Toddler Beds

We made the switch to toddler beds tonight (see photos on the other blog).  Chris had them watch while he took down their cribs and put up their toddler beds.  I’m so glad he insisted we get them fun beds.  We went searching on craigslist and found a car bed, a train bed, and a fire engine bed.  We thought the train and fire engine were the coolest, but we ended up buying all three.  Now we need to resell the car bed on craigslist.

They played and played on their beds for an hour or so after we put them up.  Cooper didn’t want Charlotte in his bed and kept telling her to ‘go’.  The first thing Charlotte did was pile all her stuff into her bed with her.  Then she jumped on her bed.

Charlotte did great at bedtime.  She’s not able to turn her door handle yet, so Chris did the normal routine, then told her to get in bed and gave her a few books.  She didn’t cry at all, but she did play, read books, and jump on her bed for about 45 minutes before getting quiet.  We just checked on her and she is passed out with the Sneetches laying on her chest.  So, so cute.

Cooper was another story.  We fully expected it would be more difficult with him since it always has been.  He struggles to wind down enough to fall asleep and we expect frequent wakings tonight.  He is an explorer in the middle of the night so we put a baby gate up at his door and then a second baby gate to keep the first one in place, since he has also learned how to knock over baby gates very quietly and then pick them up and move them.

It took about 45 minutes longer, with some extra nursing, rocking, singing, and reading to reassure him that the toddler bed was indeed a safe place to fall asleep.  He finally fell asleep on his own and looks oh so cute on the video monitor.  I hope they continue to sleep well and the bedtime routine gets easier with Cooper.