Over and Out

This time it's for real.

The crib we have had for 10 years, the nest that held our children in their infancy through the toddler years is coming down. For good.

The one saving grace that kept our young'uns safe and sound for many a cozy night and daily nap is now a danger zone.

K climbs out of it nightly. Sometimes we hear her roaming the hall. Sometimes the kids find her on the floor by their bed in the morning.

Last night around 2am she was standing next to my bed. I felt a presence before I saw her. Then she whispered, "hi mommy." I pulled her into bed with us, too tired to figure out what to do next.

This morning, the telltale kink in my neck is reason one she will NOT be sleeping with us anymore, or why we haven't co-slept with our kids since DQ was 18 months.

So the midnight hijinks are not entirely unsafe. There is a sofabed next to her crib that aids in the boost and the soft landing after her climb. Thank goodness.

But the overall plan has been to move DQ back into that room and have K and My Boy share a room. This is a good time.

We'll start this new routine with K's crib mattress on the floor of the bunk-bed room. Nothing too high to fall from. We'll get her used to slumbering in there and eventually move her to the bottom bunk with a bed rail.

This is all going so fast. I had prayed for at least another 6 months in the crib, but K has decided otherwise. So many new and exciting things. But, also signs that our girl is growing up. No longer our little baby.

36 supporters in group:

  1. Anonymous said...

    Good luck! Cameron hated the cot so was 9 months when we moved him out!!

  2. ugagirl30 said...

    I hate those times--when the realization hits that they are no longer babies and you only have big kids. Baby K starts school today for the very first time ever. Of course it is a daycare type school but they do teach them. Such mixed emotions, but she has been in a big girl bed since she turned 2.

  3. Jill said...

    Wow - that's a really big step... really big deal. I almost cried when we took the little one out and put her in her own "big girl" bed (also on the floor for the first few months). Good luck with that. We still get a visitor every few nights - sometimes because she woke up and can't find her doll on the floor - other times because she just wants to snuggle.

  4. Unknown said...

    I find kids just have their own idea about how things are going to go...I know my dd was out of her crib at 18 months for climbing out also...

  5. Deb said...

    Awww...I was sad when the crib went! It was the end of an era. But, you're right. The climbing out is dangerous though. Hope the transition goes well.

  6. Anonymous said...

    I remember when the kids scaled the crib....but we never got further than 18 months either time. However, I woulda crapped myself if I awoke to the sensation someone was standing at my bed then said 'hi mommy'!!

  7. Lori said...

    You have reached another milestone in your life with not having a crib up in your house. That time is coming very soon in our house too. Of course I never dreamed that I would have a crib back up in my house in the first place...my youngest son, who is 19 started climbing out of the crib when he was a little over 1 so we said goodbye to the crib shorty after.

  8. Brittany said...

    OMG this is a big deal! I WISH I could get my kids out of my bed...but they ALAWAYS end up there, breathing hot air on me, kicking me in the back.

  9. Sue Wilkey said...

    But the unspoken question is: Are you KEEPING the crib?????????

  10. Kelli @ writing the waves said...

    Oh, how I miss the crib. My son started climbing out a few months ago, before he even turned two! Since then we've gotten a twin mattress and transformed his room into a big boy room. It was tough for me...I'm still not quite used to it. And unfortunately with this new bed, he has found new freedom...so we had to put a gate at his door to prevent night wandering....now if there was something I could do to prevent night waking. :P

  11. queen foodie said...

    I bet you J will be stoked to have her own room. Has she started talking about how she wants to decorate it?

  12. Jo-Jo said...

    Since I have a kink in my shoulder from last nights "hi mommy" I understand. I am anxious to hear how the sleeping goes from here!

  13. Rochelle said...

    Sad, I know. For some reason getting rid of the cribs was very sad for us too.

    If you need a bed rail, let me know. I think we still have one.

  14. Jamey said...

    Big Girl bed time! Always comes too fast.

  15. Ali said...

    My 4 year old has his own room and toddler bed (which converts back to a crib) but prefers to sleep with his big brother in his big full size bed. We just recently put the railing back up to convert it back into a crib because our newborn niece came for a visit. It's so nice having that crib set up again--it's putting ideas into my head!

  16. Insane Mama said...

    Throw the piesze out, heck, burn it! It's a celebration... A new phase. No diapers, no crib! Ok, Fine, you can be a little sad.

  17. Rebecca said...

    Uh oh...the big change!

    I hope it all goes smoothly and K settles into her new bed nicely.

    Hopefully no more 2am visits to you too! :)

  18. Susiewearsthepants said...

    I sent my baby off to 5th grade this morning. It made me really sad. It's funny, I had the same thought you did, it really is going to fast. I am not ready for them to grow up.

  19. Nessa said...

    Wait!! You actually get to sleep without kids??? I swear my kids have no issue with flopping down on my bed and going to sleep. My oldest came home from Missouri Tuesday and the next night i woke up at about 2 in the morning and he'd come and got in the bed with me. He was sleeping at the foot of the bed with his legs hanging off lol. HE'S 21!!!! I mean i sleep in tshirts and pj bottoms so i'm always appropriate, and he said he was hot in his room so that was why but good lord!!! The 12 year old is bad about it too. I don't know how i haven't kicked one in the head yet. And then when they do this i have to sleep in a little ball so i on't stretch too far and push them off. Drives me nuts.
    Good luck with the munchkin too. They know when they're ready and it's never when we want them to be lol.

  20. Jaime said...

    My 3 year old was NEVER in a crib. She hated it. So she slept with me when she was a baby and then moved to the toddler bed. She's now in the bottom bunk below her sister.

    And she STILL roams and gets into bed with me. We're working on it, but it's been a slow process because she's my "baby."

    Good luck!

  21. carrie said...

    All of my kids were crawling up and out before they were 18 months old. Seriously, those toddler beds were used way before I really wanted them in them, but you know - safety first.

    Good luck transitioning her, the good thing is she has her big bro and sis to look at for an example of sleeping in a big girl bed and hopefully that helps! :)

  22. Our Crooked Tree said...

    We just got rid of The Babe's crib last week. He is only 20 months and decided a couple of months ago he was done. Woke up 3 times one night and would not sleep unless he was in the "bed, bed, bed". It is bitter sweet

  23. Jenni said...

    Oh it's a bittersweet thing...getting rid of the crib!

  24. Petra a.k.a The Wise (*Young*) Mommy said...

    I am so nervous about the day when my daughter can climb out of the crib. She is pretty tiny (and only 2) so I am praying that it is a long way off. Not only do I want to say goodbye the the crib days, but I can only imagine how she is going to react when she realizes she can just get up and come find mommy and daddy when she is supposed to be trying to sleep--YIKES!

    Good luck to you in the transition!

  25. Sue Wilkey said...

    Hey thanks for the mention at MomDot!!!! I just surfed over there from Dette's place and there I am. You're the best.:)

  26. Kristen Andrews said...

    Will never slept in our oh so expensive crib, that turns into a full size bed. I so envy the folks that could get their kids to sleep in a crib, at 14 months he was climbing out! ugh.

  27. Gem said...

    My son slept fine in his crib and we decided to transition him to a toddler bed since I need the crib for the pending arrival of #2... But whenever I see him in his bed I think "he's growing up so fast..."!

    They do grow up so fast don't they?! Good luck w/the transitioning!

  28. Tena said...

    Good luck! This is one of the hard parts of being a mama, when they start outgrowing the things that define them as babies to the outside world, but she will always be your baby!

  29. flickrlovr said...

    I'm sure it feels bittersweet...I remember when the little boy I used to babysit got moved out of his crib (directly into a king-sized bed, rails all around, in his own new bedroom) when he was about 1 (and his newborn sister arrived). The new baby moved right into his old room and his old crib, and he slept just fine in the new big boy bed from then on-something I totally wasn't expecting! (He was a super easy-going, laid back kid though, so I think his parents figured rather than spend the $ on a new crib, why not stick him in his own bed). It worked for them. But I also know a family who just moved their toddler out of his crib and into bunkbeds and he's almost 3. So to each their own :)

    Good luck with the transition! Hopefully K will be totally chill about the move and not mind a bit. Keep us posted!

  30. Carissa(GoodnCrazy) said...

    Awwww. It helped when we were at that stage, when I found a mom expecting twins who could sooo use our old and well loved crib!

    I love toddlers though!

  31. Anissa Mayhew said...

    Oh it goes by so quickly, doesn't it? I remember when my middle daughter was about 18 months and she was supposed to be napping, only she started yelling "help! help! I tuck, mama, I tuck!"

    She was belly on the railing, holding the posts like a little baby koala with her legs wrapped around the rail for dear life, too scared to finish climbing over and too scared to just fall back in.

    Is it wrong that I had to laugh before I got her down?

  32. Rachel said...

    Awww -- I do NOT look foward to that day in our house! I love having a baby.

  33. Lisa said...

    That would be sad - they do grow up so, so fast! Make sure you keep that crib for grandbabies though!

  34. Marla said...

    jen...in so many ways i'm jealous...then i think about that wondering thing that happens when you move them out... thankfully C wants nothing to do with the "big boy bed"...for now...

    best of luck

  35. Linda S said...

    You will get so much joy out of the big girl days, that this will pass. I'm packing my oldest up to move into an apartment at college, handing her my "hand me down" furniture and decorating her "big girl place". There are so many fun times ahead for you!! It's all good!! I promise!

  36. Tenakim said...

    Just getting back to checking in and HOLY BLOGGING- I have a lot to catch up with you- you've posted like a gazillion times in the 4 days!

    Good luck with sleeping arrangements. When we got rid of the crib that the first 3 used, I gave it to an unwed teen mom to be- told her I 'was done'- three months late, we were buying another new crib!

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