Big Girl Bed

Yesterday I decided that I wanted to convert Amelia's crib into the transitional bed. I thought about all the big milestones or events that will be taking place from now until her 2nd birthday and I wanted to be able to space them out so they won't all happen at once and possibly be traumatizing for her. Aside from needing to move her into a big girl bed, in the next few months I would like for Amelia to not need a pacifier when sleeping. I also want to try and start potty training around 18 months and hopefully have her trained by 2 years old. At 18 months she will be in nursery at church and I don't plan on having to stay in the room with her the entire time, but be able to go to my classes. She recently got two molar teeth and a lower tooth in all at about the same time and still has more teeth that need to come in. Teething has never been fun for Amelia. So after looking at all these events, the two I felt that I could control were moving her to a big girl bed, and getting rid of the pacifier. Since the pacifier helps when sleeping, especially with all the teething that's been going on, I just don't think I am ready for that battle quite yet. I tried to see if she would take a nap without it a week ago but she just screamed bloody murder forever. I don't have the heart or guts to do it yet. Maybe in the next month or two after she has gotten accustomed to the big girl bed and teething has gotten better.

So Amelia and I went up to her room and got to work. I took the front crib railing off and attached the two little crib 'doors' to the front. Amelia had fun playing in the room with everything while I was doing this. Once I put the mattress back on, she helped me put her toys on the bed. She crawled up on the bed and played for a little bit while I really baby proofed the room. I figured that now she will be able to get out of her bed, anything that seems remotely harmful better be taken out or put out of reach.

Last night I rocked her for a few minutes like usually at about 7:30pm. She was excited to see some new pictures of herself hanging on the wall so wasn't exactly laying down in my lap. I had a nice comfy blanket on the ground right where the opening was in between the two crib 'doors' in case she fell out during the night. (When in the crib, she would roll around quite a lot and kick her feet against the back of the crib railing. She also likes to sleep short ways in the crib with her feet near the back railing and her head near the front railing.) I figured she would probably fall out at least once during the 1st night in her big girl bed.

When I went to bed, she was laying long ways in the bed snuggling with her blankie. Another blanket had been pushed off onto the floor so I picked it up and put it near her feet. I myself had a tough time going to sleep because I was so nervous. I just laid in my bed waiting to her a thud followed by crying. I finally fell asleep but woke up a few times when I could hear her rolling around. Amelie never did fall out of the bed; if she did, I didn't hear anything and she got back into bed all by herself. I highly doubt that though.

Clint got up and went to work around 5:30am. He leaves our bedroom door cracked slightly when he leaves. I always leave Amelia's door cracked so when I check in on her before going to bed, the doorknob doesn't make a bunch of noise and wake her up; she is quite the light sleeper like me. Around 8:40am I heard my door open and the little pitter patter of feet walking toward my bed. I sat up and her comes Amelia with her pacifier in her mouth! It was kind of a nice way to start the morning :) When she was in her crib before, I would wake up to her making noise by playing and talking to her toys, saying uh-oh over and over again because she went poo poo, or by crying. I'm excited that her first night in the crib was so successful!

I was a little worried how she would do during naptime in the big girl bed because it is daytime and she can see the books and toys in her room better. I rocked her for a few minutes and laid her down around 11:35am. I could hear her talking to toys and pushing her glowworm toy, which sings music. I would say she fell asleep sometime before 11:45am. I went to check on her since I didn't hear any noise and this is what I saw:

Her room is actually quite dark during the day due to blinds and window curtains, so I used the flash and nighttime setting on my camera. I hope she doesn't fall out! She has been asleep for almost an 1.5 hours so she will get a pretty good nap. She got around 13 hours sleep last night and with this one hour nap so far, that makes 14.5 hours. According to Babycenter, the average 12 month old child needs 13.75 hours of sleep total for the day and the 18 month old child needs 13.50 hours of sleep. So I figure that since Amelia is 16 months old, she should get an amount somewhere in between. She usually always gets at least 14 hours of sleep total everyday. Maybe that's why, for the most part, she is a pretty happy baby; and why she can get cranky if she doesn't get put down for a nap three hours after waking up in the morning.

I love my little Amelia to pieces and I am so glad that she is growing up into such a smart and healthy girl. It helps me to forget all the tough times I struggled through in the first 4-5 months of her life. I can confidently say that she is going to grow up into a very wonderful and special young lady and that I was an integral part.