Tag: toddler bed

Big Boy Bed

On By Doser3In Dreaming of Mommyhood - GeneralLeave a comment

Try to say that three times really fast!

So, last week I took advantage of the Labor Day holiday, which meant my husband was home and could entertain Davey, in order to start work on Davey’s new big boy room. I’ve put it off a lot longer than I did with his first bedroom. I’ve toyed around with ideas on what would be best. Did I want to do a room devoted to Mickey Mouse or did I want to do one with a different Disney theme? Side note…anything Disney rocks this child’s world!

Then I thought of practicality. Did I want to redo a room again in a few years when he’d outgrown some of the kiddie/baby phase? Not really. I needed something easy, something convenient for me, and something that would grow with him. That being said, we quickly decided to avoid a themed bed (he has a racing car bed at his Grammy’s house in NY), just because I didn’t want to fork out the money again for another new bed in a few years. We landed on a contemporary, with a hint of the traditional, full size wooden bed. Bedding can always be changed.

For a month the bed sat in our garage as the days ticked by as we awaited anxiously the ultrasound that would determine whether we were having a boy or a girl, hence dictating which room the bed would actually be placed. After a trip to Rochester to see family, and a quick jaunt to Myrtle Beach to kiss summer goodbye, we began work last week, and I must say so far I’m pleased.

enjoying some quality time on the new bed
enjoying some quality time on the new bed

It’s a nervous arena, being the parent of a child who’s growing, one that you wish would stay your little baby forever. I cried when we converted Davey’s crib into a toddler bed! How the heck was I going to react to this? Truth be told, I was second guessing moving him into another room. First, the nursery is a tad bigger in size than his new bedroom. There’s more closet space, more playroom. Second, what if he became really irate about giving up his room? What if he didn’t want to move? Of course, this hasn’t been the problem and we haven’t even referred to the nursery as Henry’s room.

Finally, with the walls painted, the bed up, and new bedding on top, we decided to let Davey have a “go” at the room on Saturday. Naptime is much more different. No longer do I rock him to sleep. Instead, I say “nap time” and he runs up the stairs (just like he always has) and I tuck him into his bed, give him a kiss, read a book, and then close the door. it takes about a half an hour to 45 minutes of him “talking” to himself or “reading” one of his books to his stuffed animals before he finally goes to sleep. Bed time is much the same, which has become quite shocking to both me and my husband. We both thought we’d have a bigger issue with getting him asleep in the big boy bed.

first official night
first official night

From time to time, I see my little baby in his big bed and I do get a lump in my throat. I love the new stages and his growth and development, but I am super sad to know that one day he may be much too big for that bed.

My Misguided Tears

On By Doser3In Dreaming of Mommyhood - GeneralLeave a comment

It was a hard morning, one of the hardest I’ve gone through in quite some time. At first, I thought about blaming the tears on my hormones, but quickly realized that I would be crying regardless. My husband and I spent our Memorial Day morning, taking down a crib and putting up a toddler bed in it’s place.

I knew the day would be coming and I’d heeded the warnings of so many other moms out there who suggested I wait until the absolute last minute to take him out of his crib. Well, with the new baby scheduled to arrive in approximately seven months, and my mother in law in town for the week, I thought now would be a good opportunity to convert Davey. I’ve heard stories that it could take months for him to get used to the new bed, so why not do it now?

Once the toddler bed was in place, the emotions began to wash over me. He’s not my little baby anymore. I mean figuratively, he’ll always be my little baby, but the thought of no longer being able to walk into his room and seeing his little face above the rails, with his arms reaching out to me and saying, “hi, mama”, just made me start blubbering. My baby was growing up and while I’ve watched it and known it every day, for some reason today was the day for reality to hit me like a ton of bricks. I actually felt faint and even slightly sick at my stomach. Where did the days go? The seconds have turned into minutes, minutes into days, and before I’ve known it my little baby is now a little boy.

We brought him upstairs and the tears began to flow even harder. Davey immediately ran and took a flying leap onto his bed. He tossed around and laughed a bit, climbed back down, grabbed a couple of books, climbed back in and then with his head on his pillow and one leg crossed over the other, he began reading one of his books. How sweet!

And then a few hours later, the true and actual reality of the repercussions of my actions really hit. Why oh why was I ever crying about my sadness of him being all grown up? What I should be crying about was the fact that I may no longer be able to take advantage of long afternoon naps. That’s right, folks, we spent three hours yesterday afternoon playing the infamous game of “Keep the Baby in Bed”. Guess who won? Yep! Davey did. So, obviously, my tears were misguided. I’m convinced that subconsciously the tears were falling because I knew that blissful afternoons of getting things accomplished while Davey slept were quickly becoming limited.

Only time will tell what becomes of this story.

Toddler Bed Phase 1

On By Doser3In Dreaming of Mommyhood - General1 Comment

I’ve become THAT mother!   You know which one I’m talking about.   It’s the one who seems to be unwilling to move into the next logical phase of her child’s growth and development.    Some may say I’m a hinderance.   I don’t know about that, but I do know that I’m not ready for Davey to graduate to this next level.

He’s made it clear that it’s time to move on.   He’s sent subtle and even not so subtle messages to me, but while I can see them and acknowledge them, it doesn’t make it any easier for me to hit the resolve that now is the time for Davey to get a toddler bed.

I know, I know, a lot of you are already there and have been there for quite some time.   A lot of you have made a big deal about your child(ren) progressing along and I’m guilty of doing the same, but in this instance I’m perfectly content with telling other mommies out there that Davey is still in his crib.   There, I’ve said it!   He is still in his crib and I don’t feel even slightly bad about it.   No, Sir, I don’t, but I will tell you what I do feel bad about and that’s the fact that moving him into a toddler bed makes my heart sick.   It makes me feel sad.

I love the fact that my sweet little penguin lies in bed and waits for me to come get him.   I like the fact that I can contain him in this one place.   I like the fact that keeping him in a crib makes him still feel like my little baby.   If I move him into a toddler bed, next thing will be a big boy bed and then school and then dating and driving and, oh my goodness, I just can’t keep travelling down this road!

My husband seems to be just as eager as I am to keep Davey in his crib, but for more logical reasons.   For example, he’s afraid that since Davey moves around so much in his crib, that he may fall out of the opening and either hurt himself or worse still, wake himself up (which means we’ll be awake).

Much like having a second baby, I should just rip this band-aid off as well.   I’m not going to ask any of you if I’m crazy, I’m well aware that I passed crazy a long time ago.   And I don’t care how many of you judge me for keeping him in a crib.   I’ll get there in my own time, I know I will, but I’m still curious….at what age did you start putting your child(ren) in a toddler bed and what was the reason you chose that age?

Don’t worry, each day I’m getting closer and closer to making this happen.   Just don’t push me, ok!?!?!?!