Big Kid Beds

It is well past time to transition N2 out of their cribs and into big kid beds. They have been able to climb out of their cribs for a couple months now (even though Grandpa Weidner lowered the cribs even further than the predrilled holes).  These cribs are as low as they can go and my little monkeys can still climb out.  It's actually kind of amazing to watch.  They just scale the slats of the crib.  They do it safely and cautiously but still it was time.  We waited until now to transition them because we knew they would be sleeping at childcare in cots and that they would learn to stay on their cots during nap time. This weekend was the best time to transition them because we had 3 nights and Brian was actually home!

Last night they watched daddy take apart their beds and they "helped."  We did some sweeping/vaccuuming (I'm sorry to say that it should have been done a LONG time ago!) and moved around the furniture.  We had to change where Natalie was sleeping because of the air return.  It was a long process.  But they were both very excited to have big girl and big boy beds.  We told them the rules-that they needed to stay in their bed until mommy or daddy came to get them, no jumping and no playing with the CD player (specific to Natalie).  We are so proud of them that they stayed in their beds all night long.  Natalie even stayed in her bed for about 45 minutes after she woke up.  She didn't want to get out of bed!

Before you ask, yes big kid beds are just their crib mattress on the floor.  We'll get them twin mattresses when they get used to sleeping without a crib.

Naps today have not gone so smoothly.  Natalie asked to take a nap so I put her down around 12:30 (she was kind of cranky this morning).  She was relatively quiet so I thought maybe we had gone to sleep.  Brian got home and put Noah down around 1:45.  Natalie was not asleep but Brian announced to me "good news-she's not asleep but at least she's still on her bed."  Well that completely changed when Noah was put down!  I went up shortly thereafter and Noah was carrying the cd player and Natalie was playing with the cd that should have been inside the cd player.  Both were out of their bed.  We returned them to their respective beds and told them that if they got out of bed again we would put the cribs back together.  I had to go back up not long after because I heard footsteps.  I enter the room to find Natalie hurtling herself back onto her bed and Noah on his bed with the cd player in his arms.  I think Natalie had taken him the cd player.  I put Natalie in the pack n' play and told her she was going to have to sleep in a crib again because she couldn't be a big girl.  I tucked Noah back in.  Natalie has climbed out of the play n' play several times and I have put her back in.  She is asleep finally.  I'm not sure about Noah.  Big kid beds have not been a rousing success here.  Got to think about where to go from here.  My thought is to keep them in big kid beds at night as long as they sleep like they did last night and then let Noah sleep in the big kid bed for naps and have Natalie sleep in the pack n play.  I'm also investigating a cot and trying that out in the guest bedroom.  I don't want to split them into separate rooms but I may have to if they can't nap together in the same room in big kid beds.