Switching to a Big Kid Bed Early

We switched Cai to a "big boy bed", aka a twin mattress on the floor, when he was thirteen months old. Switching that early wasn't something we had planned on, but it worked for us.

We switched for a couple reasons, but the main one was that Cai was still waking to nurse four to six times a night. I was so sleepy and was majorly struggling with keeping my eyes open while sitting with him in the rocking chair. And Cai was struggling, at times, with staying asleep, but would sleep better if I had my hand on his back (or sometimes even crawled in the crib and laid next to him).

So we made the switch. We did kind of a "test nap" where I put the crib mattress on the floor and had him nap on that. When he did okay, I took the crib down and put a twin mattress on the floor. There was very little, if any, difficulty with the transition. Cai took to it right away.

We did have to do a few things to make it work (other than move the glider rocker to our living room).

• We put all of his stuffed animals on the side of the bed against the wall because he was rolling and hitting his head against the wall.
• We keep one of his larger stuffed animals on the other side of him to keep him from rolling out of the bed. He only rolled once before we did that, and it's really only a two inch drop, so it's not the end of the world, but the stuffed animal seems to help.
• Double check that his room is a safe place. I switched the contents of some of the drawers in his dresser so he couldn't access them, put his piggy bank up higher, and recently switched from a wet bag for dirty cloth diapers to a diaper pail (we kept the bag on the door knob and he was pulling on it)
• We started keeping the door closed so he wouldn't roam the house in the middle of the night, and closing the other door in the hallway just in case he did escape. That being said, last night was the first night he did anything other than get up and cry at the door until one of us comes for him.

Overall, we're pretty happy with the change. Even though Cai isn't nursing anymore, he's also climbing over everything now (the back of the couch, onto the dining room table), so we're glad we didn't have to deal with that in the crib. He's also waking much less most nights, but when he does have a restless night, it's nice that Steve or I can lay with him and even fall asleep. It's also nice that his room is now super safe, so I can be comfortable letting him play in there while I cook dinner (his room is right off of the bedroom.

Cai's Room: Sources

So a lifetime ago, back when I was 37 weeks pregnant, I promised to make a post about Cai's room with a source list. I have no idea if anybody cares where I got things or how I made things, but it's fun to pretend I'm a real blogger who has more than eleven followers and that people care about things like that. :)

I kept putting off sharing this post because there are a few odds and ends that weren't done, like the lamp on the dresser (it's been painted royal blue and given a new shade since then), and I intended to take more pictures. But, I've realized that if I keep waiting until I do that, it will never happen. Right now though, my little man is in bed (actually, so is my big man), and I have time to make this post while I sit on the couch with Finny. My pictures are clearly not the best, but you get the general idea.

Source list:
Crib: Baby Mod- Modena 3-in-1 Fixed Side Crib, Walmart (gift from Steve's parents)
Dresser: Originally my mom's dresser as a child, then mine and my sisters', then painted green for my brother.
Book shelf: Better Homes and Garden Three Cube Organizer, Walmart
Glider Rocker: Delta Haven Glider and Ottoman Set, Target
Crib Sheet: Sweet Jojo Designs Layla Fitted Crib Sheet, Target
Rug: Homemade with scrap yarn
Crib Blanket: Homemade
Blanket on Rocker: Homemade with scrap yarn
Mobile: Homemade
Star Lantern: Purchased from a small store on Main Street in Bethlehem
Changing Pad Cover: ButtercupForest on Etsy
Wall Art above Crib: Homemade, frames from from Walmart
Alphabet: Purchased from Hobby Lobby and Michaels, some wood, some cardboard, some composite, all painted by me.
Monster Paintings: Homemade
Name on Door: Hand painted gift from a dear friend
Wall Art: Far left hand made by a dear friend, the rest were homemade (I've added a fourth since then)
Paint: I can't even give the paint color for this because my sister and I lightened a paint we already had.
Stuffed Animal in Crib: Hoho from Little Bit Funky