A Big Girl Bed

A momentous occasion has occurred in our house! Abigail has officially transitioned from a crib to a toddler bed. I was kicking and screaming the whole way, but Abby navigated this change like a champ.

It all started because little Miss had learned how to climb out of her crib. I figured that I was the Mom, and therefore much smarter than she, so I knew I'd solved the problem when I put her in a sleep sack for naps as well as night-time. Two days later my smartness badge was removed as Abby, while in sleep sack, climbed out of her crib and met me in the living room one day during nap time. At this time it was very apparent that I'd have to follow everyone's advice and asked Nate to bring down the toddler rail from the attic.

Doesn't she look so sad at the thought of leaving her crib behind forever?

Yeah, I didn't think so. Girlfriend was so happy!

Our first night was a resounding success as Grandma and Grandpa Carstens were over for the weekend to celebrate her birthday (nothing like having Mom have emotional freak-outs over turning two, and then adding in moving from a crib to a toddler bed at the same time!) and wore her completely out by the time bed time arrived. After laying her down I don't think she'd completely rolled over before she was snoring. Our biggest hurdle came the next week when suddenly there was no rail barrier to keep a little person confined to a bed during nap time. Abby was always one that, after milk and a few minutes of rocking, I'd put her in her crib where she'd hang out for a few minutes before settling down and falling asleep. Without that confinement she realized that she had a whole room that could be destroyed explored during nap time and naps started to go out the window. With that horrible possibility in mind I began to hang out with her during her naps, eventually realizing that if I laid directly on top of her so that I kept her still, instead of rolling around everywhere in bed, she'd soon fall asleep. Once we were successful with this strategy I altered it a bit to where my arm would rest on her but nothing else. Eventually it became that I could just sit beside her without touching and she'd go to bed. We've successfully moved on to where naps and bedtime are a snap. We read from our Jesus Story Book Bible, she has a last bit of milk for the night, I sit beside her for about five or so minutes, and then I walk out the door. Sometimes we hear a few minutes of fussing but more often than not she just rolls over and goes to bed. Two weeks of hardship and now this is just another milestone that we can check off as having successfully met and passed. 

Now we just have to work on keeping this little monkey from climbing up her changing table/dresser and playing in her hair bow drawers!

Her first night in her Big Girl/Toddler Bed. I love how she still likes to nestle her head into the corner. She may be a big girl but there's still little glimpses of the baby she once was inside.