Elijah and the Big Boy Bed

Well, we knew it would happen eventually. We just weren't prepared for it to happen this quickly! We knew the time would come for Eli to transition out of his crib and into the big boy bed. We were hoping we could scrape by for a little while yet, but Eli decided differently!

The other day I was home and was upstairs with Eli. I was doing some things in our bedroom and bathroom (all the rooms are connected upstairs), so Eli was playing in his bedroom. Well, it got quiet (never a good sign) and I noticed that Eli had gotten hold of a packet of "It's A Boy" confetti that we got in one of our cards when he was born. Well, he tore into it and it was everywhere! So, I put him in his crib, popped in a DVD, and went to cleaning up the mess.

As I was vacuuming, I noticed that he was perching himself up on the edge of the crib. I thought to myself, "Oh no - is he really going to climb out?" So, I quickly got him back into the crib. No more than 3 seconds later, he did it again, and he was out! He had climbed out of the crib, and actually made a pretty soft landing (that was impressive!). So, I knew at this point, there was no turning back. That night we would put him in the big boy bed!

The crib we have transitions to a Toddler Bed, but I figured, what's the point? He would have to transition to the toddler bed, and then transition again soon after to his full-size bed after Ethan was born. So, for this case, we just went gung-ho and put him in the full size bed. I repositioned the bed so it was up against the wall on 2 sides, put up the safety gate on the bed, pulled out the Nemo comforter for the bed (still too small for the bed, but it works for now until he gets his REAL big boy bedding at Christmas).

I was on my own for 3 nights to get him used to sleeping in his big boy bed. Vince had to work, and I was off for a 3-day weekend, so I thought, sure, why not! So, we built it up to Eli and really were excited for him (I actually was at the time until I knew what was ahead of me!).

The first night, he was pretty excited, and I think a little too excited! He didn't know what to do with himself or the big boy bed! There was so much room to go from a crib to a full-size bed! But, it only took about an hour, and he was fast asleep! YAY! He slept through the night and didn't get up once during the night. I got up about 4 times and checked on him each time, and he was in a different position every time - it was so cute. I put the gate up between our rooms, but realized he probably didn't need it (for now).

Then came nap time the next day - OY VAY! That was a different story! It took over 2 hours, and many discipline sessions before he finally tired himself out and got about an hour and a half nap. He had been up for so long, and was overtired. I think the combination of that, and the newness of the big boy bed, and seeing that it was still light out (note to self - get new shades and light blocking curtains for his room) made for a tough time.

That night we were out realllllly late at a wedding reception, and I think within 10 minutes he was asleep. That was more like it!

The next day he didn't take a nap since he slept in until 10! That night, it took less than 45 minutes and he was fast asleep.

Nap time yesterday was pretty good - about 45 minutes again, and he slept for about 2 hours. And last night, it took about 45 minutes for him to get to sleep.

Each time he's slept straight through and didn't get up out of bed once. He's a great sleeper once he gets to sleep (10-12 hours through the night, 2-3 hour naps in the afternoon). So, I think once we get through this hurdle, life will be great - just in time to stir it up again once Ethan gets here!

So, we've survived the first 4 nights of the big boy bed! YAY US!! Last night, Eli didn't even want to rock before bed (that made me sad!). He wanted to crawl right up into his big boy bed! I guess there's a time for everything - and Eli growing up to the big boy bed is here!


ONE OF HIS MANY POSITIONS IN THE BIG BOY BED!