The Big BIG Girl Bed

A few months ago we moved Padyn from her crib to a twin size bed. The pediatrician thought it wise to make the switch before the baby was born, especially considering how in love with the crib Padyn was. The switch went more smoothly than we could have hoped for. Padyn quickly found a new love in her big girl bed and when she saw the crib disassembled in the guest room, she didn't break down in a fit of uncontrollable weeping as I had feared.

I think the bed was such a hit because, honestly, it was just an elongated crib. We had two rails on it, so there was only like a 2 inch gap that her foot could have possibly gotten stuck in. It just had the fitted sheet; no top sheet or quilt. She could still have books and toys in there for morning entertainment. And here's the best part-even though she could have climbed out if she really wanted to, she never did. She stayed put until we came in and freed her.

But the amount of stuffed animals and books in there was a bit overwhelming. Overwhelming for Mommy that is. Frankly, I got tired of how messy it looked all the time and last weekend decided to make a change. (Of course, Daddy wasn't home and had no say in the manner, but as always, is having to deal with the consequence of my actions now. I'm pretty lucky that he likes me so much.)

Now, Padyn is in her big BIG girl bed. I took a rail off and put the other one in the center of the bed. She can't roll out (unless she tries really hard) but she can climb out. I put her quilt and top sheet on and we played with it and practiced sleeping in a big BIG girl bed for a while before it was actually bed time. I also prepped her on how she could actually get out of bed in the morning and play with her toys. (This encouragement was an attempt to eliminate the screaming, "I want OUT! I want OUT! Mommy! Daddy! I want OUT!" that was happening most mornings.) We even hand-picked toys from downstairs that she would like to have in her room. I figured she would get up in the morning and play in her room until she got bored and called for us (probably around 7:30am) or we came and got her (also around 7:30am)

Great plan, but I was unaware of one thing-Padyn is able to open her bedroom door.

This we became aware of the second morning. Joel heard her and got up to go get her, and apparently she was found wandering the hall at 6:45am calling us. The next morning we didn't hear her until she was right next to our bed yelling, "Mommy! Daddy! I wake up! I wake up now! Mommy! Daddy!" Oh, and this was at 6:30am.

I have a general rule that the girls in our house don't get out of bed before 7am. Something must be done. I don't think one of those doorknob thingos that they apparently can't open is going to work. I think we have the wrong kind of knobs. I may put a digital clock in there and try to teach her to tell time. Something like, "You are not allowed out of your bed until the clock says seven zero zero." Joel suggested we tape 7:00 next to the clock so she remembers what it should look like. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Oh, but as far as what she thinks of her new big BIG girl bed? It's the greatest thing since, well, the big girl bed.