Claire hit a new milestone this week that makes her even further from baby.
Like many parents, I started contemplating changing her crib into a toddler bed when she turned 18 months. It was a very casual contemplation. Claire had not made any attempts at all to climb out of her crib (that I knew of, anyway), and I did some research and saw that pediatricians recommend that children be switched when they hit 35-36″ in height, and Claire was still shorter than that. The consensus among veteran parents was to leave her in a crib as long as possible, because once I move her, there would be no going back. She would no longer be confined at bedtime.
I had heard all the stories about having to lead your child back to bed over and over and over and over, ad nauseum. Dealing with myriad requests for water, a snack, a toy. Waking up in the middle of the night to see a miniature person staring at you. So when I established that I did not need to switch her over, I sat back and relaxed.
Claire hasn’t reached 35″ yet. She had her 2-year check-up on Monday and she is 33-3/4″ tall (26.2 lbs, in case you’re curious), so we were fine on the physical front. But last Saturday morning, she displayed some behaviour that made me start pondering switching her over.
During the week, she usually has to be woken up because she is not so much a fan of getting up at 6 a.m. On the weekends, she will usually sleep until about 7:30-8:00 (which is WONDERFUL!). It’s not uncommon for me to wake up around 7:30 or so to hear her chatting with her dolls and stuffed animals in her crib. If she’s happy – which she usually is – then that means I can snuggle down for a few more minutes.
This was the case last Saturday. When I did go in to get her, she was standing up and lifted her leg as though to try to climb out. It’s not like she could have done that without using upper-body strength, but the point is that the thought was there. To my own credit, I didn’t start panicking. I just stored it away and pondered it for awhile.
At her appointment on Monday, I mentioned it to the doctor and that she also uses objects (such as her Lego box) to climb up to reach things. So she has started thinking in terms of using other objects to help her get what and where she wants. The doctor asked the very good question of whether there are things in her bed she could use to pile up and then climb in order to get out of the crib.
Well, er, yeah. There is Puppy, Mini (lamb), and Little Bear and Baby and Elmo. And her blankets.
Crap.
When I confirmed that yes, there were things she could pile up, the doctor suggested that I start thinking about switching her over. It wasn’t something I really wanted to do while Neal is away, but when it’s time, it’s time.
So… on Tuesday, my neighbours came over to help me switch the crib into a toddler/day bed. To say that Claire was excited would be an understatement. She kept climbing in and out, laughing and smiling. On that first night, she didn’t put up any fuss about going to bed. We read stories, she had some water, and when I asked if she wanted to go see Puppy, she immediately said “Yes”. With much trepidation, I laid her down, gave her a kiss and said “night night”, wondering how many gazillion times I would be bringing her back to her room and how many temper tantrums she would have.
She stayed in her bed all.night. She was awake for awhile, chatting with her dolls, but still did not get out of bed. Same thing last night. It’s only 9:30 right now, but she’s been asleep for awhile, so I guess we can figure so far so good.
Now, I’m not so delusional as to think this will be the case every night. She’s used to being put to bed and not being able to get out. One of these nights, she will realize the difference and will likely get up. It may be this weekend when she wakes up on her own as she might just get up and start playing.
But for now, I’ll take what I can get!
The morning after her first night in her Big Girl Bed:
This morning:
What happened to my baby?
