We've had a big girl bed in Lexi's room for about 2 months now. It's a small toddler bed that takes the mattress from the crib. We've been talking about how big girls sleep in beds and little girls and babies sleep in cribs. Same logic we've been doing for potty training. Each night, we give her the option...bed or crib...she always picks crib. We don't speak down about the crib or make her feel bad about her decision. We simply ask, and when she points to the crib, we say ok and give her lots of hugs and kisses and put her in her crib and say nite nite.
Today, for her second nap, I thought I'd try to see if she'd lay in her bed...I knew she probably wouldn't sleep...but what I didn't expect was for her to stand at her door crying. I don't want to scare her from the bed...and if she's not ready then so be it...it's just weird because she will gladly lay in our bed, or in the guest bed, and have her "quiet time".
But my question for all those who have transitioned their kids to big kid beds...how did you do it? Was there any crying at the door? How did you keep them in bed? Did you start with naps and move to overnight? I have no idea how to do this.
9 comments:
At this point, I'd take the bed out of the room and just go with the crib for a while longer. Let Lexi take the reigns of this one.
I'd take this transition like potty training, let her guide you on when she's ready for the big girl bed. Big deal that she prefers the crib...if she's sleeping, isn't that "winning". She won't be in diapers or a crib when she starts College.
We offered just like you did but made an effort to "hang out" in the big bed reading books, doing puzzles, etc. and eventually he chose the big bed. He went back and forth for a bit and sometimes chose the big bed and then within the first few minutes called and asked to get back in the crib.....and the reverse is true when he's ask to be in the crib he'd change his mind and ask for the big bed.
Maybe try tucking any lovies she may have into the big bed to go night night or something of the sort.
Also, crying at the door doesn't necessarily mean she wants to be in the crib. She may want to be in the big bed but change is hard, right...and she's not sure how to get comfortable in there.
It's happening...smile.
Our cribs converted, so one day, I just decided to take them apart and turn them into "big kid beds". They were thrilled adn have given me no issues.
Good Luck!!
We are still in the transition and trying to let her make her own decision on it. We do the same thing and ask her (we're sticking with naps at first because she has a heater in her room that is dangerous when it's on at night). If she is adamant about her big girl bed then we give her 2 chances to stay in it (we have a video monitor) and if she gets out after her chances are up, she simply goes back in her crib. When she really wants to sleep in the bed, she stays put so I figure the more she asks, the more she will want to stay in it and the less she will want the crib. Baby steps right?
We did a fast approach switch...only because it was making my heart lurch out of my chest when I would check the monitor and hed be ready to leap out.
So once weekend when O was with family, we made the switch, and the first night he was in the bed, he didnt really notice.
Now we just make it a game. He gets in and says goodnight to his animals.
Im not sure this really helped :( But we just tried to not make a huge deal of the switch so he wouldnt think it was any different than going to sleep the same :)
Good luck!!
No experise but wondering...maybe crying at the door has nothing to do with being scared of her big bed. I wonder if she would always have been crying at the door if the crib bars weren't stopping her.
Good luck!
I've read not to switch until they start climbing out of it. Miles still hasn't attempted it so we're staying put for now. The crib converts to a toddler so we'll do that when the time comes...
We threw a Big Bed Party & got rid of the crib completely. There was no choice, but that is just how we did it and it worked every time with all six children. We just said that it's time for you to be big, so the crib is leaving & you are going to sleep in a big bed, so to celebrate we are throwing a party!
Well, we did the fast switcheroo and there's been no looking back. Like I mentioned to you on FB last night, we were having MAJOR sleep drama right around turning 2. She was having a real massive bout of separation anxiety with me and would scream the minute I walked away from her in the crib BEGGING for me to stay and hold her hand. Then she'd continue to cry for up to an hour plus until I would go back up and rock her to sleep (we had never rocked her to sleep before this nor had we ever had a single sleep issue-she'd been in her crib happily since 3 months). Then? She'd wake up in the middle of the night and play/cry/sing/talk for at least 2 hours every night.
Her crib converted in to a full sized bed, so we figured we'd just bite the bullet and make the change at her birthday since sleep was already sucking so much. I figured it couldn't get any worse! She watched as we deconstructed her crib and we talked a lot about her being a big girl. She had a moment of tears when she realized what was going on, but when she saw the big girl mattress come in, she was THRILLED. It honestly has been such smooth sailing ever since we changed. I bought a video monitor because I was worried about her getting in and out of bed but it hasn't been an issue at all! We keep her doors shut and protected with knob covers, though she's never attempted to get out once. We don't keep any toys in her room and just pile her up in bed with all her stuffed animals and books. I also ordered her a special night light toy by Cloud B, it's a lady bug that projects stars up on the ceiling. She LOVES that toy, is obsessed.
So, for what it's worth, the big switch worked awesome for us. It actually removed all sleep issues we were having. She never gets out of bed, she sleeps like a dream and she loves it.
Wishing you luck on the transition!
xoxo
Post a Comment