Michelle asked if we've moved Thomas into Zaylee's old toddler bed yet. I started to answer in a comment, but realized it was too long of an explanation, so I'll answer in this post.
We haven't yet moved Thomas to the toddler bed. And here's why. I mentioned that we've been restricting Thomas' pacifier use, and giving it to him only at naptime and bedtime. Well, it turns out that Thomas has now associated the pacifier with naptime and bedtime, go figure, and started refusing to take it. Or we would give it to him and put him in his crib, and he'd stand up and throw the pacifier over the side of the crib and cry. Rather than continually coming back into his room to retrieve the paci and give it back, which would be silly, we just let him cry himself to sleep without it.
So now, for the past several days, we haven't even been giving him the paci at all. And it's working alright - he cried in his crib for a few minutes, then puts himself to sleep. This whole thing is actually quite a huge relief. I don't even know where the pacifier is right now, and it's great because I don't care!!!
The only unfortunate thing is that I'm not sure how he'll transition to the toddler bed. I'm nervous to make this big change right at the same time that we're cutting out pacifier use. I'm worried that I'll put him down for bed or naps, and he'll run screaming to the door and stand there crying for who-knows-how-long, and never ending napping. And he won't have the pacifier to calm himself down.
I'm probably making a mountain out of something that will only be a tiny molehill. But I'm sure I'm not the only mother who hesitates to make a change that might adversely affect her child's sleeping. I treasure the hours when the kids are asleep - I need that time! And it always drives me crazy when they just sit in there crying. I'm okay with letting them cry it out, but I hate every minute of it!
So long story short, I'm nervous to move him to the toddler bed. I'm sure we'll do it sooner rather than later, because I don't want him to learn to climb completely out of the crib, and he's close to that. But in addition to the pacifier situation, I also don't want to take the crib down until we figure out what we're going to do with it - we have no space for it here in the apartment. I'll probably call Mom and see if she'll let us keep it in their garage.
Anyway, that's my long-winded answer to the question of whether or not we had moved Thomas to the toddler bed. Whew!
3 comments:
I too would hesitate to give up the crib for the toddler bed. That jump is so hard because you never know how it will go. And I don't blame you for wanting your ME time. I love my me time and since my four year old will still nap there are days that both boys go down like today! Yeah!
I really wouldn't worry just yet about getting him into the toddler bed. Do what works for you. He is really young still. People thought I was crazy for putting Emma in a toddler bed at 17 months. If you're worried about him falling out, you might try pinning a sheet over his crib...I'm pretty sure my mom did that with Adam. They also have crib tents that fit over the top of the crib so kids can't get out, though they can be pricey. Good luck!
Looks like Sarah gave you some really good ideas. I'm really surprised Alyssa hasn't tried any stunts like that. We did move her mattress down to the lowest position, but she still has her bumper pads and stuff in there that could help her get some height if she stepped on it. Anyway, good luck. I agree with you...take it one step at a time. You don't want to overload him with change. Though some people probably think it would be best to just do it all at once...to me it just seems to tramatic for the guy! Let us know what you decide to do!
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