My Climb

Not long ago, the topic of moving Jack to a toddler bed came up.  He's ready.  And as much as I wish it weren't true, he's kind of over the whole cuddle in the rocking chair and sing to sleep portion of our bedtime routine.  In fact, over the past couple of weeks he's as much as told me that he just wants to lay down in bed.  Most of the time he does ask me to sit with him.  But that puts me either on the floor or hunched over the rails of his crib rubbing his back.  Yet another reason that it's time for the crib to go.

Jackson's crib converts to a toddler bed and then a full-sized bed after that so there's no need to purchase furniture in order to make the transition.  What's holding me back is the seemingly daunting process of teaching him to stay in the bed.

In his crib, he's trapped.  I like it that way.  In fact, at nighttime we still put him in a sleep sack so that he can't lift his leg high enough to climb out.  I have nightmares of him roaming the house in the middle of the night.  Or even worse...leaving the house!  He can open doors, ya know.  Over dramatic, yes, but you get my drift.

Next week, I leave town for a 10-day business trip.  4 of those days Drew will be with me.  We certainly didn't want to make things even more difficult for Jack (or Nana who will be staying with him) by making the switch to a big boy bed at the same time, but plan to start the transition shortly after I get home from Florida.

And then this weekend happened.

The little bugger now climbs out of his crib. 

Even my brilliant deterrent, the sleep sack, can no longer contain him.  Yesterday, when I was near my wits end after several failed attempts to get him down for a nap, I called in reinforcements and sent Drew up to try.  Jackson proudly greeted him at the door (after climbing out of his crib) with, "Hi Daddy.  My climb."

Eek.  Bad timing.  Sorry Mom.

We're going to stick to our original plan and not make any changes until after our trip.  And so far the only attempts at escaping have been while fighting daytime naps, never overnight, so I'm hopeful that he won't give my Mom too much trouble when she's here.

So tell me fellow Moms, what was your process for making the transition from crib to bed?  Did you just battle it out?  Did you put a gate on the door to keep them confined to their bedroom?  Have any of you tried a special night light like this one?  Or maybe it's not as big of a deal as I fear it will be.

I hope I'm wrong, but I have a hunch we're going to need all the tips and tricks you can throw at us!