Soooooo I think it is time for Izzie to upgrade to a larger bed. Everyone keeps telling me that if she tries to climb out, she is ready to move up. Our crib is particularly tall, and our child has particularly Sabrina-esque legs, so she doesn’t try to escape. She does, however, show interest in sleeping in a larger, more comfortable bed like “June” does. She does get stuck in weird positions sometimes and I know she would like more room. My pediatrician said anytime now she could make the switch and it would be fine for her. BUT WHAT ABOUT FOR ME.
Here are my concerns:
-She loves her crib. Seriously, sometimes she is so tired and happy to get in it, she giggles.
-She doesn’t always sleep through the night, remember.
-How will I ever keep her inside the bed.
-What will prevent her from getting out and walking around at night.
-And also the sleeping through the night thing.
-Will this ruin her naps.
-Will this ruin any sleep I have remaining before the Ninja is born.
We totally have a twin bed for her in the garage, ready to go. I would like to take her crib down completely and put it away before the new baby needs it, that way shes not all, “Mom, he gets all your time AND my bed? I DON’T THINK SO.” Ideally, I’d like to get out the bed frame, have her help us put it together, put her new adorable sheets on it, etc. so she gets all excited. That’s about as far as my plan goes… then what. Put her in it and hope for the best? I’ve heard of people just going in and putting the kid back in the bed every two minutes for hours/days on end. Or putting a child lock on the INSIDE of the door. The thought of sweet baby Izzie sobbing and hanging on a locked door knob makes me want to throw up. Should I just not worry about it yet? I’m mean, she has to switch eventually- we need the crib for the ninja plus she won’t fit in it that much longer anyway. She seems ready but also like I can’t believe I am discussing this topic already. I’m thinking it might be harder to have her transition once the new baby comes, one more big change for her to deal with. Plus I’m not sure if I can handle new baby feedings and Isabelle running wild at all hours of the night, you know?
but for reals guys, how can this baby possibly need a bigger bed??
the sorensen six 
I am a keep them in the crib as long as you can believer. Hence the 3 cribs we own in our house for the 4 children we have! :)Good luck with the transition. I am sure it will go great!:)
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My copious (possibly unwelcome) opinions after making the transition:- The crib isn't hurting her or you. If she likes it and wants to stay, there is no crib police peeking in the window, so you have to get rid of any feeling of having to switch her because of obligation to vague societal rules. If she loves her bed and is a bad sleeper, messing that up might be too much stress on a pregnant lady. – The crib CAN hurt her when she starts trying to climb out, so you may not have the choice about doing it on your own schedule if you wait. Once she starts hopping, it's utter wreck and ruin at bedtime and nap time. I think there is some value to making the switch under your terms. – We built Duggle's bed, and he helped put it together, set it up, and make it with his fancy new star bedding. It really, really helped for us. We tried converting the crib to a toddler bed first, and it was a HUGE fail. He thought it was so stinking funny that someone messed up his bed, and he would take 2 hours to fall asleep. The twin was a much better solution for us.- Another trick that still helps today was putting glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. Every night we sing Twinkle Twinkle, and he gets in bed excited for the lights to go off so he can see them glow. Might not work for every kid, but for $3 at Wal-Mart we couldn't be happier. – We do have a lock on the door so he can't get out, but we really don't use it often. He knows it's there, though. We didn't put that on right away, only after he started climbing into Dot's bed at 5am to wake her up. If Izzie does that with your newborn, you will not be so worried about her hanging on the knob anymore as you will probably be full of murderous, sleepless rage.- I think being able to transition her with a wide berth of the birth is very important. The new baby will really rock her world, even if she doesn't show it, and I really believe we as adults don't give enough respect to a toddler's need to process. Like, if I were to move to a new city I would probably take a few weeks to “settle” before finding a playgroup. My opinion is that you should either do it soon or wait until the new baby has been around a while. Will the Ninja be sleeping in your room in a bassinet like Iz? In that case you might just do the whole nursery without the crib for a while and let her make an event about giving her little brother her old bed? I dunno.Hope I've said something of use.
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I have always been a “do it on my terms, not out of necessity after an injury” believer. I agree that having the toddler help assemble the bed helps. Max is 17 months old and in a crib, but he's a climbing maniac, so I doubt he'll stay in it much longer. We have always had child knob locks on our kids' doors until they are potty training & need to be able to relieve themselves in the middle of the night at times. It took a bit of getting used to and a few tantrums, but eventually, all of my kids accepted it. Although it's scary, sometimes it's best to just dive in and work through the struggle. (Especially BEFORE you're in the new baby adjustment phase.) As a mother of 4 kids, 3 of whom have been very clingy/moody/bad sleepers/etc, I sometimes feel like I could write a book containing all the knowledge I've gained. RULE #1 of parenting… take all advice with a “grain of salt” and do what feels right for your family.
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I am sure that Izzie will do great with whatever you do! As with everything there are good nights and bad nights. Tanner did better in the beginning then he does now. (We just threatened his life tonight if he came out.) 🙂 Garrett looked at that picture of Izzie and said that is just how he remembers her!
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