Making the move

When it came to moving Warren out of his crib, there were a few things I knew for sure. The first was that I hoped to keep him in until he turned three. When Henry was little I read this article about the benefits of waiting until three and I felt good about it. Since Henry never attempted to climb out, I felt it was safe and he loved his crib. When we did move him into his toddler bed it went so smoothly that it reinforced the decision to wait longer than most. The second thing I knew was that I didn't want to switch Warren before the baby came if at all possible. I was barely sleeping anyway and didn't want to make any unnecessary transitions. Plus we have two cribs so there was really no need. I knew nap time would likely disappear for him once he moved, too, and there was no way I wanted to give that up during my third trimester! 

As his third birthday was approaching I started thinking about when and how to make the move, but Warren decided to take matters into his own hands two days before his birthday. I had put him in his crib for nap and he was really hollering about it. Then it got really quiet and I figured he had given in and gone to sleep. And then it happened. His bedroom door slowly opened and he appeared in the hallway. He didn't make any eye contact with me and instead just nonchalantly walked over to his chair and said, "Well, I guess I'll just finish my lunch now." When I asked him how he escaped he tried to reenact it but I still can't figure out exactly how he managed to do it and do it so quietly. When Dameon got home from work I broke the news to him and we switched his crib into a toddler bed. He was SO proud.

Surprisingly for a few days following the move, he didn't give up his nap but instead decided he would put himself down for nap. It was glorious.

All in all it has gone well. He fell out the second night but then Dameon came to the rescue and wedged a pool noodle under his sheet to create a barrier. For the most part he stays in bed until morning but he does wake up much earlier now than when he was in the crib and climbs into bed with us. He thinks he's really a big boy. Now if only we could get him potty trained...