This week, however, we decided it was time. Whether he liked it or not, Jack was moving to the new bed. The tricky thing is that the latch on his new bedroom door is kind of tricky, so we don't shut it all the way and it leaves a little crack that we can conveniently see through to check on him. Because he can get out, though, we've been sleeping with a gate at the top of the stairs.
Night 1: Lewis puts Jack in bed. Jack cries for a good half hour before falling asleep, but never gets out of bed. Success!
3 AM Jack wakes up screaming. Lewis rushes to his side and puts him in the crib. In hindsight he probably should have given Jack a couple of minutes to calm himself down and go back to sleep, but who thinks rationally at 3 AM?
Night 2: Lewis has school, so I put Jack to bed. He cries for less than five minutes. An hour later I go up to check on him. He's wide awake and sitting up. As soon as I get to his door his eyes fly to the crack and I freeze. It's a stare down until I finally risk moving away. The moment I take a step, Jack says, "Mama." It was only one word, but by his tone he clearly meant, "Mom, I know you're there. What exactly do you think you're doing?" I sheepishly enter the room and ask if he wants the baby bed. Emphatic yes.
Night 3: I don't remember the reason why, but we didn't even try to put him to sleep in the big boy bed. Probably should've.
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| This is what Jack should be doing right now. |
Night 4: Jack cries briefly, then goes to sleep. Right before we go to bed, I go in to check on him to discover that he's poopy. I couldn't let him sleep all night like that (plus he's never successfully slept through a poop anyway, so I knew it was only a matter of time before he'd be up), so I got him up and changed his diaper. Afterwards I lied down with him in the big boy bed, but he was much more intent on playing with my face than going to sleep. Back to the crib.
Day 5: Jack takes his first nap in the big boy bed.
Night 5: Jack fusses for .2 seconds then spends the next ninety minutes pulling every book he owns onto the bed with him and "reading" them aloud to himself. Then from downstairs we hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet across the hall, into our room, and back out. Finally an almighty wail sounds from the gate at the top of the stairs. I had realized a few minutes before he didn't eat much for dinner and that he sometimes struggles to fall asleep when he's hungry. So I bring him downstairs and feed him before taking him back for one last story and goodnight. Once in his room, Jack begs desperately for his father. I suspected this was a stalling tactic, but I'll usually give him the benefit of the doubt once. Lewis comes up and tries to read a story, but all Jack wants is his crib. In he goes.
Tomorrow we will be fiddling with the door so that it latches properly. Lewis also wants to put the bed on its box springs (it's just a mattress on the floor at this point) to deter Jack from getting out, but I'm hesitant. He hasn't slept a whole night in there yet, so I don't know if he's going to fall out or not.
Night 6 (tomorrow): Jack goes straight to sleep and sleeps all night in his bed without falling out or waking up. Just you wait and see!
