Hit the snooze button, mama is still tired.

Posted on Dec 19 in parenting, parenting adviceby TalinaPrint

While I am on a roll with actually blogging stuff I’ve meant to mention for ages I want to share Everly’s toddler bed, night time success.

Just before her second birthday, Everly decided she was done with her crib.

It was a two part issue, she knew she cold get out of her crib and also that she could then escape the room. Freewill and new found mobility, lookout!

I bit the bullet and converted her crib to a toddler bed and she was stoked but we battled much madness along the way. Specifically, the playing and not sleeping as well as the trying to come out of her room while she should be sleeping insanity.

It was hard but when I stopped trying to exert control over her and just set limits, things went more smoothly. She still plays herself to sleep at nap time and bedtime.

What started as playing all through nap time instead of napping became play for a bit until she puts herself back to bed. I am okay with that because we both win. She’s got the freedom and independence to play and then decide she’s tired and ready for a nap. Plus, I’ve got quiet time and free hands for a bit while she is in there doing her thing.

They staying in her room thing was slightly harder. This was a limit we were set on keeping so I resorted to locking her in, in the beginning. Now obviously there are tons of reasons why locking a kid in a room is bad.

My main issue was safety. I didn’t want her locked in there because what if there was a fire? I don’t mind having to put her back to bed for nightmares or whatever. I just had to temporarily impose a stay in your room boundary and since the baby gates weren’t working it was on to locking the doors.

As soon as she was quiet and asleep the doors were then unlocked. I also wanted her to feel like she could let herself out at the end of nap time, like a big girl. Or if we had a fire or if she had a bad dream she would not be confined to that bedroom despite her needs.

One of her bedroom doors has a lock on the inside and the door connecting to her bathroom has a lock on the outside so it wasn’t long before she was able to lock or unlock her door by herself. Luckily, the boundary has already been set so now she doesn’t even need the lock anymore. She does try to push the limits sometimes by opening the door and calling to us about various things, trying to stall bedtime. Overall though, she stays in her room and sleeps in her big girl bed with no issues and she’s only 2 1/2 years old.

I am seriously not excited about the madness that will come as soon as we move her sister in there with her. Of course Adalyn (if she is like Everly) probably wont be sleeping all night and ready for her own room until spring or even summer when she is closer to a year old. We aren’t in a rush to tackle that madness at all.

What are your experiences with toddlers and babies sharing a room? How did you ease in to a good sleep arrangement?