Owen & Jack {Big Boy Bed Transition x 2}

Oh my, how things have changed! Owen & Jack have both officially graduated to a toddler bed (or Big Boy Bed as they like to call it!) and really, they've been doing well. We have days that they wake up WAY too early for our liking and then days where they don't go to sleep early enough but overall, I have no complaints.

We've honestly been so lucky in the sleep department with our kids. Owen learned how to sleep through the night (12 solid hours) by 4-6 months old. Jack took a little bit longer but when he transitioned over to share a room with Owen, they've both been rock stars. They go to bed easily and sleep through the night pretty consistently. On occasion, one of them will wake up and cry but the other will keep on sleeping or not seem bothered one bit. Mornings before the transition to big boy beds went pretty smoothly as well. The boys would wake up around 7-7:30 a.m. and talk or play in their cribs until we walked in the room to get them ready. On weekends, I stretch out mornings even more. They happily played in their cribs while I cleaned up their room, stocked up on diapers, broke down boxes, etc. I knew I stretched the time too much when they get a bit hangry. Oops. It's a fine line ya'll.

Then, on one fateful Saturday back in February, my heart jumped out of my chest. I heard the boys wake up but then it was pretty quiet for awhile so I stayed "asleep" in bed a little longer. Then, I hear the sound I've been dreading to hear for a long time. I hear the space heater beep (it beeps when someone turns it on or off).

Ummmmmmmmmmm, excuse me?  

I bounced out of bed to find Owen prancing around his room. Oh boy. Thankfully, all he was able to do was turn off all of the equipment (space heater, cool mist humidifier and sound machine) and play with the floss I left out on the shelf of their changing table (um, scary). Of course, my mommy brain freaked the heck out and decided right then and there that Owen was getting his big boy bed. And with no effort to get him comfortable with the idea. By 10:30 a.m., the changing table was taken out of the room and the crib was converted into a toddler bed. Yay!

Owen's Toddler Bed  |  February 18, 2017

Jack's transition went pretty similar except we knew that he could climb out of his crib for a little while before we switched him over. It wasn't until he was climbing both in and out that I decided to transition him to his toddler bed. Again, I decided on a whim that it needed to be changed but this time, I kept the boys in the room while I switched it over. The crib became a toddler bed before 8 a.m.!

Jack's Toddler Bed  |  September 16, 2017

Mornings, as I mentioned above, have changed a little bit. The boys have discovered their independence and once one of them (almost exclusively Owen) determines it's time to get up, they bounce of out of bed, turn on the lights and wreck havoc on all.the.things. We don't keep much in there so it's not really that bad. I should say it's not that bad anymore now that we've put closet door locks in place. They no longer go near the closets or try to open them but they do like to pound on them to make noise. Because they tend to wake up earlier than we like, I let them play together a little bit before I intervene. If it gets a little out of hand, I provide them legos to play with which typically calms them both down a bit. If I stroll in a little too late, they will likely have both mattresses on the floor and will be jumping around on those. The only reason why this is bad is that while Owen's bed has a board in place, Jack's has wire springs. When we have another baby, I'll sell Jack's crib and keep Owen's to reuse. In the meantime, I just need to get my butt out of bed sooner. Easier said then done.

Nap-times aren't as they used to be so that's a bit unfortunate. Owen has always resisted naps for us so it was no surprise to me when he flat out refused to go down for a nap at home. Jack has always been a great napper so we didn't want to have them napping together anyway. In hindsight, we probably could have gotten it to work eventually but it wasn't a battle we were prepared to take on. Instead, we just deal with a fussy toddler or try our darndest to get him to sleep on the couch downstairs while watching a movie he's seen a million times before or take him for a car ride so he'll nap there. He does great some days and then not so much on other days but we somehow manage. We can definitely tell when he hasn't had one because he goes into his own little world where he doesn't hear a single word we say.

Jack just transitioned over a couple of weeks ago so it might be too early to tell, but we are still able to put him down for a nap on the weekends (Thank goodness!) I tell him that he just needs to have some quiet time and if he happens to fall asleep too, that's fine. I give him books and a couple cars and it's so cute when I leave because he's just excited that he can do those things. Of course, Jack might wimpy after awhile but he has fallen asleep successfully every time.

Bedtime hasn't really changed much it seems.The boys generally stay in bed once we've shut the lights off and closed the door. We might hear them talking or singing for awhile or running around even but I always find them in their beds when I check on them a few hours later. That's also the time I put in the fan or space heater too because they'd definitely mess with it if we had it in the room right away. The only thing we've changed in their room is the curtain we hung up Both boys have picked out their favorite fire trucks so they don't often fight over it :). The curtain also blocks most of the light so it should help the boys stay asleep in the mornings, right?