Vander's Big Bed Move

We are about three months away from having another baby join our family! This clearly brings big changes for everyone in our family, especially Vander.

One change we decided to implement sooner rather than later was moving Vander into a big bed.

Baby Otley #2 will be using the same crib Vander was in since we didn't want to buy a new crib when we figured Vander wasn't going to be in it too much longer anyways. We wanted to move Vander before his little brother comes so that he is comfortable in his new bed and the change is completely separate from his brother's arrival.

We only kept Vander in our room for about a month when he was born and expect to do about the same this time so that doesn't give us a whole lot of time to transition Vander after the baby is born, so we knew we had to do it before. Unfortunately I am really busy with work January until my maternity leave and I didn't want to leave Dylan to a new bedtime routine on his own or have to deal with losing any sleep, so we decided December would be best.

The next decision was what kind of bed. There are a ton of pros and cons to a toddler bed, twin bed or full/queen bed. In the end we went with a full bed since Vander has pretty consistently been in the 90%+ for his height. We figured that was most cost effective too since we will likely put Vander and his little brother in a full size bunk bed at some point. Since his bedroom is plenty big enough for a full bed we didn't have any concerns there.

We also decided to put his mattress directly on the floor for a while. This way we didn't have to worry about him falling out (not that he was ever at the edge of his crib before). Since he sleeps on a mattress on the floor for nap time at daycare we figured he would be a little bit more comfortable with this anyways.

Based on other needs beside the new bed we started doing more of a bedtime routine the last couple months and the last couple weeks this included putting his crib mattress on the floor for him to get the idea that he can lay down on the the mattress on the floor.

We brought the mattress home almost two weeks ago and let him check it out while he slept in his crib for one more night. He was clearly very excited:

The next night we moved his crib out and set up the mattress. (It is not set up in the corner due to the air vent being right under the window. Once he uses a frame the bed will go in the corner.) We did our usual routine and gave him his his and kisses and asked him to stay in bed.

We had bought a door lock for his door but it didn't fit with the handle so we just hoped he wouldn't be able to open his door (which is a little harder to open than most of our handles). He spent five minutes the first night trying to get out and crying, and right when I was about to go get him he decided to quietly play with his toys and books and then go to sleep.

(Note: the yellow table in the corner has since been removed...)

The second night was a little off since he had mostly fallen asleep in the car, so then he actually cuddled with me (he is a snuggler but not for actual going to sleep, which I wish he would just let me snuggle him to sleep! Although in the long run this is probably for the best). When I left him he tried he door again and was crying for two minutes and feel asleep.

Then we had his first nap the next day and he tried the door once, then played for a bit, took a good nap, and played on his own for a bit after his nap too.

Since then he is just sad when we leave, but he basically stays in his bed and chats to himself while he goes to sleep or maybe plays around a bit.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how well it has gone! He has been sleeping great in his bed and loves playing on it. Dylan and I like getting to all snuggle up for reading before bed.

We aren't sure when we will put the bed up on a frame, but he seems to like the easy access for now.
So even though pregnant mom would prefer to not get on the floor, we will likely leave the bed on the floor for a good while since we have no other reason to put it up at the moment.

Even though I find my self getting teary eyed about Vander getting so big, this was one change I was ready and excited for!