Chicago) at about 2am Maddy came to Brian’s side of the bed and said, “dady I was loosing you”. What? “daddy I went downstairs to find you, but you weren’t there, you are here sleeping”. She had woken up and went down to the family room (down 14 stairs) looked for Brian in the complete dark and then came up to our room to find him…at 2am….and we didn’t here her up (I usually wake up if she takes one step out of her bed. AHHH.
The Super-nanny has a good tactic for getting kids to stay in bed. Whenever they get out, don’t make a big deal out of it. Just quietly walk into the room, don’t make eye contact. Place the child back into bed and turn around and walk out. Don’t say a word. It may take several times (or several hours) but they will eventually get it and after a few days should start staying in for the most part.
We have used this during a few “getting out of bed” phases and it was fairly succesful.
We have also never kept toys in our children’s bedrooms. It seems to me they would just be screaming out to the cihld “come and play!”. Marie, now 3.5, has just started to be able to keep some toys in her room for quiet play time since she is no longer napping. Not sure if that will help at all but hope your efforts work out soon!
PS The green sheets rock! : ) They look happy like her smiling face!
I like the green sheets and the pink blankets. We have one of the bed rails that Katrina mentioned. Would you want it? We can drop it off this weekend.
Yeah, well, my kids slept in a “big bed” only once there were 3 of them to sleep in it all together. Everything about kids is mystifying! (just wait till they are teens…) Lucy looks so grown up in this picture.