A Tale of Two Beds

After the chaos of Autumn's birthday had died down some, and by that I mean the day after her party, we took her to the store to buy a "Big Girl Bed". Now I had been talking up a "Big Girl Bed" to Autumn for a while before we took the plunge and made the purchase. So she knew exactly what we were going to the store for and was very excited to have a hand in picking out this new piece of furniture.

After we decided which one we wanted, bought it and brought it home, it was getting close to Autumn's nap time. "Perfect!", I thought. "Steve can whip this thing together and have it ready for Autumn's nap, and she will be so tired and ready to sleep that she won't even notice she's not in her crib." Yeah, I thought this was genius. I was wrong.

Steve, being the awesome husband and father that he is, played along with my master plan and got to work putting the toddler bed together. Autumn got in on the action, handing him screws and boards, and together they built her new bed. Once it was finished and I had placed her mattress and blanket on, she climbed in, layed down and asked us to close her door! "This could not be going better!", I thought. However, there was one small problem. Autumn's crib was still up in her room and being the OCD person that I am, that was not going to fly. So, instead of doing as Autumn had asked, leaving and closing her door so she could take her nap, we took down her crib and moved it out of her room.

Needless to say, by the time that we, and by "we" I mean Steve, were done building the bed and disassembling the crib, it was way past Autumn's nap time. Now, I don't know how other toddlers are, but with mine there is a narrow window of opportunity in which to squeeze in a good, restful nap. If you attempt it too early, she isn't tired and will not sleep. And if you attempt it too late, as in this instance, she is overly tired, cranky, and is no longer interested in napping.

Knowing this about my daughter and against my better judgement, I tried for a nap anyway. I laid her down in her brand new "Big Girl Bed", tucked her in with her favorite blankets and hoped for the best.

I had not gotten down the hall before I heard the first "thump" against her bedroom door. Then came the crying, "MAMA!", "DADA!" and more "thumping". Steve and I ran into our bedroom to turn on our baby monitor, and there she was. Camped out at her bedroom door with her blankets in hand, banging on the door to come out.

So much for that master plan.

So, seeing that this wasn't going well we gave in and let Autumn out of her room. Since this had now turned into a napless day, knowing we were going to be putting her to bed earlier than usual, and afraid of having a repeat of that afternoon, Steve set her crib back up.

I was deflated. I had really thought that Autumn would take to her "Big Girl Bed". She had been so excited about the whole process, picking it out, helping to set it up.

Since it was late, Steve left the bed set up next to Autumn's crib, and for a week that is where it stayed. Autumn played on it, put her babies to bed on it, cleaned it, all the things that she loves to do. Seeing how attached she had gotten to the bed, I decided to try again.

That Saturday, when it was time for Autumn's nap, I asked her if she wanted to sleep in her crib or in her "Big Girl Bed". "In bed" she said. So I moved her mattress over to the bed and layed her down. Once again, as she had done the first time, Autumn asked me to close the door. This time I listened.

I walked out into the living room and held my breath. I waited. It was silent. No "thumping", no crying. Nothing. So I ran into our bedroom to once again spy on the baby monitor. There she was, laying in her bed, waiting for sleep to take over. I was elated. I felt like I had just accomplished the impossible. I was so proud of her and me.

Now, since that first nap, we have had to get onto Autumn a couple of times about not getting out of bed during nap time and I can see the temptation, with her toys surrounding her. Bedtime, on the other hand, has been a breeze.

I recently admitted to Steve that now that the transition is over and Autumn is happily sleeping in her "Big Girl Bed", I am both happy and sad. I am happy that she is growing and learning and that I have a front row seat to watch it all unfold. But I am also sad that my baby is not a baby. This little newborn that I used to rock to sleep and then ever so carefully lay in her crib now climbs into her own bed at night. I am sad that right down the hall from Autumn there is an empty crib in an empty room.

Maybe it's time to start working on filling up that room!