the crib to bed transition

The crib to big boy bed transition is one I have been dreading for a while now. Isaac has always loved his crib and always gone down very easily for naps and bedtime. He doesn't always fall asleep right away, but he will happily rest in his crib for up to an hour before he falls asleep and also enjoys laying quietly after he wakes up. I always picture the worst for upcoming transitions, so I just knew we were going to fight him to stay in bed at night, but especially early in the morning. Isaac wakes up anywhere from 6-6:30 and we don't get him out of bed until 7. I pictured a sleep deprived third trimester mama being even more sleep deprived because Isaac was up earlier than normal.

Isaac never once tried to climb out of his crib, so I knew I wanted to wait as long as possible to move him. I also wanted to do it with enough time before the baby comes so he didn't feel like he was kicked out of the crib for the baby (of course that's the case, but I don't want him to resent the baby for it). We started working on his new room and my goal was to have him in it (and the new bed) by the end of May.

We finally got the room painted and ready, purchased new furniture and a mattress, and the last thing we were waiting on was the safety rails for the bed. Sunday, May 19 was the day.

For about a week before the big day (night) we really talked up the new bed and how cool it was. Every night after bath we would all pile onto the bed and read books together instead of one of us sitting with him in the glider in his old room. It became a special time for all of us, and then he happily went across the hall to his old room and went to sleep in his crib.

first night in the big bed

The first night we wanted him to sleep in his bed we told him all about it, then read our books like we had been. When it was actually time for us to leave the room he got a little anxious and stood up. He cried for a couple of minutes after we closed the door, but then I remembered we had not turned his sound machine on. We went back in to do that and comfort him, and he never cried again. It took him about an hour to fall asleep that night, but that's not totally unusual. He actually slept in a little the next morning too!

The first nap was a little more difficult, and it took him about 90 minutes to fall asleep, but he never got out of bed, just laid quiet and still. The second nap only took 30 minutes to fall asleep, and everything has been great ever since. He was very good about not getting out of bed for a while, but after a few days he figured out he could get out and bring books back into bed with him. Sometimes I'll check the monitor and see him laying in bed looking at a book or playing with a toy, so I have to remind him that he can do that after he wakes up but he has to go to sleep first.

He absolutely refused a pillow in his crib with him and wouldn't put his head on the pillow in his big bed at first. After a couple of days he would put his head very close to the pillow and now he usually sleeps with his head on a pillow. He seems much more comfortable in the big bed and I think he even sleeps better. We have never noticed him even getting close to the sides of the bed (we got a full size), so I'm not sure if he even needs the rails, but we're keeping them for now.

Overall, the big boy bed transition went so much smoother than we could have imagined and we survived. Now if we can only cross potty training off our list we'll be doing great!