Big Boy Bed

About two weeks ago EH's sleeping habits started to take a turn for the worst.  This coincided nicely with the timing of when DH decided that it was time to take away the num-num (EH's name for his pacifier.)  I say that "DH decided" because I really was against the idea of taking the num num so cold turkey, without any advance notice or thought.  It was really hard on EH, and on me.  And then of course THIS coincided nicely (NOT) with EH developing a cold.  So, not only was he not sleeping because he was sad about his num num, but now he was waking up in the middle night because of a coughing fit and he had no way to soothe himself back to sleep. This meant that I was waking up multiple times per night to soothe him and rub his back, and DH was spending 30 to 60 minutes in his room each evening because now that the num nums were gone EH didn't want to go to sleep unless one of us was in the room with him (which always resulted in him wanting to play instead of sleep.)  I quickly lost all patience with all of this and one night I alllllmost gave him a num num in the middle of the night, until DH agreed to take night duty the next night.

Needless to say, the past couple of weeks have been a big hot mess when it comes to toddler sleep.

So, where was I going with this?

Well, shortly after the num num's went "all gone" and the cold symptoms alleviated a little, EH decided he didn't want to sleep anymore.  He wouldn't fall asleep on his own, which was devastating to me because he had always been so good about going to sleep without needing us there.  On top of all of this he was napping poorly - sometimes only 30 minutes, which resulted in a very cranky toddler come evening.  He would wake up in his crib and just start screaming - he almost never fell back asleep (which almost always happened when he had a num num.)  He also started to swing his leg over the rail of his crib.  He never jumped out, but he was always close.

So around this time my mom was asking about where EH would sleep once he no longer fit (or would tolerate, in his case) the pack and play.  I pulled out the toddler travel bed that we purchased that is essentially a foam floor bed.  It rolls up into a bag about the size of a pack and play, and can just be rolled out onto the floor.  It's really quite cute.

When we pulled this bed out, EH started playing and laying on it, and I decided that it was time to see how he would do sleeping outside of the crib.  He was interested in this new bed, and I talked to him about sleeping in a big boy bed.  That day for his nap (it was a Sunday) he laid down on that floor bed, didn't fuss, didn't cry, and then proceeded to sleep for three hours and fifteen minutes.

Hallelujah!!!!

With that sort of success I said "Screw the crib!" and that night at bedtime we did the normal routine - milk, books, teeth brushing - and then went back into EH's room.  I set him down on the floor instead of putting him in his crib and asked him where he wanted to sleep.  He plopped down on the floor bed, I covered him up, gave him a kiss, and left.  I put a gate up outside of his door in case he decided to start wandering around but it wasn't necessary - he didn't make a peep, and he slept straight through the night!!!! It was a amazing!

The floor bed itself is a cute green and brown design that happens to match his room perfectly, but I put a pee pad down and a sheet to protest - good thing, because he leaked out that night!

Those results have continued over the past week, and the floor bed has been a godsend.  I know that some of the success is simply related to the novelty of this new bed, since he's been getting increasingly confident about the fact that he can just get up and walk around him or to the door.  But for the few nights that he slept great, it was all worth it.

We finally decided to buy a toddler rail for his crib and we removed the front crib rail last night.  We talked a lot about sleeping in a big boy bed, and I even read him an Elmo book on the subject.  He seemed excited about it and kept talking about the "big boy bed" but when we went back in the room after brushing his teeth, he seemed afraid of the toddler bed, and instead decided to sleep on his floor bed again.  I didn't want to push the issue so I let him be.

He woke up early this morning crying around 5:45, and I went in and rubbed his back.  He fell back asleep and when I went into wake him up at 7 a.m. he was in his "big boy bed!"  I laughed out loud and took this picture (which was taken in complete blackness - the camera on my phone is awesome!)

He apparently decided that he was ready to try out his "big boy bed" for real. 

I love the floor bed, and I would keep using it forever if it meant that he would continue to be this dream ofa  sleeper.  BUT, if he happens to decide that he wants to sleep in his big boy bed I would be thrilled, since the floor bed takes up quite a chunk of space on his floor!

In case anyone is wondering, the floor/travel bed is the Leachco Bumpzzz Travel bed.  The zipper on the bag of the first one we received broke off the first time we tried it, so I was initially super annoyed, but their customer service department was quick and easy to deal with and they sent me a replacement bag within a couple of days, so I still highly recommend the bed, especially since he's had such amazing results sleeping on it!

We have a few weekends coming up that are going to involve travel and most likely (now that he probably won't want to use the pack and play) him having to sleep in this bed.  So, I'm glad that he's used to it and hopefully he shouldn't have any transition issues!