A Big Boy Bed for Our Littlest Babe

I am suddenly finding myself in the midst of an arduous transition, albeit one that suggests some advantages are just around the corner (this finds me fractious nonetheless)… soon enough we will encounter a budding personality, words that clearly convey a child’s needs and less waste filling up our landfills as we progress from disposable diapers to toilet training.

But right now I am mourning the loss of 13+ hours of uninterrupted slumber as our babe soundly slept tucked away in safety of his crib. Moving our babe to a big boy bed was an evolution I have seen coming for some time now. Nico unveiled his ability to climb out of the pac-n-play during a visit to Barb’s earlier this month. Shortly thereafter he put his new found escaping skills to work in his crib. I was eager to make the move to the bed out of fear – worrying he would harm himself on one his less than graceful descents out of the crib.

In my eagerness to rid myself of the last of our baby furniture and make Nico’s sleeping environment fit for the big boy he has become I failed to mentally prepare myself for the bedtime struggle that deep down I knew would undoubtedly ensue.

You see, we have gone from…

Reading books, saying a silent prayer, giving loves, bottles and binkies followed by 13+ hours of blissful sleep…

To…

Hours of encouraging our babe to lie down, demanding he keep the light off and return his toys and other potentially hazardous office supplies back to their rightful place, eventually tightly embracing our babe until he finally succumbs to sleep late into the evening… only to hear him rise in the wee hours of the morning.

Which leaves me exhausted and emotionally drained as I watch my babe struggle to understand his new surroundings, longing for the day he (hopefully) eventually realizes his big boy bed may not confine him but serves the same purpose as did the comforts of his crib.

I wouldn’t trade any of this for the world but when my vision of gently rubbing my sleepy babe’s back as he quietly falls asleep and learns to find comfort in his new bed, instead turn into a late night rendezvous, my patience wears thin. So for now I have resolved to find comfort in knowing this is all temporary – all too soon he’ll be going to bed without even a goodnight cuddle and I will indeed miss these days.