Hi ladies
I need help and FAST. my daughter is 18 months tomorrow. We just got back from a week long vacation with family. On this vacation she had MANY milestones. words, running, putting phazes together AND she crawled out of the porta crib. We hoped that when we got home today she would go back to her routine in her own room and crib. She crawled out twice. While we were on vacation she would NOT go to sleep unless she could see us so we brought the crib in our bedroom (we are FIRM beleivers of NOT cosleeping. She aslo woke up about 5 times every night...prior to this she was a GOOD 11.5 hour sleeper at night..no peeps.
So tonight I took the mattress out of the crib and put her to bed on the mattress on the floor. ..surrounded it with pilliows and sat in a chair for about 15 mins and she fell asleep.
So now I am afraid of her waking up multiple times. being a full time working mom, its really not an optioin. Tomorrow Daddy is breaking out the twin bed and going to buy railings and we are going to make her a new specaill room because she is a big girl. My question to you laidies is how do I handle the crib/bed transition...how long will it take and what can I do so I am not sitting in her room (like we did on vacation ( for 2 hours while she tried to get back to sleep) Im ok with 1 or 3 nights but I dont think I can handle much more without getting fired. My sister in law said to kid proof the room and, stay in there until she fall asleep and if she wakes at 3am, let her cry if she wakes in the middle of the night because its ok if she sleeps on the ground for a night or two....Im not sure if that is the best way to handle it. Can you laides help me? What should I do and how long should the process take. Thanks
Thank you soo much for all the wonderful advice. It just so happened that we had a doc appt on monday. He suggested buying a crib tent. We did and it worked perfect since. Its been 3 solid days of the old sleeping ways...aaahhhh One negative thing I would like to say is if you plan on buying a crib tent, NOONE carrys it. You have to order it online. we were lucky enough that we found one on Craigslist and drove 40 miles that day to pick it up (can you tell how desparte I was :)
Thanks again mammas. you are all wonderful.
I would just put the twin mattress on the floor for now at her age. Put a gate on her door. Put her back in bed, no talking, once or twice, and she should get the idea in a few nights.
Sometimes children will just be children and there really is no rhyme or reason to what they do or do not do. My first two girls were moved out of their cribs at 18 months because they were such restless sleepers. Nightly they would turn their bodies until they wedge themselves width wise in their cribs and woke up crying. Both were moved into full size beds (everything I had heard about toddler beds were that they are a waste of money).
My first one I had a bed rail on one side and the wall on the other. My second one I needed a bed rail on each side. My first NEVER got out of her bed, including in the morning and after she woke up from her naps. She just yelled for us. She also was my hardest to get to sleep at night and when she woke in the middle of the night. We often fell asleep with her at night or got into bed with her in the middle of the night. This lasted until she was 3 1/2. My second would come out, crawl down the stairs, and want to play. (My kids were crawling up and down stairs by 10 months so I never put up gates.) We just took her right back up and this "game" lasted for about a week.
To this day, my oldest (5 y/o) still wants someone to sleep with her if she can get away with it (currently she has conned her sister into it....but it's cute). My middle (3 y/o) could care less. I shall see what my 14 month will do. Also, I am not at all a proponent for "locking" a child in his/her room, even with a gate, or putting gates up in other places. What if there was a fire, tornado, or other emergency? And I too, have never done the "cry it out" thing. GOOD LUCK!
Not fun is it? My guy is 20 months and he just started climbing out a couple days ago. We finally dug out our crib tent today that we had used with our daughter and set it up. The two nights before we couldn't put him in bed until almost 10 so that he could fall asleep on our lap and then we could lay him down. He would keep coming out if we didn't.
Good luck with the transitioning. THere is no easy way. When we took my daughter out of the crib and moved her to a toddler bed I had so many sleepless nights. She would continuously come out of her room. After she was asleep she would roll out and onto the floor.
Maybe yours will be easier than mine???? Just know you aren't alone if it is not going well at first.
It is going to be hard at first. If you dont already have a gate get on to put up in her door way that way she can not come into your room when she wakes up in middle night. This is what we did she would go to the door and stand there and cry so I would just go in there and put her back in bed most the time she would only do it one or two times. On other nights she would fall asleep next to it, So I would go in and put her in bed. As for you being in the room for her to sleep, I would just put the gate up and let her cry, every 5 min. or so go in there tell her its ok put her back and she will get the hang of it. Good luck
My daughter transitioned from a crib to a toddler bed then to a regular twin bed; for the crib to toddler bed we made a "big" deal out of it, how special it was to sleep in a big girl bed as she was getting bigger, etc. We talked about what she liked (I had a good idea) and we went together to pick out her "big girl" bedding. We had a couple of nights of her getting up and coming to our room or calling for us as she was scared but after a short comforting session (15m tops) she was back to bed. Involve her in the transition, have her help to her ability (have her help make the bed, pick out special stuffed animals to sleep with her). Follow her same routine otherwise. When we went to the twin size bed my husband bought removable bed rails and she never fell out of bed. Keep it upbeat and positive. Remember you are the parent, don't let her get the upper hand.
Hi L.,
I'd suggest a crib tent. I think 18 months is a little young for kids to be put into toddler beds, so crib tents are a great choice.
I you go for a toddler bed, make sure you have a lot of good gates, especially next to the stairs. As well as child proofing the area well. If you have book cases or a dresser, you'll need to anchor them to the wall.
Lastly, I'm not a fan of the "cry it out" method. I prefer going in, giving pats on the back, a kiss good night and walking away if they wake in the middle of the night. It's important for little ones to know you're still there & will be there.
Below is a link to the crib tent I was talking about.
http://www.leapsandbounds.com/catalog/product.jsp?product...
R. Magby
time for a toddler bed
I really don't remember my kids (9, 19, 23, and 25) going through this. But we did co-sleep with the last 2 and not the first 2.
I don't really have any great secrets to tell you. But I have spent most of my adult life having to get up numerous times with babies because I provide 24 hour care. I am never out of the baby waking phase. So I have had to learn to cope with less sleep sometimes. My best advice is to go to bed the minute she is down for the count. For awhile you need to put everything you have done after she is sleeping on hold. If it means the house will not be as clean for awhile, so be it. If it means a little less personal time with husband, it's okay because this won't last forever.
I am totally AGAINST making a child stay in a room by themselves and cry all night. It's not that I hate crying or think that self soothing is impossible. It's just that in the middle of the night it's dark, quiet, and scary for a lot of kids. 2 years old is an active imagination time and the time that nightmares can start. I believe that being inattentive at night can cause terrible emotional scars down the road. I remember being in bed at night, scared, alone, not feeling well and knowing my father would freak out and beat me if I got out of bed. I'm not saying you will beat your child. I'm just saying that if your child needs you at night for awhile, you may need to re-consider your co-sleeping stance.
My son went to a twin bed......he loved it.....just got to make sure you can keep him for getting out of his room unless it's to you.........so everything goes up!
My son loved it.....thought it was cool to be able to be in a bed like Mommy and Daddy....only smaller because he was smaller........ He had some rough spots, but we got him a stuffed animal to talk to and play with.......that helped alot.........and he didn't need it for very long......
She'll do just fine........I didn't believe in them sleeping with me either...not a good thing to start........just find what works for her best......sometimes something special for breakfast helps.....my son always wanted food!!!
Good Luck.
