Napping in big girl bed = Big fat fail
Today I decided to take the plunge and let DD try to take a nap in her big girl bed. I tucked her in and I sat in the bed with her for a bit and read her some books. Then I explained that she was going to nap in the bed and that she needed to stay in the bed. While I was reading, she even started sucking her thumb and closing her eyes. I thought, "this is going to go off without a hitch!".
I left and kept an eye on her with the video monitor. She laid there for about 3-4 minutes and then decided to get up. She went to her drawer to start taking clothes out. I went back to her room and put her back into the bed. She went in with no problem and laid down. Then I left and within 2 minutes, she was climbing back out of the bed and going to her drawer to take out clothes. We did this a total of 4 times and then I threw in the towel and put her in the crib.
So, I'm going to take the approach that "if it's not broke, don't fix it". She sleeps fine in her crib and except for her fussing sometimes when I first put her in, she does fine. I may try again in a month or two but for now we are staying with the crib.
Re: Napping in big girl bed = Big fat fail
the only way DD would nap in her big girl bed is with DH in it; usually he'd take a nap too, sometimes he'd leave after she fell asleep. For us, nighttime was easier. We always say "stay in bed, don't get out" and she repeats "I won't get out of bed," and for the most part it works but it was definitely a few weeks before it was the new routine. However, we had to have her in that bed b/c DS was a month old by then and I knew by 3mo I'd have him in the crib (he was in bassinet before then) and we were not buying a new crib.
Since it's not a must-have in your case, I don't see the harm in waiting a few weeks.
I forget but am assuming that she's not in it at night yet, either. Would it work better to start with bedtime first? My kids have a pretty standard bedtime routine and fall asleep with no problem, probably because they're almost always tired out by then. But by your DD's age, their naptimes were more flexible and they were fighting them more often - lots of rolling around, playing with stuffed animals, singing songs, etc. before falling asleep. So we had DD sleeping in it at night first to hopefully make the point that it was for sleeping. I remember watching her over the monitor, playing in the bed for naps, but never getting out...she seemed to get that it was for resting (even though she didn't always succumb). She had a shockingly easy transition at 2 years 1 month, but that was dumb luck, not some expert parenting we did.
But as you said, if your current set-up is working, why mess with it until you have to. Naptimes are important for both the kids and the parents!
Dear vtkendra,
I agree with everyone about not moving her if she isn't ready. That said, a few months ago, we had a terrible time at bedtime. We had already moved her to a toddler bed and she was doing beautifully. But it was potty training time that turned bedtime into a disaster.
What finally started working (for us) was Bedtime Rules. We repeated them every time she got into bed, several time: Stay in bed, Head down, Close eyes. Eventually, she was reciting them with us. We have since added a few rules (No kicking feet/No talking, etc) as necessary.
We have recently had a rough go of bedtime again. The nights and bedtimes she does well, I talk to her all day about how proud I was of her at bed/naptime. Then when we get into bed, I say, "remember how proud of you I was last night? I want you to make me proud of you tonight." She seems to respond well to that. Good luck!
Bed head,
kewliegirl
Thanks for the ideas and responses ladies.
QueSarah - Yes, she did take a nap thankgoodness. Naptime = momma's sanity.
Sofka - DH mentioned that maybe we'd need to lay with her the first few times. I thought about that but then I didn't want her to think that we would always be sleeping with her. However, maybe we'll try it if putting in her alone doesn't work.
JKM - No, she's not sleeping in the bed at night yet. Next time we try the transition, maybe I'll try for night time instead of nap time to see if that works better. She does tend to be more tired at night.
Kewlie - I'm totally stealing your bedtime rules. Thank you! I'm even going to start using them now while she's in the crib to get her used to them and so she can learn them.
CandK - I did mount the dresser to the wall so I wasn't concerned about that. I was just more concerned because the video monitor didn't show that side of the room and also, I didn't want to have to refold everything in her dresser.
I'll keep you ladies posted. We'll try again at some later point but for the immediate future, I think we are going to stay with the crib.
It was worth a try. Like you said, there is no compelling reason to make the switch, so no need to push.
However, when you do decide to make the switch and stick to it - I'd also suggest night time. We still have to tell both our girls "stay in bed, no getting up, I'm not coming back in here" etc. every night. Nighttime comes with routine, which would probably lend itself to the transition. At first she'll try to get out of bed several times - I don't think that's a fail - I think that's pretty normal.
That's good advice. Also, I think if we do it once it starts getting dark earlier, that will help as well because she has an external signal that it's night time.
we had a total disaster with the big girl bed transition but we had to switch because she was climbing in and out of the crib.
we tried everything and it comes down to bribery in our house. If you stay in your bed, you get a sticker. Yep, it works like a charm.
Naptime is pretty much non-exsistant these days (even with the bribery) but she does spend one hour in her room for quiet time. It usually is not quiet because she reads to her dolls, changes her clothes multiple times and jumps on pillows but it gives us some quiet time and tons of entertainment on the monitor.
Yes, fortunately DD has not figured out that she can climb out of her crib...at least not yet. We may try bribery once we get to the the point of the transition.
It's too bad the video monitors also don't record because I bet there will be some funny things happening in there.