Big Boy Bed.

Hi!  I’m insane.  Know why?  Because we converted our 16-month-old’s crib to a toddler bed.

For real.

This was a little bit of a frenzied decision, admittedly.  It all started Tuesday morning, when I heard Luke wake up.  He usually likes to ease into wakefulness and gets a little irritable if you rush him, so I usually rustle around, make my bed, brush my teeth etc. to let him know I am up and on my way in, at which point he is usually bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and somewhat happy to see me.

But not on Tuesday.

I was just wrapping up the bed-making portion of my routine when I heard a loud THWACK followed by a loud AHHHH!!!!!!!!!! followed by crying followed by my lightning-fast sprinting / hurdling of the baby gate followed by my discovering little Luke lying on his floor in hysterics.

As in, not in his crib.

On the floor.

Not in crib.

He was in the crib, but now he is not.

See the problem here?

I paused to make sure he was okay to be moved – honestly, my first thought was the fear that he had broken something terrible that I shall not speak of because it freaks me out so badly.  He seemed okay (though as a non-doctor I really wouldn’t know otherwise), so I scooped him up and let him cry it out on my shoulder.  Needless to say, he was not enthused about the outcome of his airborne activities, and neither was I.

Now, Luke is a strong-willed, persistent little thing.  If he wants to do something, he WILL do it, and you probably can’t stop him.  This specifically applies to newfound talents, including but not limited to bodily propulsion from higher ground, such as coffee tables, sofas and cribs.  And a repeat performance is a sure thing EVEN if (especially if) the acrobatics (fun, but terribly brief) culminate in an unpleasant belly-flop on the floor.

We had to do something.

I hit the world wide web and consulted friends and family to find out what my options were. It was a rollercoaster of emotions:

Hey, a crib tent, it cages the little sucker right in there, perfect!  Oh wait, there was a crib tent recall a few months ago, that can’t be good*.  Hey, the crib tents have been re-worked to be safer and non-strangulatory!  Oh wait, I have a convertible crib and it doesn’t fit those types of cribs.  Hey, they make crib tents for convertible cribs!  Oh wait, it’s only available on Amazon and will be here in 1-2 weeks.

Sigh.

I almost went to Ikea, bought a new crib and bought a regular crib tent for it.  I was that desperate.  I knew that it was only a matter of hours before I had to put Luke in his crib unattended for naptime, and he would immediately try to get out again.  What do you do, line the floor with pillows, pat him on the back, strap a helmet on him and wish him good luck?

In the end, my husband came home from work for an hour to convert the crib to a toddler bed.  We super-proofed the room, nailed things to walls, locked the closet doors, secured the baby gate at this door and called it a day.

And braced ourselves.  For the hell that would follow.  For the screaming, the insanity, the horror.  For the sleepless nights, the once-sweet child that would be turned into a terrible monster from lack of sleep and boundaries.

And we got this:

That would be my scrumptious little angel, bum in the air, fast asleep in his big boy bed. 

HAZZAH!!!

Turns out, Luke flipping LOVES his big boy bed.  Like, with passion.  He jumps on it, hugs it, climbs in and out of it, snuggles it, and so on, until you are like dude… it’s a bed.  Okay?  Be cool.

I should mention that the first two days, he took his nap in the doorway, probably just because the option was there for him.  I mean, wouldn’t you?  It’s such a cozy nook and all.

Nighttime, on the other hand, has been a breeze.  He goes to sleep without complaint and sleeps all night long, then wakes a bit in the morning but doesn’t want to get up, just like always.  At 8am sharp, he whips open his door and shrieks for me (this kid is like clockwork, seriously, I could set my watch to him).

So maybe I’m not insane after all.  My fingers are super tightly crossed that all this keeps up.  (On the other hand, know definitely IS insane?  Luke’s sleeping position circa two months ago.  Seriously, who DOES this?)

Paranormal Activity Style

 

*A tent on the crib!  This could not possibly end badly!  My clever and willful and desperate-to-escape-said-crib child will definitely not get tangled in such a device!