Big News...well for a mom of a 1 year old

We got Shiloh a toddler bed a few weeks ago.

It has been sitting in the room for about as long, just letting Shiloh get used to it, letting him climb around on it and really letting him feel as though it is not so new and weird to have it there.

3 nights ago we decided to give it a try.

We did the normal bedtime routine; first bath, then we put him in his jimjams, then songs and prayer. We did all of this in the new room, with the new bed in sight.

Kenny and I decided, before putting him to bed that night, that we knew Shiloh was a little young for a toddler bed, and that we wouldn't just lock the door and make him scream it out. We would just try putting him down in it to see what the reaction was, and if it wasn't working out we would move him to him to his crib.

At first, things seemed to be going well. He wasn't crying, but he wasn't asleep either. He was talking to Doggie. We could tell when we left him he was a bit confused. Then, about 20 minutes later he started whimpering. Not screaming or really out of control, but a tired whimper. He did this for 25 to 30 minutes. Maybe he would whimper himself to sleep. Then he was silent for about a minute. We thought we had done it.

Oh the naivete!

Then we heard him get out of bed with a THUD! Then lots of crying. We decided that it was time to go and rescue him. The poor little guy was crumpled on the floor on top of Doggie, Blankie, and a tractor book, just bawling his eyes out.

We took him to his crib. He cried some more. We went in to make sure all was ok. He was fine. We sang him a song and then put him down one last time. He still cried himself to sleep. He was very put off by the change up in routine, apparently.

He woke every hour and a half or so, crying and then going back to sleep for the whole rest of the night, then decided to start the next day off at 5:30 a.m.

I kept thinking that maybe we were doing this wrong. Maybe we should just bite the bullet and buy another crib so that we didn't have to start the sleepless nights early. I still have two months before I am supposed to be waking up with a new born, people, come on now.

Apparently, gluttons for punishment, we decided the next night to try out the bed again. Oh yes, I was worried to have a repeat, or something much, much worse.

Although, I had noticed that during the day, Shiloh wasn't afraid of the room or anxious about it at all. In fact, I noticed the exact opposite. He was more intrigued by the room than ever. He experimented climbing up and down the bed. He walked around the room. He kept putting Doggie in bed. This is why we decided to try it again. We also took some extra precaution with the whole falling out of bed scenario. We had an extra crib mattress. We slid it half way under the bed. There was an extra buffer of softness now, plus it made a great step up into bed.

A lot more weary about the bed time process, we slowly did "the routine" and then laid Shiloh down in bed. He seemed sleepy and he didn't cry right off of the bat so we walked away and shut the door behind us.

We waited.... a small whimper.... we waited some more....nothing.

We start doing dishes and other such chores that only get done at bed time when the kiddo is asleep. Still no noise, not even a peep is coming from the room. Kenny and I sat down to make a plan. You always need a plan for these things. He had now been sleeping in his room for roughly an hour and a half.

Our plan: when Shiloh wakes up crying we take him to his crib, then we just experiment each night with putting him down in the toddler bed, and hopefully he stays there longer and longer each night until he is transitioned all of the way over.

It seemed like a great plan to us. We went to bed that night. I had some unrestful sleep. I was sure that at any minute we would hear him start to cry and we would have to get him out of bed. I finally fell asleep for real, and awoke to Kenny's alarm clock. I lean over in a frantic sort of way and ask , "Did I sleep through you moving Shiloh to his crib last night?!"

There was no way that he hadn't woke up at all, right?

Kenny assured me several times that he hadn't moved him and that he hadn't heard Shiloh all night long. We waited for about a half an hour, and Shiloh started talking as he usually does when he wakes up. We go in. He is laying in his bed talking to Doggie.

Miracle of miracles! He did it! But what about the plan? Do we just keep him in there at night? Do I move naps to the new bed now too? I really hadn't anticipated this scenario at all. I decided that it might be too hard to go back and forth between the crib during the day and bed at night, so I might as well try naps in the toddler bed too. It was and all or nothing sort of approach, and slightly risky, but I could always switch him over to the crib if he was having a hard time, right?

Nap #1 and nap #2 were a complete success.

Last night also was successful. This is big news! He is doing it. I couldn't be more thankful, or more in shock about it really.

I know that he could relapse at any moment. I know that maybe when he figures out how to bang on the door and get our attention, we maybe wallowing in self pity again, but for now, I choose to be very happy about it.