#282 - I'm Not Ready to do the Big Boy Bed Again

In October of 2010, when he was 2 years, 3 months old, Owen climbed out of his crib.  Remember this post?  Fast forward 2 1/2 years, and Benjamin has one-upped his big brother by climbing out of the same crib at 1 year, 10 months.  We are so not ready for the "Big Boy Bed", but when your child starts to climb out, it's just not safe to keep them in the crib.

Earlier this week, Benjamin woke up in the middle of the night screaming.  I quickly glanced at the monitor, saw that he was fine, turned off the volume then rolled back over.  Even with the volume totally off, you can still hear the kids from across the house in the quiet of the night.  After a few minutes of crying, it got silent again.  Something told me to check the video monitor, so I did, and what did I see?  My dear infant balanced on the crib rail, half out of the crib.  I screamed, and Lou raced across the house to rescue Benjamin.  That incident should have been our warning, but clearly I won't be winning Mom of the Year for 2013.

Yesterday morning, I heard Benjamin fussing in his crib around 6:30.  Usually he talks to himself for 10-20 minutes before I have to get him out, so I finished getting ready for work.  A few minutes later, I heard a loud thump, and then a sickening scream come from his room.  I immediately knew what had happened.  When I got there, he was clear across the room, just sobbing uncontrollably.  It really shook him up, but fortunately, physically he was fine.  It took at least 10 minutes to calm him down though.  Based upon where I found him in the room, I suspect that he actually stood on the crib rail and jumped, versus falling over the side.  It's the only way I can explain him being 6+ feet from the crib.

Nevertheless, we knew it was time to convert his crib.  We searched for the bed rail, and last night, set up the Big Boy Bed.  Benjamin was pretty confused by the whole thing, and just couldn't understand why I was dismantling his bed.

Last night was pretty easy for him.  He was asleep when I laid him in the new Big Boy bed, and he slept soundly throughout the night, so no issues at all.  And, Gabby said he napped just fine in it today.  But, I know from experience that we are due for some rough nights ahead, especially when he wakes up in the middle of the night, and crawls out of the bed.

At least he's safe though.  We have friends whose two year old broke her arm when she fell out of her crib just a few years ago.  I remember that happening, and I just can't keep Benjamin in an unsafe bed.

So.....  much, much earlier than we wanted, Benjamin is now in The Big Boy Bed.  Check out the pictures below:

Laying in his crib, getting ready for bed

Cutie Pie!

The Cutie Pie asleep the first night in his Big Boy Bed

A picture of Owen from October 2010

An attempt to recreate the picture.  Didn't quite work.

Oh well.  He's still pretty cute.

#141 - More Adventures in the Big Boy Bed

I totally know why everyone says don't rush the big boy bed. I really, really wish that we were not forced to move him from the crib, but ultimately, we just had to do it to keep him safe.

Unfortunately, it's been quite a challenge. Evenings really aren't that bad. It's probably because his room is completely dark, and he's usually pretty tired, and he usually falls asleep in about five minutes. Mornings were rough, but have gotten much better. He was waking at 4:00 in the morning and wanting to come into our bed, but I think we've stopped that.

However, nap time is the absolute worst. I don't know if it's because it's the middle of the day and his room is pretty bright, or because he just isn't very tired, but this weekend was really rough. On Saturday, it took me 90 minutes to get him down. Sunday, I turned the reins over to Lou and it took him about 45 minutes. Both days, after numerous negotiations, back rubs, songs, books, and conjoling, we just closed the bed room door and let him cry. Saturday, he cried for about 5 minutes, and Sunday for about 3 minutes. However, both days, after it quieted down in there, we went in and found him like this:

This was Saturday afternoon, sleeping like a pup on the glider in his room. I carefully picked up him and put him in his bed, and had to wake him 3 hours later.

Then, on Sunday, to our surprise, we found him like this:

Sleeping in the same position on the glider. What a cutie pie. Apparently, he likes this spot.

A happier big boy bed story is that Cocoa absolutely LOVES Owen's new bed. :)