Transition to Big Boy Bed

This Labor Day weekend was rough. And not just because the Dawgs lost miserably. Although that loss would put a damper on any weekend. Nope, it was miserable because we began the transition to the Big Boy Bed.

Although we picked up the mattresses for Andrew's new twin bed on Saturday morning, we did not intend to put him in the new bed until Sunday or even the following weekend.

Andrew had other plans.

We put him down for his nap per usual on Saturday afternoon. After an hour and a half of listening to Andrew's non-stop talking and eventually crying, Rob decided to go check on him. When I heard the pitter-patter of Andrew's feet coming down the hall a few seconds later, I knew this was not a good sign. And when my son rounded the corner without a diaper, I knew something had gone horribly wrong. Apparently Andrew had taken off his diaper and then pee-peed all over his crib!

We tried to put him in his newly made Big Boy Bed. But, of course, that went about as well as trying to put a cat in a car. Wild!

And so we begin:

Day One: At this point it was close to 3:30....Game time. We had plans to go to a friend's house to watch the game. So we packed up, headed to the party, and loaded Andrew up on sugar to get him through the next few hours. He was so exhausted by 7pm that he actually went to sleep in his big boy bed without complaint. Until he woke up at 12:30am. And walked into our room. After a few attempts to get my grumpy toddler back to sleep in his big boy bed, I finally put him back in his crib at 1:30am. He slept until 7:30 the next morning, but woke up crying for his "big boy bed". Sheesh!

Day Two: All attempts to get Andrew to nap in his bed failed. He played in his room, but kept opening his door. I was hoping that if he could just stay in his room, he would eventually be so tired he would fall asleep. Didn't happen. Even after 2.5 hours of playing, opening the door, putting back in his bed; playing, opening the door, putting back in his bed; playing, opening the door, putting back in his bed. Finally, after he played in his room for about 10 minutes without opening the door, I took him out. For bed time, he again went down easily around 7pm and slept, without getting up, until 7am the next morning.

Day Three: No naps. Same scene as Day Two. Andrew has now gone three days without a nap. Bed time is not so easy. He tries to play and has to be put back in his bed several times. He finally falls asleep around 8:30 and is up around 6:30am the next morning. I feel defeated and spend some time reading books and scouring the internet to find suggestions for transitioning to the Big Boy Bed. The only good thing about Day Three is that my niece was born!! Garner Wells Forrester arrived 9/7/09 around 5:30am. Yay!!

Day Four: Andrew is up too early, grumpy, and it becomes evident that he has to take a nap. Mama has to win this battle. I talk to the other mama's in my Mama's Bible Group about a game plan. We tweak my game plan and then pray. Lot's of prayer. I leave feeling determined and encouraged. I will win today! And....I did. I won!! I won!! After implementing my new and improved game plan, Andrew took a two hour nap in his big boy bed. He even went down for the night without getting out of his bed!

It was a "good mama" day. I felt confident and empowered. Of course, I know that yesterday was only a battle. I still have to win the war. And that may take a couple of weeks. But, yesterday was a good day. A win for mama. And that gives me enough strength to forge ahead.

And continue to pray!