The Big Girl Bed

     So, as I have mentioned before, we have been working towards Laura sleeping in her 'big girl' room in her 'big girl' bed for about 6 months now. Since we started trying to get pregnant. In August. We started by taking the side off her crib. That went okay until she fell out of bed, maybe 8 inches to the floor. She was apparently traumatized by that and refused to sleep in the crib again until we caved and put the side back up. We tried again a few months later and bought a guard rail so she couldn't roll out. (In hindsight, I guess we should have done that first). But she remembered, and still refused to sleep in the crib. I wanted to 'power through', and so for probably a month we would let her get out and sleep on the floor behind her door every night. We thought she might get tired of sleeping on the floor and realize that a) she was safe in the crib now with the guard rail up, and/ or b) her bed was much more comfortable than the floor. But neither of those things happened, and after a terrible, 2-hour long battle in the middle of the night one night, we once again caved and put the side of the crib back on. Josh vowed that he was NOT taking it off again until our second child was ready for a big kid bed. Fair enough.
     After our Christmas guests left, we finished converting the spare room into Laura's Big Girl Room, complete with Big Girl Bed. We gave her a few days of getting used to the new room, playing in there, and reading, etc, and then tried having her sleep in there. The first night didn't go very well. I thought that she might fall asleep more easily if I laid in the bed with her. That was dumb. And wrong. I wanted her to fall asleep in the bed so she wouldn't get out when I left because that room needs a new window and is a bit chilly, and I didn't want her sleeping on the floor with no blankets. But, she just used it as an hour-long stalling tactic, and I ended up putting her back in the crib to finally go to sleep that night, anyway. The next night went pretty much the same way. So we gave it another break for a week or two. I was starting to get a little stressed about it because I also want to start potty training soon, and I don't want to throw too much at her at once. We only have a few more months, and I want all of these new changes to be relatively established before the new baby comes!
      A friend of mine offered for us to borrow her crib since she isn't using it anymore, should worse actually come to worst and we needed two cribs. So that was a relief to have a back-up plan, but I still feel like my almost 2.5 year old shouldn't need to sleep in a crib by then. And maybe she won't. But, if I have learned anything from being Laura's Mom, it is that what I have planned may or may not be how it actually turns out, depending on what Laura has planned.
     So, this past week, we gave the Big Girl Bed yet another go. I asked her to stay in her bed when we were saying goodnight, and, lo and behold, she actually did! I went and checked on her before we went to bed, and she was, indeed, sleeping in her bed. And when I got up in the morning, I poked my head in again, and she was still there! I was so happy I could have danced! When she woke up, I made sure to make a big deal and give her lots of praise for staying in her bed all night. She seemed pleased with herself. I also debated about letting her eat a cupcake for breakfast. The following night, she got out of bed and tried to sleep behind the door, but when I went to bed I moved her and she stayed again for the whole night. The rest of the week has been much the same, so I feel like we might actually finally be making progress! I think one of the nights she woke up and slept on the floor again, but one night out of the whole week isn't too bad. And after I was thinking about it, it will be summer when the baby comes, so her room won't be so cold, and if she chooses to sleep on the floor it won't be such a big deal. So fingers crossed things keep going well!

I found her like this one morning, and thought she had suffocated herself, but she was still breathing, so we just ditched that pillow after that! Yikes. Crazy kid.