Big Boy Bed

About a month ago, we realized that it was really time for Daniel to make the transition to a regular bed.  We had been waiting for him to start trying to climb out of his crib, and were going to let that be the impetus for the change.  But, he never did.  In fact, we realized that he liked his crib so much, that putting off the transition could possibly just make it more difficult.  We spent hours doing research on what kind of bed to get him - toddler bed, twin bed, no bed (mattress on the floor), etc.  We eventually settled on a twin bed, but had a really hard time finding one that was decent quality and not ridiculously expensive.  About that time, I started toying with the idea of building it myself.  I did some searching and found plans online for a twin bed, and it didn't look too difficult to do.  We decided to attempt it.  I, Bob the Builder, along with Apprentice Amy, and our little helper Daniel (I can't think of a good construction/helper/builder alliteration word for Daniel, sorry) set out to build his Big Boy Bed.

First we went to Lowe's to get all of the lumber (don't worry, there were many other trips to Lowe's throughout the project).  I thought we were going to have to rent a truck to get it home, but it all fit in the Forester:

After a lot of sawing, sanding, nailing, and screwing, we had a completed headboard:

The footboard and rails quickly followed:

And finally, painting:

We decided to wait until after Christmas to make the switch.  We knew he would sleep in a crib at Grandma and Grandpa's, and didn't want to confuse the issue more than was necessary.  So, yesterday morning, after breakfast, Daniel and I took apart his crib.  I made sure to have him help - I wanted him to see it taken apart and carried down to the basement.  Next, we brought the bed upstairs (I built it so that the rails easily come apart, definitely makes transportation much easier) and got it all set up.  We added the bedding that Daniel had picked out, grabbed the camera, and snapped some pictures of our very happy big boy:

After the initial excitement wore off, we continued about our morning, dreading the approaching nap time.  Finally, when 12:30 arrived, we headed up to his room and started our normal nap routine.  Diaper change, book reading, etc.  We then got him settled in his bed told him 'good night' and left.  Amy and I almost ran to get the monitor, not sure what we were about to see.  He stayed in bed for a minute or two, and then slowly got out, as if he were expecting mommy and daddy to jump out and put him back to bed.  He walked around his room for a bit, and then tried the door.  What followed was about 30 minutes of him periodically leaving the room, me quickly taking him back to bed and leaving him in there.  Eventually I think he realized that leaving the room didn't get him anywhere.  So, he decided to get out some toys.  Or maybe all of his toys.  At one point, he started sliding pieces of one of his board games under the door yelling 'Here you go, daddy!'  He also yelled 'Pizza' for no reason at one point.  Later, I heard a loud crash, followed by 'Uh oh!' over and over.  It really was very funny.  I took a short video of what he was up to:

 

At about 2:00, we decided to call it.  He left his room, yelling that he was all done sleeping.  So, no nap and epic failure of the new bed.  

Bed time, however, could not have gone better.  We approached it the same way - normal routine, PJ's, books, etc.  And then we put him in bed.  But this time, Amy and I knelt down on the floor next to the bed and stayed there for a few minutes just talking to him about sleeping in his new bed.  I told him a story.  And then he said, 'mommy and daddy, get out'.  We took that as our sign to go.  We quickly left and again ran to watch the monitor.  He barely moved and was asleep within a few minutes (I'm sure no nap helped speed things up).  He stayed asleep all night.  Around 6:45 this morning, I saw that he was moving around and figured he was awake.  So I got up and went downstairs to get his milk.  Amy also decided to get up.  I think he heard us because a minute or two later, he came running in our room with the biggest smile on his face, 'All done sleeping!'  Much celebration for a wonderful night in his new bed.

Now, as I write this, he is sound asleep in his bed taking his nap.  I'm very hopeful that it continues to go well.  We have ordered an OK To Wake toddler clock.  It will turn green when it is ok for him to leave his room.  We are hoping this prevents him from deciding that 4:30 is a better time to wake up than 6:30.  

This may be a record for our longest blog post, but before I go, here are a couple of pictures of Daniel's last night and morning in his crib:

Before bed, last night in the crib

Last time waking up in the crib