big girl bed & sleep training round two

Ever since we had to live in a hotel room Payton refused to sleep in the pack ‘n play and started sleeping with us. She had been in her crib since she was four months so this was a major adjustment for the hubs and I, especially with the lack of room with my growing belly. We have been back in our house for over a month and she is still in our bed. We tried tricking her into sleeping her in the crib and she would scream bloody murder until we took her out. We decided that it was time for a big girl bed so we went out on the hunt for a mattress that didn’t break our bank and some bedding. We had some set backs with her convertible crib and after everything we were only able to use the headboard. Most of the boxes that were in her room have been unpacked and we are finding ourselves trying to think of ways to reuse most of the black damask that was in her room before, rather, projects for me on refinishing and covering all things black to make things white and more girly. Now that there is at least a bed in her room we need to get her to sleep in her bed on a regular basis. She went down for a nap in there on Friday and stayed in there for three hours so I do have hope, it’s just how do we get her to fall asleep on her own again? It was a lot less painful when we put down a four-month-old who would scream for tops ten minutes but now she can do some marathon screaming that lasts about an hour. What did you do you to get your toddler to sleep in a big girl/boy bed? Did you shut the door, put a gate up? I am looking for all advice and suggestions on how to get a child to sleep in a big bed, the clock is winding down, t-minus eight weeks…

Last week when we put her bed together she was so excited to wake-up from her nap to find a big girl bed in her room. She kept jumping up and down with excitement, I know she understands what’s going on especially since there’s a baby coming. See her excitement for yourself, and please ignore my half naked baby, empty boxes and my annoying voice…thanks!

excited for her new big girl bed from melissa on Vimeo.

Big Girl Bed, A little Girl and her Best Friend. from melissa on Vimeo.