Moving On Up

My husband and I made the decision to transition our toddler into a “big boy” bed instead of purchasing a new crib once the new baby arrived. We read up on how to transition a toddler into a big boy bed. There were a lot of conflicting ideas about when to make the big move and how to keep your kid in their bed.

The advice on when to move ranged from transitioning into the big boy bed before the new baby comes to waiting until your child is climbing out of their crib, and everything in between. We waited to transition William, my toddler, into his “big boy” bed until Steven, my newborn, had been home for about a month or so.

We talked up having a “big bed”. We emphasized that mommy and daddy have a “big bed” too. My husband went out and bought the mattress and we had William help daddy put his new “big boy” room together. The whole family hung out in William’s room and helped assemble the new bed. William was ecstatic! He climbed on the bed and started jumping like a jackrabbit. We did not do guardrails on the bed because it is situated between two lockers and we didn’t think it was necessary. We asked him if he wanted to sleep in his new “big boy” bed or if he wanted to sleep in his crib. He said bed. He was asleep in no time. He stayed in bed all night and waited for daddy to come and collect him the next morning. Success!

The second evening was not such a success. William did not want to sleep in his bed. He wanted to sleep in his crib. We did not push the issue and William slept in his crib. He did this back and forth between crib and bed for a couple more days. When he wouldn’t stay in his bed and he left his room he was put into the crib. What were we going to do once the threat of the crib was no longer there?

We got the idea the reverse the door handle so the lock was on the outside from a family member and decided to give it a try. We figured that eventually after not being able to leave his room William would tire and climb into bed to sleep. Thank you family member for this idea!!!! It is a lifesaver.

Although he may wander around his room for a little bit playing, he eventually crawls into bed and goes to sleep each night.

It’s now time to take the crib apart, move it to the nursery, and finish decorating William’s room. Time to start thinking themes. I would get rid of the jungle nursery theme and replace it with something a little more grown up and whimsical. I wanted to decorate William’s room in something that would last a long time or be easy to change. I decided to go with the Dr. Seuss theme for his room. Nothing too over the top though.

I bought Dr. Seuss flash cards at Border’s that had characters from Dr. Seuss books and used that for the artwork. I got a quilt on Overstock.com that had lots of colors and would grow with William. The stuffed animals are from Kohl’s when they do the Dr. Seuss Kohl’s Care Charity books and stuffed animals. All in all I am quite pleased with the final result. William has moved up from baby crib safari to big boy Dr. Seuss. What do you think?

The crib has been placed in the nursery, which is still a work in progress. William is sleeping in his bed for nap time and every night without incident so far. We will see how he does once Steven is sleeping in the crib instead of the pack-n-play in mommy and daddy’s room.

Feel free to share pictures of your “moving on up” big boy or big girl room décor. I would love to hear how you transitioned out of the crib.

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