So Long Crib, Hello Toddler Bed

After my little guy (and my husband) recovered from the plague that was Hand, Foot, & Mouth disease, we thought we were getting back on track. Killian was happy and playing like his usual self. He went back to sleeping in his crib after spending a few nights on the air mattress watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse nonstop. Everything seemed to be back to normal.... then something switched.

It was as if a demon had possessed my child. He went from the boy who I used to brag about how good his sleeping habits were to a full blown insomniac. Every time we put him in his crib this week for a nap or for bed he'd scream bloody murder. And I'm not one to just give in easily, so I let him cry. Sure enough, though, he had a bit more stamina that I did because 20 minutes later he was still at it. Then I'd go in and give him a binky and lay him back down, only for him to get right back up and at it again. It was like this for up to two hours one night.

So I did what any other mom would do when they were at their wits end. I googled. I thought maybe he developed some sudden phobia of his crib, whether it was from when he was sick and in pain, or some weird thing he heard or saw one night. Who knows, but when I googled it I found out that it really isn't that rare. Especially at this age. From about a year and a half to two years old kids start developing fears and phobias. What makes it worse is that they can't reason their way out of the fear, especially since you can't explain to them that the shadow they saw on the wall isn't a monster or that they won't really get sucked down the tub drain.

He also very well could be going through a phase, but this is one phase I wasn't going to be able to put up with long seeing as we already went through a week of not sleeping when he was sick. So I found some really great advice on my google search, and it seemed the best thing to do was eliminate what was making him freak out: his crib. So last night we converted his crib to a toddler bed, and tried to make it as comfy and inviting as possible. Then we made a huge deal about how awesome his big boy bed is and had a little party in his room to celebrate.

We went through his normal bedtime routine: Tubby, pjs, milk, story time.... lots of story time. Then we tucked him in and left him like we would in his crib, but he was having none of that. So I brought him back to his bed and sat on the floor next to him and exactly four minutes later he was out like a light. My husband and I went to bed with much anxiety just waiting to see when he'd wake up and freak out running into our room. He did get up once at one in the morning, but we just walked him back to his bed and he went right back to sleep. The best part was when he woke up in the morning, he just waltzed right in our room and hopped on our bed.

I was more nervous about nap time today, but we did the same routine of milk, story time, and sitting with him for a few minutes before he fell asleep (as evidenced by the picture below). It's been almost two and a half glorious hours of nap time so far, which is much improved from no nap time yesterday. And I finally got a little time to myself to just breathe.

Another milestone accomplished, another crisis averted (for now). Man, being a mom is rough. Just when you think you've got things down, a curveball gets thrown at ya. Just one of the joys of being a parent.

For those who are contemplating it, here's a great article on how and when to transition your child from a crib to a toddler bed: Tackling the Toddler Crib-to-Bed Transition. Good luck and God's speed.