Big Girl Room Transition

E's new Big Girl Room

For most of my daughter's life she's been sleeping in, what we call, the nursery.  It's a smaller-size room that connects to our own bedroom with two suite style doors.  Soon after we brought her home from the hospital, she slept in her crib with the doors connecting the rooms open, and as she grew, we closed the connecting doors.  We did the same thing for my son and moved him into his own "big boy room" down the hall when we were expecting his little sister.

The View of the Nursery from our Bedroom

The Doors to Our Bedroom from the Crib

The transition for my son was an absolute nightmare, so I've really been hesitant to move E.  She's always been a very good sleeper and has been very content sleeping in a crib.  Unlike my son, that tried to catapult himself out of his crib at 18 months old, she never tried to escape or acted uncomfortable.  However, knowing that the transition can last for several months, we wanted to go ahead and move her with plenty of time to prepare the nursery for baby #3.  The plan is for her to have basically no memory of sleeping in the crib when the baby is ready for it (in October).

Thanks to the previous homeowners, the room was already painted a bright pepto-bismol pink.  So, we moved the guest bedroom furniture to my parents house, moved the desk to the bonus room, and prepared the room for a little girl.  So far, the room is very simple, but we'll decorate it and add art-work as E gets used to the room (and can help in the decorating).

The Big Girl Room

 On Friday afternoon I asked E if she wanted to sleep in her "big girl bed" and she immediately said, "Yeah!"  I'm not sure if she believed me at first, but as I started moving her stuffed animals from her crib to her toddler bed she started getting excited.  Our normal routine is for me to rock her in the glider and sing 3 songs (usually, "Jesus Loves Me." "Oh How I love Jesus," and "Holy Father Grant us Peace"), then lay her down.  So, I drug the glider from the nursery into her bedroom, rocked her to our 3 songs, and then laid her down (exactly like I would in her crib).

As I left, I hung a little music box on her doorknob (just as we did when my son was little).  The "doorbell" is to give her a greater sense of control and security by knowing that we're always a ring away and she's not completely alone.  Unlike my son, she was not used to having a music box in her crib, so I wasn't sure how she would respond to it.  I explained to her that when she wanted to open the door, she needed to press the button and mama or daddy would come.

The Music Box/Doorbell

So, it came as no surprise to me that within 2 minutes of me leaving, she tested the music box.  I immediately ran upstairs, opened the door, laid her back down, and told her "goodnight. It's nap-time." and left again.  Ten minutes of silence later, and I returned to find her sound asleep in her toddler bed.  VICTORY!!

The First Time Asleep in her Toddler Bed

I'll add, it's been several days and nights of sleeping in her new big girl room and toddler bed and she's never once thrown a fit, cried, or even tried to leave her room.  I am so proud of her!