John got his big boy bed at 27 months old, but didn't start successfully sleeping in it till 3-3/4 years, so Mary getting her big girl bed at 23 months is a big experiment. We figured we might as well since she climbs out of her crib and over gates anyway. Our expectations are minimal.
The first night Mary made it till three o'clock in her big girl bed. I knew worry over if Mary was okay would keep me wide awake all night. It took Mary two hours to fall asleep (not crying it out), by which time I was passing out from fatigue. Then when I got up five times in one hour to tend to the needs of both children (John has a nighttime cough right now), that was all I could take. All in all I was awake from two to four, and from then on Mary had to sleep on me, which tells me that she missed me very much. When I tried to scooch even an arm away from her, she said indignantly, "Hey! Stop it! I don't like that!"
I guess five hours in her big girl bed is a success.
Another success is that when John came downstairs this morning, the first words out of his mouth were, "I just love having Mary sleep with me in my room!"
Sounds like the experiment is going well for all ... but it's early days yet. Mary is quite the adventurous!
ReplyDeleteMaybe having each other for buddies will help a lot. :)
ReplyDeleteMy boys are ready to "bump" their beds. Mommy and Daddy are not looking forward to the day-long hassle of BUNKing their beds, but it will provide them with a lot more playing room AND we can move Mary Elizabeth's bed in there, too.
So sweet that John likes his little sister with him!!! :)
ReplyDeleteI've actually been kind of "stressing" over having another child and getting concerned about the kids having to share rooms, but of all the parents I've talked to about this, they say more often than not, the siblings prefer sharing rooms AND beds! At Jason's 20 year HS reunion last month, one of his classmates with 6 daughters said that in spite of having a house big enough for everyone to have her own room, his girls all liked to pile into practically the same bed!
And I can actually see my kids bunking up once Jamie is bigger.