Big Girl Bed

One question here: why doesn't anyone warn you how incredibly hard it is to transition a toddler into a big kid bed?!? We went from a kid who easily went to sleep for 11 hours, uninterrupted, without having any to coax into her crib, to a kid who gets up thirty million times a night. Let me break it down for you.

Night #1: Inform Emma all day long that she's getting a big girl bed. Her crib will now be "baby Drew's." She was so excited about it all--the fact that she's getting a new bed; the fact that "baby Drew" gets her crib...the whole kit and koobodle. Didn't think this was going to be a problem, based on this excitement.

We were wrong.

After reading to her (as we normally do), we tuck her in and tell her that big girls stay in their beds. Not even 30 seconds after we close the door, Emma opens up the door. Okay, no big deal. We anticipated that this would happen. Probably will a few times, but that's to be expected, right?

After 30 trips and 2.5 hours later, she finally gets to sleep. But only after Andy sits in her room, without saying anything, just so she doesn't get up again. And I must mention--Andy is much more patient than me. I was at the point of locking the freakin' girl in her room, I was getting so aggrevated! I had had it. Good thing I married a patient person.

Night #2: Went through the normal routine: read a book, tucked her in, tell her big girls stay in their bed. Worked for about 2 minutes. She got back up. So, remembering how Andy finally got her to sleep, I sat down on the floor, without saying anything, until she went to sleep. Only took 25 minutes! I was so excited and proud, I texted Andy of her accomplishment (as he was happily celebrating our discusting defeat to the Chargers for a second year in a row).

But wait--after about 1.5 hours, I hear little footsteps coming down the stairs. "Emma what are you doing up. Big girls stay in their bed. Go back up and get in your big girl bed." Nothing happens; not a word, no action. Nothing. She's just standing there. So I ask her if she wants Mommy to tuck her in. In response I get a sweet, "Yeeeeah." So I truck it up the stairs and put her to bed. Tell her again, "Emma big girls stay in their beds. (Taking a cue from a cousin, who has 2 girls herself) If you stay in your bed all night long, you'll get a prize. Do you want a prize?" Of course she says yes and....
it works! She stayed in bed until 8:00 the next morning. I'm thinking, not too bad this time!

Night #3: Again, went through the normal routine: read a book, tucked her in, tell her big girls stay in their bed. Andy sat in her room, on the floor, not saying anything and 10 minutes later he returns downstairs. Seeing how it's only been 10 minutes, I say, "What's wrong? Are you missing her baby dolls? Does she need something else?" Oh, no! She went down in 10 minutes!

Wahoo!!!! At this rate, this should only take (I'm thinking) about a week or so. But yet, it's only been 3 days. Let's keep our fingers crossed that we'll soon be over this new adventure. I'll keep you posted.