This morning we awoke to Little One crying in his bed - "kicx it! Kicx It!" (fix it, fix it) as one of the corners of his crib totally caved in towards the floor - the crib is broken. We have been wanting to make the transition from crib to bed - and it looks like today is the day. We have a "Big boy room" (complete with a twin bed) all set up for him - and he loves to be in there and play - but will have nothing to do with it when it comes to sleeping. He is very attached to his crib. Every time we have tried taking a nap in the big boy bed - he ends up crying if I'm not there with him. If I leave him in there and shut the door, he stands at the door and cries and screams "Mama"!I don't want him to get attached with me lying down with him, and I don't want the transition to be a traumatic experience. Right now, bed time is one of our most pleasant times of the day, and don't really want to lose that.
Does anyone have some advice? How have you made the transition from the crib to the big bed?
4 comments:
Oh boy. I wish I had some wisdom, but one of the experienced mommies with have to share. I will watch the comments here closely!
Maybe now you can say "cribs broken" and see how he takes it...but whatever you do, DON'T get him used to you laying with him! (this coming from experience!)
Oh, this is a tough one and it seems all kids transition differently. Things that come to mind to try would be altering your bedtime routine with him so he still gets the cuddle time (like on the couch or something) but then when you put him in his bed, that's it. Some folks I know have tried staying in the room with the child, sitting on the floor and gradually moving closer to the door. Others I know have used discipline each time the child gets out of bed. And still others just leave the child in the room and don't return unless the child seems to be in some sort of harm. You are right, you don't want to cause trauma. With our first we did story time in his bed with him, said prayers, gave hugs and kisses, shut off the light and left the room and he did great. With our second we tried having the crib and bed up at the same time and she would not sleep in the bed well until we had taken apart and removed the crib from her room. I would say give it time, talk it up to him how much of a big boy he is becoming and allow yourself more time at night to work through his routine and whatever his reaction is. Hang in there, I'm sure in a few weeks he'll be a pro at this.
Sorry for the long comment.
Wow...Rachel gave great advice. Funny Rebecca...we're in Florida right now and my parents set up a twin bed on the floor in the room where we're staying. I didn't think he'd take to it because like little one, he's very attached to his crib. Mom put pillows all around the mattress and stuffed animals in the corners. he's sleeping GREAT and now knows that's "his" bed. We're shocked really, it was pretty painless. If he gets up and comes out of the room, we've just been guiding him back in, talking about how he needs to sleep in the bed and he goes right back down. We don't want it to be a discipline thing for him at grandmas. I say try different things and see how he does. It could be seamless (and will pray it is.)
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