Toddler Bed

My little girl is growing up!!  I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea :(  Kevin has been very anxious to convert Brooke's crib into a toddler bed, but I have been resistant.  She was sleeping so well at night (10-12 hours a night), which I didn't want to mess with.  I was worried that she would have a hard time adjusting to a toddler bed, and with a new baby coming, I desperately needed her to maintain her awesome sleeping habits since I will be up many times a night with a newborn.  

Then I started worrying that if by chance I had a C-section, I wouldn't be able to lift Brooke in and out of her crib.  This would definitely be a problem, so I decided that maybe it was time to make the change.   Then at least we had a few months to get her back on track before her baby's brother's arrival. 

So, when we arrived home from the lake on Labor Day (September 7th), we started the conversion process!  I headed to Target to get some safety knobs for Brooke's doors since we didn't want her trying to go down the stairs during the night by herself.  We also couldn't put her in her sleep sack anymore (safety concerns if she crawled out of her bed), which also made me anxious.  My girl loved her sleep sack and it was all part of the bedtime routine.  

Kevin made the bed conversion while I was at Target, but he waited to put the mattress back on until I got home.  It was so cute to see how excited Brooke was about her new bed.  I have a darling video of her talking about "my new toddler bed", haha. This was her last picture in the crib...

And her first picture in the toddler bed...

She gave Daddy a big hug when I told her to tell Daddy thanks :)  I am happy to report that the whole transition was seamless.  I was amazed!  We did the whole bedtime routine the same as normal (except the sleep sack), and when she woke up in the morning, she simply sat up in her bed and said, "Mama, I'm here!".  As soon as I opened her bedroom door, she crawled out of her bed and gave me a big hug. I wasn't sure how nap time would go, but again, it was seamless.  She never tried to get out of her bed, but instead just waited for me to come and get her.  Its pretty great and I know that I am insanely lucky.

Funny things to note: Two days ago, I bought Brooke a microphone from Costco that she has termed "my favorite toy",  We put it in her toy basket on her bookshelf Monday night, and Kevin commented that he thought she would get up and bring it to her bed...but she didn't.  But first thing Tuesday morning, she ran quickly to her bookshelf, took her "favorite toy" back to her bed, and waited for me to come upstairs :)  Then Tuesday afternoon, she put her new baby pumpkin on her bookshelf before nap time.  A few minutes into nap time, she got out of bed to get her pumpkin and a book, and went quickly back to her bed.  I did have to go upstairs after 45 minutes because she was having a hard time falling asleep, but she is still doing great in her bed.

The next transition will be to a full bed because she is almost too tall for her toddler bed, haha. Not sure when that will be...but Kevin is already talking about how great it will be so he can take naps with Brooke.