Bed to Crib Transition

For most mothers of toddlers, "the big transition" consists of moving their child from their crib to a "big kid" bed. Not for this family! Last night was our first night of transitioning our little guy from our family bed back to his own crib. At the beginning of the year, he did wonderful...fell asleep in his crib and slept through the night. When we pulled him out of daycare for a stretch and Grandma was watching him, he got into the habit of napping with her. And I always loved the comfort and closeness of sleeping with my children as well, so I picked up this habit and transferred it to our nightly routine. Thus, the comfortable, comforting habit of sleeping with mom and dad every night developed....which developed into an absolute fear of anything to do with his crib. I tell myself that I believe in the Family Bed and I am very much pro-attachment parenting. But I know, for all parties involved, that it is best for him to start sleeping in his own bed and own room again. So, last night was just the beginning. It took an hour and a half to get him to sleep, stay asleep, and sneak out of his room at the beginning of the night. Then he woke up twice during the night  2 am-something and 5:00 am, and guess who got take care of soothing him back to sleep both times? This girl! That consisted of rubbing his back and head and then easing myself to the floor, where he was still aware of my presence, sleeping on his hardwood floor and reaching through the bars to maintain contact with him long enough for him to fall deeply asleep to where I could sneak out. Guess who slept through the whole night? Husband! So much for being in this "back to the crib" thing together! And of course, since hubby got home from work only to continue doing nothing but work throughout the evening and well after I got to crawl into bed, I feel like it's unfair to ask him to share in the burden of childcare and responsibilities. This transition will be hard but I have to persevere because if we go backwards and give in, I am only working against myself. My baby boy didn't develop this desire to sleep with us on his own. I fostered it, and enjoyed it, but now for his sake and ours, it is time for him to learn to love his bed again. His room really is one of my two favorite places in the world (the other being his sissy's room) and I hope to help him learn to love it as well. It's a magical place filled with cuddly friends, warm blankets, fun decorations, toys galore, warm clothes, good books, comfort, and safety. This is my first big move towards becoming the mother I want and need to be.