Sleep is going better

Sleep is going better in our house. It was a rough couple of weeks and I think the lack of sleep began catching up with us about a week ago. Today Will was trying to lay on the floor with his monkey in Old Navy as I searched for maternity shorts. (side bar-- why is it so hard to find affordable maternity clothes that fit?) In the car on the way to meet Dada for lunch he announced through a yawn: "I'm tired." Two firsts there: 1. actually admitting he's tired, and 2. talking about himself in the first person.

We gave up on the crib after the second night of him climbing out and a near miss with a fall and a bruised ankle. The crib mattress moved to the floor and we took to sitting against his door for a while until he gave up trying to open it to come out. Quite a few nights we found him in all sorts of new sleeping places. The picture below on the right is him asleep in the doorway. The others are a result of rolling around in his sleep.

I bought a special night light that can be set to red, blue, white or a changing combination of the three. I thought it would make the transition to the mattress fun. I'm not sure it really made much of a difference, though he regularly asks for it to be set to red at bedtime.

Sleep adjustment- big boy bed 002

June 7 was his second birthday, and we decided to celebrate by moving him into a big boy bed. For a special birthday surprise I purchased a set of sheets decorated with all sorts of construction vehicles. After sleeping on the mattress on the floor for two weeks the transition was pretty smooth. He likes climbing into bed and snuggling on his pillow with his monkey. He still doesn't stay in bed, and the ritual at nap and bedtime still requires someone to camp outside his door for 10 minutes to keep him from coming out of his room. He seems to want to try the door knob once or twice and if he finds the door won't open, he gives up and climbs back into bed. Even when I leave toys where he can see them, he climbs into bed and goes to sleep.

Now that he's able to get up himself, he us routinely up before 7 am. I am wondering if he was always up that early in his crib but content to lay there and talk to himself and we were ignorant of his wakefulness. We keep a gate outside his door in a spot where he can open his door and squeeze out into a little space, but venture no further. This is our way of setting a boundary and keeping him off the stairs at night. When he wakes before 7 he will come out of the door and lay down on the wood floor and wait for us to get up. I feel bad about him sleeping on the hard floor but it's not like he can't go back to bed if he's uncomfortable.

Once again I am reminded that though transitions are rocky, the stress will fade and drama will pass. I'm glad we've settled back into a good sleep routine - and just in time as baby is due in 7 weeks. I'm finding I need that extra sleep these days.