I have to start this post by saying that Bryan & I have been really lucky when it comes to Sadie, because for the most part, she has been a really easy baby & toddler. Ever since we sleep trained her, she has loved her bed. We have always put her to bed at night awake & every morning she wakes up & plays by herself contently. For the most part, she just sits in her crib & will cry or call our names when she is ready to get up. However, this summer she has had a harder time going to bed. Her naps have always been great - probably a little too great! She usually goes down at 2:00 or 2:30 & we usually have to wake her up at 6:00. But for the past month or two this summer, she has thrown a little fit when we put her down. Partly because we have been playing outside & she hasn't really calmed down yet, but also because it's still sunny outside. The before bed process is ok, but as soon as we leave the room we start hearing her on the monitor - "I need water, I need to go potty, I want my Mommy/Daddy" - I mean we have heard every excuse under the sun. And sometimes she stays up & plays for an hour or so. Apparently, she never does this to babysitters or family, just Bryan & I. Of course.
Then I was worried because every time we traveled this summer we let her sleep in a regular bed with rails. And then she got to sleep on the lower bunk bed at my parent's house with a rail. Every time I worried she wouldn't go back to crib when we got home, but she always did. However, her independence streak has really ignited this summer & she wants to do everything herself, so I figured the next step is probably sleeping in a big girl bed by herself. I have prolonged this day as long as possible & honestly, she is still fine in her crib, but most of her friends outgrew their cribs a while ago & she is turning 3 in 3 months. I was hoping that if we gave her independence with her bed, then our night times might get easier & her naps might get shorter.
Since she starts school after Labor Day, I figured now is a good time to start so she could have 1 week to "practice" before our new fall routine kicks in. Bryan changed her bed from the crib to the toddler bed on Saturday. She was so excited! She kept saying that she had a big girl bed like Mommy & Daddy . And then she kept telling Sophie that she has to sleep in a baby bed :)
We started with her nap on Saturday & she spent 3 hours in her room by herself. She did open the door a few times, but she never came out. She also stayed quiet & played independently, but never slept :) This is what I found when it was time for her to get up:
To be honest, I didn't really expect her to sleep the first day because I knew she would be so excited. And I thought she would make a bigger mess, but she really only got a few blankets, pillows, stuffed animals & books. As soon as I went in to pick her up, she said time to clean up & she put everything away!
Fast forward to Saturday night & she was an angel! Bryan put her to bed & she did not move once! She didn't make any noise or get out of her bed. In fact, she laid there patiently under her covers until we went & woke her up on Sunday morning:
Night number 2 was just as easy. In fact, the bed time routine has been shortened because she is so excited to go to bed, that she doesn't want to read as many books or sing as many songs. I think those were all stall tactics back in the crib days! This morning I realized that she woke up, but I think she thought she had to wait in bed until I came & told it was time to get up. Sweet thing!
Yesterday's nap we less eventful. She played for a good hour & then I realized it got really quiet, so when I went to check on her, I found this:
How adorable! I had a feeling she wasn't ready to give up her naps yet but I figured she would try to play as long as possible until it caught up with her. And today? She didn't even play for 20 minutes & then I saw her crawl into her bed, cover & up & go to sleep. It is amazing how granting her a little more independence has helped! I am not saying every nap time & every night time will be this easy, but honestly, this transition happened much better than I could have ever imagined!
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