Big girl bed...

Little Miss Savannah has moved into a "big girl bed." She has always been such a good sleeper, even with all of our moves, that we didn't want to push our luck and put her in a bed without rails before we were all ready. (In the interest of fairness and full disclosure: Savvy does still hate sleeping in the car seat for long periods of time and sometimes struggles when we are out of town, but not more than is to be expected and more than likely it is in part because we tried to avoid those things when she was little. But who really likes sleeping anywhere other than their own bed anyway?) Despite our uncertainty and my desire to keep her little forever, we decided we should probably give the big girl bed a whirl before things get too crazy preparing for baby number two.

To make the change we just transitioned her crib to the daybed so she would still be close to the floor if she happened to fall out. The evening Skyler did it all Savannah couldn't wait to go to bed in her big girl bed. She was so excited! And much to our surprise, she didn't climb out of bed at all. She has made the transition so easy it is a little ridiculous that we ever worried. I was especially nervous to put her down for her first nap (Skyler usually sings to her at bedtime and I do naptime). The first day after lunch I just said "Now it is time to go upstairs to read our three books and get ready for our naps." She replied, "Okay, sing me to sleep please, Mommy." I was sure to sing her the normal song by her bedside (instead of in the rocking chair like before) and she was thrilled that I had the routine down the same as Daddy. She even took the normal 2.5+ hour nap!

A few days into it all we wondered if she would start to realize she could get up and play if she dared. One evening as we settled down to our routines we heard one of her toys singing on the monitor. We both just looked at each other with the oh-boy-here-we-go face and Skyler tiptoed upstairs. As he peeked in her room Savvy was still in bed. He made sure it didn't look like she had just dashed into bed as she heard him coming and then he noticed that the toy was glowing inside of the toy box (evidently I forgot to switch it to off and it was pushing against another toy). Skyler walked over and turned it off. Savvy turned her head to see Skyler and he just whispered, "That was silly!" and she said "Yeah" and went back to sleep. First thing Skyler said when he came downstairs was, "Lest you ever doubt your angel child, she was still sleeping..." and relayed the story. Wow. Why did I doubt?

Now that we are a couple weeks into it we can say it has been smooth and simple. Savvy now periodically wakes around 7:15 am instead of her previous 8:30 am, but will come and cuddle with me or go down and have breakfast while Skyler gets ready to leave. She woke tired this morning at 7 and later came to me at 8:45 and gave me three books and asked me to help her go to sleep. So right now she is sound asleep at 10:30 am. I love that she isn't afraid to admit that she is tired.

Now for the testimonial. I know that Savvy's sleep habits have little to do with me and more to do with her (I believe that each child is different), but I will say that all of the hard work, missed play dates and fun with my own friends and family is completely worth it when I see how much consistency has paid off. This transition has been so much easier than I expected and I am so grateful that Skyler and I stuck to our plan when Savvy was younger. We didn't implement everything by the book, but "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" worked for Savvy and there is no doubt that recognizing her cues and being consistent were our initial keys to success.

(January 18, 2012)