A Big Boy Bed!

Stian has never tried to crawl out of his crib, so we haven't been motivated to move him into a big kid bed. He was happy enough in his crib so we just left him be. But he has outgrown his pack n' play, which is what he sleeps in when we travel. So he was going to have to sleep in a big kid bed when we go north in a few weeks for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So we decided it was time to switch him to a big boy bed.

Yesterday we drove up to Chicago to go to Ikea to buy one. I had been eyeing this bed since we saw it last May when we went to Ikea after a trip to the aquarium with Kevin, Dawn and Quinn. It's such a neat bed. When they are little it's like a regular bed, but when they are older you can flip it over and it becomes a lofted bed with a neat fort area underneith.

We put it together this morning. Stian helped out quite a bit.









Stian loves his super soft, fuzy green blanket we bought for him when Karin, Brad and Klebo are here. And now he gets to sleep with it!



This is what it looks like all together. For now the crib is still in his room. He didn't want us to move it out yet, and that's fine, small steps. But we were talking tonight about how he'd have much more room for playing if we moved the crib out and moved the bed where the crib is now. He thought that sounded like a good idea. So maybe in a few days he'll be up for it. He is a kid who does not like change. (He had quite the crying fit yesterday in the parking lot at Ikea when Kris had to move his carseat to behind his seat in the car so we could get the bed into the car)



So then is was nap time. I told him he was allowed to get in and out of bed, and he could play for a little while, but he also needed to sleep and he wasn't allowed to leave his room without either Kris or me saying it was okay. So he played for quite awhile, and stuck his head out the door and called to me a good 20 times needing something or other. He was just so excited that he could get in and out and that he could have Matchbox cars in his bed now and books! So he was pretty stimulated. But after probably 30 minutes of that he crashed.

And then he took a huge nap. I think the time change might be working in our favor here, he didn't sleep in this morning, so he started his nap about an hour late and went to bed tonight about an hour late as well. So he was a little more tired than usual. He also only napped for about 30 minutes in the car yesterday, so perhaps he was even more tired than normal.

He slept for 2 1/2 hours. I finally had to go wake him because I wanted him to go back to sleep tonight. I brought the camera with me. I would normally never attempt a picture of him while sleeping, he is an incredibly light sleeper. In fact just my quietly tip-toeing into the room had him stirring a little. But I snapped a quick picture before he sat up.



Unfortunately the bedrail we bought so he wouldn't fall out while getting used to a big bed doesn't work on a platform bed, you have to have a boxspring on the bed. So we don't have a rail for him. Hopefully he won't fall out!

Bedtime went quite smoothly tonight (knock wood). I'll admit that I've been dreading this transition. Stian has always had a hard time sleeping and I really just didn't want to mess with that. I also really wasn't sure I wanted him to be able to get out of his bed. I was afraid he'd never actually lie down and go to sleep. But it hasn't been a problem today. I doubt I'm going to get off quite this easily, but it's certainly not as bad as I feared. At least not yet!