Month: September 2007

After thinking about moving Austen into a bed for 1-2 months, Mama and Dada finally decided to start the process by bringing in her mattress and laying it on the floor next to her crib.. We figured it’s important because when Austen doesn’t want to stay in the crib, she easily climbs out even though she’s only done it once.

After watching Mama and Dada grunt and struggle to get it up the stairs, Austen chimed in with “It’s too big!” (Why are all the big items in the basement!?) Anyway, a few explitives later, the mattress was placed in Austen’s room.

At bedtime, Austen declared “Sleep in big bed.” Not expecting Austen to sleep on it so quickly, Mama and Dada hadn’t even put the cover sheet on the mattress yet. Surprised, Dada tucked Austen in with her blankets and all her stuffed animals. She went to sleep a few short minutes later. Afterwards, Mama and Dada bragged about how easy that transition was but also realized that there must be more transition pains waiting for us.

Over the next week, Austen slept in the crib only once. Mid-day nap time was the hardest since Austen likes to play on the bed, jumping around and even calling it a jumpy castle. She’s doing much better although it still sometimes takes an hour or more for her to fall asleep.

The night time process is a little smoother since Austen knows it’s sleepy time, although Mama or Dada usually have to “sit in chair” for a little while as Austen settles in. Somedays, she’s asleep in minutes; other days, it could take up to an hour.

Now, in the second week, the crib is still in the room but may be on its way out by next week. Overall, transitioning to the new bed situation seemed to be easier than we expected!