Big Boy Bed!

L.J. is moving to a big boy bed! He's doing well with the transition. We weren’t in any rush to move him out of his crib, but he was too big for it and not sleeping well. A little over a week ago we put his new fire truck sheets on his big bed, moved over his pillow, Elmo blanket and dozen stuffed companions and offered him a tantalizing gummy worm reward if he slept in his big bed.

He is laser-focused on those gummy worms – they are a serious motivator! He always asks for it shortly after waking up.

He’s slept in his big boy bed each night, though it hasn’t been a seamless transition. He usually stays in his room, but rarely stays in his bed after we say goodnight. He does library laps between his bookshelf (selecting books), his bed (reading books) and his crib (depositing read books through the rails). Eventually, he wears himself out, climbs in bed and falls fast asleep.

He’s usually in bed by 8 p.m. and has been falling asleep on average 45-90 minutes later. We’re struggling with a solution because a tired L.J. is also an unreasonable L.J. It is far less frustrating on the entire family to just let him quietly wear himself out. Maybe the getting in and out of bed will stop when the novelty wears off??

Once he’s asleep, he stays asleep (and in his bed). A few times he has slept in much later than normal in the mornings – that’s been a nice treat! Most of the time he remains an early bird and we awaken to the sound of him coming down the hall to our room. Forget pleasantries or giving us a chance to wake up; his often greets us with, “Wake up! It’s time to go eat cereals!”