First night in big girl/boy bed

Please please please talk me out of putting the cribs back up! I have been putting this day off for a while now, since I have 3 2-year-olds I have been dreading every minute of this. Today Jenna climbed out of her crib, climbed up on the dresser, unzipped Ryan's crib tent, hopped in his bed, and he climbed out and came out of the room to tell me "No nap Mommy!" I am worried about them getting hurt by climbing out of the cribs or on the dresser, so I broke their cribs down into toddler beds. They have been in there for an hour now and aren't even close to going to sleep, even though they didn't take a nap either. I am just devastated that naps are probably over now too, since that is the only time of day that I get a shower and anything done around the house. I am close to tears right now, I don't know how I am going to handle 5 kids (3 of which are 2) without any breaks in the day.

 

Hang in there. We switched our cribs to toddler beds at around 21 months and dealt with some sleep disruptions for a week or so, but then everything settled back into the normal routine. You're also at the age where it seems like most kids fight naps - but it's just a phase. I know my girls didn't nap for almost three weeks right around their second birthday. I was sure naps were over, but they got back into the habit and show no signs of giving up naps now at almost 29 months. I've seen a lot of other moms post the same thing on this board; that their brand new 2 year olds are fighting naps and everyone responds that they need to stick it out and the phase will end.

So... hugs to you... no nap days really stink. Hopefully your kids get tired enough that they go back to napping soon. And congrats on the transition to toddler beds!

 

:hug: No naps are the pits. I can understand you wanting to put the beds up, especially since they are climbing in and out of their cribs at will. If you do decide to do it, then maybe a reward chart..like what is being discussed in the other thread..will help make the transition easier. You can work on one or two little things first..like staying in their own bed..and then add to it as they get older.

Good luck..and hang in there!!

 

Give it some time. :hug: This is a whole new world to them and like anything else along the way, you need to set the boundaries and ground rules and teach them what you expect now that they are in these "new" beds. My girls' sleep was all over the place for the first week in new beds but I stood firm and soon after they were napping again and back to sleeping well at night. They did on occasion stay up before bed playing for an hour or so, and I only intervened if it sounded like one was harassing the other.

 

We did the bed switch at 20 months and went right to twin sized beds. It wasn't easy for them to get down so they didn't know they could. We had a great stretch. About 3 weeks before their 2nd bday (just like pp said) they fought naps. Jake would crawl into Ryan's bed and it pissed him off. I just kept with the routine and they started napping again. You may have to sit outside their door (or gate like we did) and keep putting them back into their beds. Maybe try letting them read books in bed for "quiet time". Don't give up!! It's not the end of naps!

 

:hug: Good luck!

(I'm planning on using crib tents until they go to college..

 

You too??? :rotflmbo:

 

I'm beginning to think that is the answer. Makes perfect sense to me!

 

What I did when we switched to beds was to sit in the room with them. I sat between the beds where they could both see me and if anyone started to get up I told them to lie back down, if they started chatting I told them "Shh. It's bedtime". Other than that I didn't talk to them at all. That stopped them from talking or playing and they would fall asleep in a normal amount of time. I did that for about a week. Then over the next week or so I moved the place where I was sitting closer and closer to the door until I was sitting in the doorway. Then I spent another week standing just outside the door (and if I heard any noise going in and shushing them). After that I could just leave them and they would go to sleep with no trouble. There were still occasional times they'd mess around, but I would only have to remind them once to go to sleep.
I know it sounds like a long process, but it worked perfectly for me and I always figured it was worth spending the 10-15 mins waiting while they fell asleep in order to get the 1 1/2-2 hour nap.

Good luck with whatever you do, I hope they start napping again soon!

 

The hard part for me is that I have 3 other kids so I can't spend a long time in the twins' room every night.