The Kaplan Family: Big Girl Room and the New Nursery

~ COLLIN'S ROOM ~

Collin checking out his surroundings, because he doesn't sleep in his crib...YET. He's currently sleeping in our room in the Magic Sleeper (Fisher Price Rock N Play Sleeper).

So...In April, we thought we'd try to transition Hadley to a big girl bed by converting her crib to a toddler bed. We knew it may not be successful given that she was barely 18mos old, but we thought that we either needed to try in April (about 2 mos before Collin was born) or wait until well after he was born. We took the front of the crib off, put up the side rail, and left the bumper because she sleeps in the corner and leans against it all night. She slept pretty well in the "new" bed for about a week and then started climbing out in the middle of the night and having a difficult time going back to sleep. It made for several sleepless nights for all three of us...so one night around 3am when she climbed out of bed again and wouldn't go back to sleep, Chuck put the front of the crib back on.

The toddler bed that lasted about one week...

The plan then was to keep her in the crib until well after Collin was born and until she started showing signs that she was ready to move to a bed. Well, one morning, 1 week after Collin was born, I walked into her room to get her out of her crib and she greeted me at the door! I don't know how she managed to climb out of her crib and land so silently on the floor (and without hurting herself)! We thought maybe it was a one-time thing and kept her in her crib. A couple nights later, she attempted to climb out of her crib three times in one night, and on the third attempt, Chuck walked in to find her hanging on for dear life on the side of the crib. So, that was the "sign" that it was time to move her to a bed. We have a daybed for her once she's ready to sleep in a regular bed, but we just put the mattress on the floor for now. The first couple nights of Attempt #2 of Hadley sleeping in a bed were very rough (to say the least) and she did not want to stay in bed. She would cry and cry...and cry and cry...and yell "MaaaaaMaaaaaa" and "DaaaaaaaDaaaaa" in the most pathetic voice. However, after just a few nights she started going right to sleep after we did her bedtime routine! She seems very proud of her "big girl" bed as well as her "big girl" pillow...when asked who's bed it is she proudly points to it and replies "Ha Ha!" (the way she pronounces Hadley).

~ HADLEY'S *BIG GIRL* ROOM ~