Now join us...on this journey...
SO - it all started one Saturday afternoon when Ruby was having one of her notorious "I'm-two-years-old-and-no-I'm-not-going-to-come-inside-and-take-a-nap" meltdowns. Somehow the passion in this girl this time around was just a bit more than usual. Enough so, that when Stephen put her in her bed, came out and closed the door....she made the climb, and was victorious. Thankfully she has not figured out how to open doors yet (I haven't shown her on purpose - knowing my mischievious Ruby) so she stayed in her room. She finally quieted after a while, and when I went up to check on her, this is what I found....
 |
| It was too cute that she had decided the rocking chair would be the place to set up for a nap :) |
You would think this was a good omen for the possibility of freedom from her crib....yeah - that's what we thought too.
That night I ordered a big bed for Ross so we could switch his toddler bed to Ruby. (Yes - I ordered - that's what you do when you live in a small town!)
Until that time, Ruby would get out of her crib once or twice - maybe three times, but finally settle back down in her crib until the day before Ross's bed came - that day, no one took naps.
 |
| Rubes and I had a girls night as well seeing Minions - she loved it! I loved spending time with just her one on one. She's just so fun. :) She LOVED the popcorn too. |
Anyway - we got Ross's bed set up and took down the crib and set Ruby's toddler bed up for her on her side (Ross and Ruby share a room). Steve talked it up that this was going to be a good thing. We had talked about putting Ruby in a room by herself while she got used to the toddler bed, but felt bad splitting Ross and Ruby up, so we gave it a shot.
Ross was quite excited about his new bed. He was especially excited that all his trucks fit underneath it and that he had all the space. He enjoyed playing on the mattress too while we set it up. It made me so sad seeing him in this regular bed. What happened to my baby?!
 |
| He's loving his bed! (Bed skirt and sheets to come) |
 |
| Ruby checking out the new pad. |
 |
| It may be good for jumping on! |
SO - Ruby didn't get a nap that day, so only after about 10 times of getting up and playing around, she did finally go to sleep and slept all night.
 |
| She is so beautiful when she sleeps! |
 |
| Right at home in the new bed! |
 |
| Can't leave out this cutie sleeper! |
We thought this was progress!
Well - the rest of the story goes as follows: attempted nap times, Ruby stays in her bed for a total of 15 seconds before getting up to find toys, get in Ross's bed, bug Ross in his bed, play around, come out, shut the door, turn on the lights, and ultimately NEVER take a nap. I thought that I may just have to be getting in to the phase of no naps (SADLY), but felt like if she would at least sleep all night, then it would be okay. That lasted one day. It was also tricky, because Ross gets scared if the door isn't open with the hall light on, but then Ruby gets out and thinks she owns the world.
The last straw was the night NO ONE slept (well except Ross and Rowland. Ross has learned to sleep through even Ruby's extreme tantruming, and Rowland was in with us). At least four different times we went in to find the light on, Ruby playing with toys, or a kite, or wearing snow boots (because the best time to try on snow boots is at 3AM) or falling out of her bed and waking up again. It was COMPLETELY ridiculous!
The next morning we put her crib back together and I schemed as to how to keep her in there for a while longer. We watched her climb out and noted how well she used her toe grip. The solution we found was to put her in footie pjs. This worked...for one night, and then the next morning when I went to get Ruby, she met me at the door. Fabulous.
My next decision was to put a kind of cover over the top of her crib. I found a tie fleece blanket I never use, and decided to tie it to the top of her crib - so it would be like a tent.
She thought this was great and played with Ross in it for a good 45 minutes. BUT when it came time for naps...she realized the real purpose for it. She was NOT happy about it. It worked out fine for the nap, and I was completely happy that things could go back to normal.
 |
| The current solution! (Before the unhappiness about it). |
However, she must have been studying it after her nap and making her own plans, because that night - to our great displeasure - she was right back out of that thing. I went back up and tied more of the ties to the slats thinking that was the problem. The blanket was a little too big for the crib, but I thought I had tied it accordingly.
She was pretty mad, but went to sleep finally. The next morning I came in once again to get her, just to find her meeting me at the door AGAIN!!! This girl is like Houdini on steroids! I still to this day have no idea how she got out.
So the next and currently final step was cutting the fabric so it fits perfectly over the crib with the sides tied accordingly. It has held up for two days so far which I would like to report as successful. Though there is QUITE the protest in the beginning from this girl, I am SO happy to say that she DOES take a nap and HAS been sleeping all night once again!!!
SO - before we revisit the concept of a toddler bed, we are regrouping and then going with our gut on putting her in her OWN room without any fun play things and lights off and doors closed. I'm still nervous to be honest. I wonder if she will ever be able to handle the freedom of a non-jail-type-cell bed!! She sure loves to keep us problem solving and on our toes. We really do love our spunky, driven little girl.
No comments:
Post a Comment