The Big Boy Bed

At just about 19 months of age, we have transitioned the little guy to his first big boy bed. Sleep patterns have not been good the last month. He rapidly switched from 10 hour stretches in his crib to up for bottles and cuddles multiple times per night. Struggling with this for awhile, one night it occurred to me. Maybe he wants to be a big kid.

The Bed

A week later we were taking down the crib and setting up a twin mattress. We just put the mattress on the floor to avoid any spills. We decorated it with bright red sheets and a comforter starring his favorite character Thomas the Tank Engine.

It was an instant hit. He kept dragging us back to his room the rest of the evening to flop and jump on his new bed. We also installed a baby gate to keep him from nighttime wanderings. But, we still weren't sure it would work. I hoped, but hubby was downright doubtful that it would make a difference.

The First Night

The first night we followed our usual routine with a story and then a prayer. I laid him in his bed with his head on the pillow and kissed him goodnight. I walked toward the door and heard him start to fuss. "It's going to be a long night," I thought as I latched the gate and closed the door most of the way. I headed down the hall listening to mild fussing. 30 seconds later, it was quiet. A half hour later, I peeked in and saw, to my joy, my little boy sound asleep in the middle of his big boy bed.

How We're Doing Now

Starting the second night of the big bed, he has been falling asleep as soon as I lay him down with no fussing. He sleeps for 5 hour stretches, then needs comfort or a bottle to fall back to sleep. Last night we did our first cold turkey elimination of the bottle. Sure, his daddy and I were in there for an hour and a half at 3:30 am listening to screaming before he finally fell back to sleep. I am hoping, however, that our efforts will pay off with a longer stretch of sleep tonight. I hope he can learn to fall back to sleep on his own soon. It will mean better quality sleep for everybody! Wish us luck....