big (baby) boy bed

I don't know why, but it seems like moving my babies from their crib to a toddler bed grows them up so quick. It felt so weird the other day when I was taking the crib down. I just kept thinking, "I can't believe Baby Graham is 17 months old." I seems like just yesterday we moved into this house and Parker went to a toddler bed. He was 20 months old when we made the move...and now Graham is almost that age!!!! Back up a little bit. Why was I putting Graham in a toddler bed?

I decided the other day that I wanted to switch the boys rooms around because they were sleeping in the bigger room and playing in the little room. It seemed backwards. I'm not very patient, and when I get an idea, I want to run with it. However, I didn't want to move the big bulky crib into the little room, which meant it was time for Graham to grow up. Ok, I'm just joking. A little.

I've never been a "gradual" person. When something needs to happen, I like to just get it over with. Don't get me wrong, I don't always think cold turkey is the way to go, and I've at times paid for my haste, but it works the best for me and my personality. The whole toddler bed experience is not an exception. When Parker was 20 months old, we moved into out current home from David's parent's house where we had been living for 6 months. When we switched, I decided that we might as well switch his bed since the new house would be out of the norm anyway. We needed the crib soon since baby Graham was about to make his grand entry into the world and it seemed cruel to get Parker comfortable in the new house for a month and then do the old switch-a-roo. So, I opted to leave the crib at his parents even after the move, so that I wouldn't chicken out or give in during a weak moment. Parker did well, but we did have a few occurrences where he stood at the door and cried and then proceeded to lay down in front of the door to fall asleep. He slept under the toddler bed once and fell out a couple of times. Besides some of the small drama, it was a successful and pretty quick switch.

Here's one of Parker's first few nap times with his new bed. Apparently the floor was more comfortable.

Now it's Grahams turn to become a man. A very little 2 ft 6 in man. I bought another toddler bed for $59.99 and in one week, I had it and built it. In the mean time, I started putting Graham in Parker's bed for nap time. I thought if he could learn to stay in bed for nap time, then night-time should be a breeze. I was pretty much right. After going in 15 billion times to lay him back down and scold him for getting up, he would finally fall asleep. Sometimes he didn't fight it too bad, and then other times, I'd walk in and he had every book in bed with him along with 52 stuffed animals. Grrr. These moments are why I took the crib down, because if it had been an easy option, his butt would have been in it.

Update: After one week, Graham is doing well. It still takes him longer to settle down and go to sleep because he's aware of his lessened boundaries and subsequent new freedom. Once he goes to sleep, he does well in terms of staying asleep. Staying in the same position with head at the northern end of the bed, not so much. I took a picture of him every night for a week to document our little toddler bed adventure. Precious.

Night 1: Look how nice and peaceful.

 Night 2: Apparently he's a rough sleeper. He threw his pillow out on the floor and fell asleep upside down.

Night 3: Ah. That's better.

 Night 4: This is why I call him Sweet Face.

 Night 5: He refuses to stay under the covers.

 Night 6: Ditching the pillow. And yes, he went to sleep with socks on.

 Night 7: Much improvement. This night I didn't even have to go in to put him back in bed.

 I'd have to say that our total toddler bed experience with Graham has been good. Nap times are definitely tricky. Yesterday,  he figured out how to empty all is drawers quietly. In fact, he was so quiet, I thought he had been asleep for an hour. When I went in to check on him,I found him smiling while sitting on top of a pile of his pajama drawer. Nice. I've had to blockade his drawers for every nap since. Good times. Other that those shenanigans, he's a peach and has totally cooperated.

Good job, Graham!