Big Girl Bed!

We picked up a "big girl bed" for Leah last weekend!  It is a cute little white toddler bed.  Dustin set it up last Sunday night and we were going to wait until this weekend to have her sleep in it BUT on Monday at naptime she insisted on sleeping in her big girl bed and she laid down and fell asleep right away! I didn't think the transition would go that smoothly!  But of course, that was just a fluke and that night at bedtime she wasn't having it.  She wanted to go to sleep in it at first, but then after about 30 minutes of playing, getting out of her bed, etc., she would ask to go to sleep in her crib (which was still in the room)  So after a few days of nap and bedtime going that same way (always ending up in the crib) we decided to hold off until the weekend, especially since I knew I wanted to get a video monitor since it drove me NUTS not to see if she was playing in her bed or around her room.

Leah helping Daddy set up the bed last weekend -

We also decided to take a different approach.  Obviously with her crib still in the room, she was still wanting the familiar and comfortable spot to eventually fall asleep in, even though she was really excited about her big girl bed too.  So last night Dustin took apart her crib, took it out of her room, and put everything back to the way it had been before, just with her bed in her crib's old spot. 

Little helper taking apart her crib

She was saying "Bye Bye crib!"

We got a video monitor, a special ladybug nightlight that puts stars on the ceiling, and made a big deal out of sleeping in her big girl bed.  I was terrified and sad by the whole thing!  I wanted to hold off a while longer but Dustin thought we might as well go ahead with the transition now so that she is completely comfortable by the time baby boy comes along in the summer. 

I still need to get actual bedding, for now we are just using a few of her blankies.

OK so we did our normal bedtime routine - put jammies on, watch a 20 minute show while drinking milk, brush teeth, read 3 books, then to sleep.  We told her to stay in her bed, but of course she was up almost instantly. We kept the door to her room closed and she doesn't know how to open it so at least she couldn't come out and wander around. :-)  She didn't really try to play with her toys, but she went and rocked in the glider chair, played with her stuffed animals, brought some books to her bed, and sang and talked to herself.  We only went in a few times to try to tell her to stay in her bed.  She never really cried or anything.  Then finally she brought her pillow pet and blankie down and laid down on the floor and fell asleep there!!  I was so upset! Pic from the monitor -

How awful that my baby was going to sleep on the floor! We waited awhile and then Dustin went and put her up in her bed.  At that point she was asleep and stayed in bed for the rest of the night! EXCEPT for when she fell out a few times!!  So sad!  We have discovered that she is quite squiggly when she sleeps! I hope she gets used to not having the bars all along the edge! 

 This morning when she woke up we made a big deal about well she did sleeping in her big girl bed and she looked really proud of herself.  So all in all, it took probably an hour - hour and a half for her to fall asleep, but she didn't wake up at all through the night until 7:30 this morning, when she just played for awhile before knocking on her door for us to come get her. :-) And now, the next day, she went down for her nap no problem and instantly fell asleep!  I am not getting my hopes up that this will be the norm, but it probably means that she is already a little more comfortable which is great.  And thank GOD for video monitors!  I don't know how I would survive this without one!!  I was pretty much a nervous wreck all night and maybe slept 3 hours total.  And I am still kind of sad that we are done with the crib stage for her! She really isn't a baby anymore!!