Monday, June 14, 2010

Toddler Battles

So, our last couple of nights in California were a little trying. Since Andrew cannot be contained in a pack-n-play anymore his grandmother made up a little twin bed for him. He was all about climbing up on it, laying down, then climbing down off the other side. In other words, Andrew fully realized his new found freedom and decided that there was no need for him to sleep. Ever. Putting him to bed at night took hours. Seriously. We have been totally spoiled because it's always been really easy to put Andrew to bed. We would do his little bedtime routine, lay him in the crib, cover and kiss him, then say night-night and leave the room. End of story. No need to return until the morning when he woke up. I figured that once we returned home, back to familiar surroundings and baby gates, peace at bedtime would return.

I was wrong. Way wrong.

Upon our return Brian converted the crib to a toddler day bed. Andrew thought it was really cool and delighted in climbing up and down from his new big boy bed. Until bedtime. We did our thing, then left the room, closing the baby gate behind us. Andrew was instantly up and crying and shaking the baby gate. This went on for 45 minutes before he finally settled down. When I checked on him he had climbed back into his bed and covered himself with his blanket, and was sleeping. Peace until morning. The next night the crying took about 30 minutes. And the next? Again, about 30 minutes. The next night? 20 minutes. At least we were progressing in the right direction. Last night Andrew immediately hopped out of bed as we left the room. This time the crying stopped by the time we reached the bottom of the stairs. About 20 minutes later he started calling for Daddy, but nobody answered him. After a few minutes he settled down again.

Later we went to check on him, but this is what we saw:

Notice Andrew is not in his bed. He had always been good about putting himself back into his bed and covering himself with his blanket.

Instead, this is where we found Andrew:
Yup, he had climbed up onto the BIG big boy bed and made himself all comfy.
We put a pillow on the floor, covered him up, and he slept there all night long.

I should mention that naps are much easier. I put him in his room and he plays with toys until he gets in his bed and goes to sleep. We'll see what tonight brings, and which bed he chooses. If he keeps choosing the big bed then I guess we can take down the toddler one all together and make a little more space in the room.

And now, in honor of Flag Day . . .

9 comments:

  1. I'll admit, I just LOL! :o) I am laughing until later this month when we transition Josie to her toddler bed. :o)

    He is still my top pick for a SIL. :o)

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  2. Anonymous11:40 AM

    What a big boy! That would be so awesome if you could skip the toddler bed all together!

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  3. Oy, I am not looking forward to that transition. So far, Will is still very content in his crib, but i just have this feeling that the week Emma arrives will be the week he decides to flee his confines.

    I am glad that things are headed in the right direction and, knowing what a champ he is, I'll just be it won't be long before he is going to sleep without a hitch.

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  4. Funny, isn't it? Victoria does very well at nap time too, but not so great at night time. I cherish that cage we keep her in. Oops, did I say that out loud? I mean crib! :)

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  5. I have a 4 year old that wont sleep all night. Life sucks at our house!

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  6. He's such a boy now! It's so amazing to see him growing, and on a big boy bed? I'm kinda tearing up over here!

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  7. Oh, I remember those days with Miss O...

    At least the time it's taking him to settle down is going in the right direction! The pictures are TOO cute! He is becoming such a big boy!

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  8. That is adorable! He's so cute on the Big, Big boy bed. :)

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  9. Okay so that's super cute, and I can't get over how cool it is that he got into the big bed, but I also have a new fear... the bedtime battles will never end?!?!

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