Monday, April 12, 2010

Crib Jumper . . .

Will's crib jump the other night was not a one time thing. In fact the kid hurls himself out of it!

Friday night was pretty bad. I had put him in there for bedtime and he pitched a royal fit! He hoisted himself out by using the side of his crib and then swung the leg over. This went on several times. Finally I rocked him to sleep because...well I caved. I was being selfish and wanted some mommy time. He fell asleep.

Saturday I went to the library and got a book called Toddler 411. Again...I turn to books to help me raise my child. I can just hear my mom saying, "a book is not going to teach you anything about a kid, you have to just go through it." Well, the book gave me some sound advice. We put him in his crib at bedtime. He jumped it of course, but this time I had his old mattress on the ground next to his crib so there were no visits to night time peds. again! What I did next, I thought I would never do.

I shut the door on him. Just shut it. That is what the book said to do. Meanwhile Will is throwing toys around in his room. Then he proceeds to grab his plastic golf clubs and bangs on the door to let him out. I felt like I was ferberizing him all over again. He was crying pitching a fit but he thought he could have it his way and that I would come rescue him. Believe me. I felt horrible. I hate to hear him cry. But after about 40 minutes off full on tantrum. He fell asleep. It was the cutest thing ever to go into his room and see him laying on top of all of his blankets and snuggling with his Alfred(lovey). Put him in his crib and said tomorrow we take apart the crib and transform it into his toddler bed. Major sadness.

We got his toddler bed all ready for him and unfortunately Lew was working so bedtime was on me. I put him in there and of course he was not too happy with me. But I made sure to take out the golf clubs! He fell asleep within 10 minutes, right by the door. I moved him to his new bed and he curled into a little ball. This morning he did not jump out of his bed. He waited for me. The baby in him was giving at least that to me.

So sad. My baby is growing up. I guess I thought he would be in the crib for longer. How did you transition your little ones into a big kid bed? Did you have some major melt downs like us?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

We transitioned Sammy to the big boy bed about 2 months after he turned 2. He could climb out and I didn't want him to hurt himself. The transition was pretty easy in the beginning. Then he started getting out of his bed about 4 months into. Now he knows better but it def. took a long time to get him to stay in his bed!

Clare said...

this is so hard, we still have to tell bradley when to get up etc. he has a 'tot clock' that changes to yellow when he is allowed to get up. it is a hard tranisiton though!

Shell said...

We had to take all the toys out of my boys' rooms when we transitioned them. Then, just close the door and wear earplugs.

Okay, we didn't really wear earplugs.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, good luck! I was lucky in that I didn't have a terrible time with this. Other things, yes, but thank goodness I wasn't challenged too much with this one. Crossing my fingers for you. :)

Dee said...

oh man! I'm so sorry. I know how hard that is, but I'm proud of you for just closing the door.

I did the transition a few months before Evan turned 2 because we needed the crib for Isabella. It went well...I wrote a post about it when I did it.

http://www.twoofakindworkingonafullhouse.com/2009/06/transition-from-crib-to-toddler-bed.html

Unknown said...

Um, yes...Bella's first nite was more traumatic for me I think, hehe!

We had to shut her door, too. I put a baby monitor in there to listen for her. Now that she can open her own door? We have to put a childproof thing on it--but we open it when we go to bed just in case.

Good luck honey!

Stepping On Cheerios said...

My advice...DO NOT put that kid in a big boy bed. Get a crib tent. Yes, seriously. It kept my boys, who crawled out of their cribs before age 2, napping and sleeping through the night for another year and a half at least! Seriously, it's the best baby/kid product we ever purchased!