Goodbye Nursery, Hello Big Boy Room

For the past several months we have been having a bit of a bedtime battle with Jack.  He goes to sleep fine.  He just doesn't stay there.  After walking him back to his room multiple times a night, only to have him return within a couple of hours, we got into the habit of letting him sleep on the floor beside our bed.  It seemed harmless enough.  Or as harmless as anything seems at three o'clock in the morning.  It allowed us all to get some sleep, after all.

Fast forward about 5 months and we still have a kid on the floor beside us.

We've been contemplating how to end this cycle for a few weeks now.  Maybe he's not comfortable in his crib-turned-toddler bed.  Maybe he's getting too much sleep during his afternoon nap.  Maybe it's time for some tough love via the "cry it out" method.  Or maybe we just let him sleep on the floor, with the hopes that he'll eventually realize there is a much more comfortable option just across the hall.

We decided to give a new bed a try.  Since we already have a couple of twin mattresses that can easily be stacked on the floor until we make a more permanent furniture decision, there was really nothing to lose.  Perhaps a new "big boy bed" would be enough of a catalyst to get Jack (and us too) back to the glory days of 10 uninterrupted hours of sleep.

So earlier this week, on a bit of a whim, down came the crib.

And up went the twin mattresses.  Complete with brand new sheets (cars & trucks of course) that Jackson helped me pick out.

While we were at it, we also made some upgrades to the rest of his room.  The changing pad and what was left of the "baby" supplies are finally put away.  The rocking chair moved to our room in favor of a smaller chair for Jack to read in.

And what was once a nursery, now looks like this.

Before:

After:



I especially love the little reading corner, complete with a special box on the floor for library books that need to be returned. 

Drew & I both admitted that Jack suddenly seemed even more grown up as he excitedly tested out his new bed in his "new" room.  While a part of me was sad to see the crib come down, I know that Jack was ready.  So I am too.

Now if only he'll stay in there.