Big Boy Bed

So i figured I should write about our experience with Ethan being in a big boy bed! Basically the week after Ethan turned 2 we decided to switch him to a big boy bed so that he could get used to not being in a crib by the time the baby comes. I didnt want him to feel like the baby is taking his bed from him and not be happy about it. I also want Ethan to be back to a normal schedule of sleeping before the baby comes so that we dont get even less sleep than what we will be getting when the baby arrives. So we switched him. We took the front panel off of the crib and added the little guard rail. For the first night we decided to leave the bumper pads on just to help him not fall off of his bed since he moves so much. That night went great! He went right to bed and didnt wake up all night. Then in the morning we heard him cry. It was not a normal I am waking up before I really should cry it was a kind of terrified cry. So Brandon and I imediately thought "Ethan fell out of bed" so Brandon went into get him and through the monitor I could hear Brandon laugh and then ask if Ethan was alright. So I got up and went in to check out how things were going. Brandon then told me that when he got in the Ethan was hanging upside down between his bed and the bumper pads with his head still above the ground and his feet straight up in the air. Man what a way to wake up! haha Poor kid! He then took a good nap later that day and for the next two nights he did really well. Then all heck broke loose! He started fighting going to bed. We would put him down and he would come out crying and then we would do it again and again until we would hold his door shut so that he could go to sleep. It would take about a half hour to get him to finally go to sleep and normally when we held the door shut he would end up falling asleep somewhere on the floor in his room. Then in the mornings we would find him different places. The first morning that he came out of his room we found him laying on Brandon's computer chair. He was not asleep but he was just laying on it. He probably would have fallen asleep if we had not come out of our room to see where he was. It was pretty funny.

Here are two other places that I got pictures of..

In front of our bedroom door fast asleep.

and right in front of the gate by the stairs fast asleep, and yes his head is covered completely by his blanket! Silly boy!

So needless to say it has been interesting. He will get up in the middle of the night and come out and say, "MAMA where are you?" while he is crying and so we get up and go put him back to bed. Some nights he gets up multiple times and just comes out crying wondering where we are, and then he wants to cuddle. He has become a little cuddle bunny. He never was much for cuddling but now that he is in a big boy bed he wants to cuddle before bed every night and then in the middle of the night I think he wakes up just because he wants to find us and cuddle again. Yes it is cute sometimes but not at 2 and 5 in the morning! haha He also has been getting up at 5:30 sometimes and 6:30 most of the time. Sometimes he makes it till 7 which is nice. I just want him to sleep until he is ready to wake up and be happy because he has been a grump with not getting as much sleep as he was in his crib. Although he does still have a TON of energy! I dont know where he gets it all! So with getting up early in the morning and taking 30-45 minute naps it has been a mad house! The only plus side with Ethan waking up earlier is that we are able to have breakfast with Brandon in the mornings. So that has been pretty nice to be able to see him before he goes to school! Hopefully thought Ethan will break past this phase soon and start sleeping better or we might just go insane! So anyways, that has been our experience with a big boy bed so far! Wish us luck that it gets better soon!