So, Lydia is officially transitioned into a TODDLER BED! Amazing! How do they go from being cradled in your arms to sleeping in a bed without rails (that they can get in and out of on their own)? How did I go from being the mom who would wake up at night to make sure my infant daughter was still breathing to the mom who is able to sleep straight through the night and not feel guilty about it? How do these things happen in just two and a half short years?!
Anyway, Lydia did great with transitioning. I know she was really, really ready. I'm glad she is able to tell us when she's ready to do something. She let me know when she was ready for potty training and was fully trained in less than a month! She let us know when she was ready for a toddler bed and is sleeping great!
Night 1: The first night we didn't put anything up that would block her from falling over the edge of the bed. Brian was certain that she would not fall off the bed. It was super low to the ground, so even if she did, she wouldn't mind or get hurt. For some reason, I listened to my husband............and Lydia fell out of the bed three times by 1:00 in the morning! And guess who was getting up each time to help her back in bed? ME! And it was a Tuesday night, so I had to work the next morning! By 1:00, I was tired of getting up and Lydia was tired of falling out of bed and starting to get upset about it. So, since I didn't have any pool noodles (idea I saw on pinterest, of course), I got a thick blanket from the closet, rolled it up into a sausage, and stuffed it under her fitted sheet. Now, she hits the blanket and doesn't fall off! Yeah!
Several Nights Later: She is sleeping great in her toddler bed and rarely wakes up during the night. She even sleeps in until 7:15 or 7:30! Yeah! The only problem we are noticing is that it takes her forever to fall asleep at night. We used to be able to put her to bed at 8:00 and she would be asleep by 8:15 or sooner. Now, we put her to bed at 8:00 and she's not asleep until almost 9:00 or sometimes later! And, of course, no matter how late she goes to bed, she is always up at 7:15! But, despite taking a long to go to sleep and getting out of bed to get toys and books, she stayed quiet in her room and never tried to get out to join us. Even in the mornings I would hear her playing, but she never crept out into the hall and into my room.
Several Nights After That: It's the end of the month and she's almost been in her toddler bed for a whole month! Yeah! She is no longer taking an hour to fall asleep but suddenly she's waking up by 6:30!!! No matter how quiet Brian is, she's waking up and staying up. This, of course, leads to her being tired earlier and earlier in the afternoon. She used to be able to make it until 2:00 or so, but now she's ready for a nap before 1:00! I've started purposefully ignoring her until about 7:30...hoping to encourage her to sleep in longer. Sometimes she does manage to sleep until 7:15, but most days she's up before 7:00.
Bedtime Routine: Lydia's bedtime routine has gotten longer and longer now that she's in a toddler bed. I don't know if it is because she's in a toddler bed now, or because she's getting older and knows what she wants before she goes to sleep. We used to be able to get her ready, have her in bed and walk out of the room by 8:10. Now, if we start getting her ready at 8:00, we're not out of the room until almost 8:30!! Her routine is pretty specific. My mom has had her a few nights now and tries to skip some of the bedtime steps...and ends up having to do them later. Lydia has always known what she wants and has a way of convincing you to do what she wants.
So now, instead of starting at 8:00, we start around 7:35 or 7:40, that way we can be out of the room no later than 8:05 or 8:10. Here's how the routine goes (on a good night):
(1) Get Lydia to go potty.....this can be quite the process just convincing her to get into the bathroom and sit on the potty....and if she makes a "stinky" she gets to put a sticker on her chart....and deciding which Sesame Street sticker to put on is hard decision.
(2) Brush Lydia's teeth....Lydia likes to brush her teeth by herself first, and then it is my turn. After brushing, she likes to drink a few sips of water and than practice spitting the water out. I usually have to cut this fun short.
(3) Get Lydia's pajamas on....this can be long and will test your patience. Now that Lydia is in the "I can do it" stage, she has to do everything by herself, including putting on her pajamas. Each item takes forever for her to do! I usually manage to help during the hard parts and if I do it fast enough, she won't notice that I just did everything for her.
(4) Read Lydia a few books....we usually limit it to three books. I give her 10 seconds to pick the books out and she will pull as many books off the shelf as she can. But, it's usually the three same books, so she's pretty happy with those.
(a) While Daddy reads the books, I feed Lydia her yogurt. She has started wanting yogurt when she is being put to bed....I guess it just fills her up a bit and it's yummy.
(5) Sing Lydia three songs....Lydia gets to choose the songs she wants and I limit it to three songs, or we'd be singing all night. I use to just sing the songs that I wanted, but she recently started to tell me which ones she wanted. We use to request songs when my mom came in to sing to us at night, so I don't mind Lydia deciding which ones she likes best. She will usually sing along, too.
(6) Getting Lydia in bed.....after songs we have to convince Lydia to get in bed. This is where the procrastination comes in big time. First she wants to put baby doll in the crib and we have to kiss it good night and baby needs a pacifier and a blanket. Then she needs her milk, but she really wants juice, but we make her have milk, but the cup isn't filled up enough, and we say "too bad" and she gets over it. Then she decides that the pile of books on her bed isn't big enough and she needs even more books on her bed...and they have to be stacked just right next to her head. And her cup of milk needs to be right next to her pillow. And then she doesn't want her blue blanket, so we cover her up with the pink, and then she decides she does want her blue blanket. Then she won't give Daddy kisses and hugs, but then she does want to give Daddy kisses and hugs. Her music must be on, her nightlights must be on, and her fan must be on. Then we can't close the door all the way (since we now have a doorknob lock on it and she knows she can't get out of the room).
And FINALLY we're done! We have a happy, sleeping toddler in bed by 8:00 (or at least before 8:15)!
Bedtime Routine: Lydia's bedtime routine has gotten longer and longer now that she's in a toddler bed. I don't know if it is because she's in a toddler bed now, or because she's getting older and knows what she wants before she goes to sleep. We used to be able to get her ready, have her in bed and walk out of the room by 8:10. Now, if we start getting her ready at 8:00, we're not out of the room until almost 8:30!! Her routine is pretty specific. My mom has had her a few nights now and tries to skip some of the bedtime steps...and ends up having to do them later. Lydia has always known what she wants and has a way of convincing you to do what she wants.
So now, instead of starting at 8:00, we start around 7:35 or 7:40, that way we can be out of the room no later than 8:05 or 8:10. Here's how the routine goes (on a good night):
(1) Get Lydia to go potty.....this can be quite the process just convincing her to get into the bathroom and sit on the potty....and if she makes a "stinky" she gets to put a sticker on her chart....and deciding which Sesame Street sticker to put on is hard decision.
(2) Brush Lydia's teeth....Lydia likes to brush her teeth by herself first, and then it is my turn. After brushing, she likes to drink a few sips of water and than practice spitting the water out. I usually have to cut this fun short.
(3) Get Lydia's pajamas on....this can be long and will test your patience. Now that Lydia is in the "I can do it" stage, she has to do everything by herself, including putting on her pajamas. Each item takes forever for her to do! I usually manage to help during the hard parts and if I do it fast enough, she won't notice that I just did everything for her.
(4) Read Lydia a few books....we usually limit it to three books. I give her 10 seconds to pick the books out and she will pull as many books off the shelf as she can. But, it's usually the three same books, so she's pretty happy with those.
(a) While Daddy reads the books, I feed Lydia her yogurt. She has started wanting yogurt when she is being put to bed....I guess it just fills her up a bit and it's yummy.
(5) Sing Lydia three songs....Lydia gets to choose the songs she wants and I limit it to three songs, or we'd be singing all night. I use to just sing the songs that I wanted, but she recently started to tell me which ones she wanted. We use to request songs when my mom came in to sing to us at night, so I don't mind Lydia deciding which ones she likes best. She will usually sing along, too.
(6) Getting Lydia in bed.....after songs we have to convince Lydia to get in bed. This is where the procrastination comes in big time. First she wants to put baby doll in the crib and we have to kiss it good night and baby needs a pacifier and a blanket. Then she needs her milk, but she really wants juice, but we make her have milk, but the cup isn't filled up enough, and we say "too bad" and she gets over it. Then she decides that the pile of books on her bed isn't big enough and she needs even more books on her bed...and they have to be stacked just right next to her head. And her cup of milk needs to be right next to her pillow. And then she doesn't want her blue blanket, so we cover her up with the pink, and then she decides she does want her blue blanket. Then she won't give Daddy kisses and hugs, but then she does want to give Daddy kisses and hugs. Her music must be on, her nightlights must be on, and her fan must be on. Then we can't close the door all the way (since we now have a doorknob lock on it and she knows she can't get out of the room).
And FINALLY we're done! We have a happy, sleeping toddler in bed by 8:00 (or at least before 8:15)!
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