Sleep

I don't think that sleep ever stops being a hot topic when you have little ones!  We have been blessed with two good sleepers, for the most part.  But Tommy has been going through some changes as he becomes more of a "big boy" and he was up a lot last night.

First, a quick update on Molly - we decided to stop swaddling her and it's as if she barely even noticed.  Thank goodness!  I think she enjoys having a little time to "wind down" in her crib before falling asleep.  She talks to herself and rolls around a bit more.  Thanks to those who commented and emailed me - I always appreciate the tips/advice.  (Even though I'm awful about writing back.)

Ok, so about Tommy.  He has been a great sleeper and we've had a good routine for awhile now. But until yesterday, he had still been in his crib sleeping with binkys.  He has never tried to climb out of his crib and I was VERY happy to keep him in there as long as possible. Regarding the binkys, I've just been too lazy to try and break him of the habit.  They only stay in the crib, but I know that we are long past due getting rid of them. 

Lately he's been doing a lot of "big boy" things.  He has been obsessed with pooping on the potty.  He is so proud of himself and asks to poop on the potty all day long.  :)  It's so adorable - he does a dance and claps for himself and tells us repeatedly what he just did.  So my hubby and I spontaneously decided that we should go with this momentum and make the switch to a toddler bed. 

He loves getting out his tools and helping my hubby with projects. So we made a big deal about switching the bed and he was a big help. 

We talked a lot about the big boy bed and he had fun playing on it, rolling around, etc.  We told him that binkys are only for babies in cribs, so he would no longer have binkys.  I knew that it would be risky to have two transitions at once - new bed and no binkys - but I figured we may as well do it all at once since it needs to be done.  And I was hoping the explanation of new bed = no binkys might help. 

My friend had given me this idea a long time ago, so we told him we were taking the binkys to Build-a-Bear Workshop and that he would put the binkys inside a new bear he could sleep with.  I realized this would not be an easy fix, but I was hoping it would help him to actually see the binkys go away.

He had lots of fun picking out a new animal - he chose a puppy and named him Snoopy. 

The woman at the store said families come in all the time to get rid of binkys!  Tommy was the one to put them inside the puppy, filled him with stuffing and watched him get closed up.  We got an ice cream treat at the mall and tried to play up what a big day this was for him. 

Bedtime went ok.  He asked my hubby to open up the puppy to get his binkys out.  :)  But at least he only did that once.  He was up a few times, but after an hour or so he was asleep until about midnight.  Then everything gets fuzzy, because he was basically awake from then until 4am.  :( 

My hubby and I took turns going in there - calming him down, explaining that he needed to go to sleep, etc.  I finally decided that I would lay on the rug until he fell asleep and then go back to my bed.  It sorta worked the first time - but he woke up again and wanted me to stay on the rug.  Then, not surprisingly, he wanted to play. And talk.  He talked on and on about his day, his new bed, his new puppy, etc.  Crazy kid!

Finally I just left and went back to my bed - assuming he would cry - but not caring because I was so tired.  And he ended up sleeping until about 7am. 

We were all zombies this morning.  But I took him to a class at Little Gym and tried to keep him active.  When we came back it took awhile to get him to go down for his nap, but thankfully he is sleeping now.  He must be so exhausted! 

I'm praying that it will just take a few days to get used to all the changes.  My hubby and I are committed to being consistent about the rules with his new bed.  I did not want to set a precedent with me sleeping on his rug, and of course this morning he asked me to do it again during his nap.  But I told him that it was just for his first night.  I do think he was a bit scared last night.  He was talking about bad guys and pointing to the shadows on the wall/ceiling.  It must look pretty different to him.  It doesn't help that just a few days ago I rearranged the furniture to make room for his train table. 

Tonight I will be going to bed as soon as he and Molly are down for the night.  Any advice about what worked for your family is greatly appreciated!