Finally, on the Sixth Night...

So we made the big transition to Charlotte's big girl bed.  It started on Friday when the twin mattress was delivered.  We put it in the future nursery since we didn't have the headboard and footboard assembled yet. I made the mistake of showing Charlotte the mattress, and that was it. She was obsessed.  Charlotte made me pretend to be sleeping so that she'd run out of the room, close the door, open it and say "Wake up Mommy!"  Then she grabbed a handful of books, and we read stories.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that putting her in the crib that night was not going to fly with her.  Charlotte started having a fit, but not saying why.  I pulled her out of the crib, took her downstairs with me to calm her down, and then tried again.  Same thing.  So I took her with my to our bed, turned off the lights, and we lay there for awhile.  She was still upset. Finally, I tried a new tactic. I said, "Charlotte, your friends from playgroup are coming over tomorrow. If you go to sleep, you'll see them in the morning." To which she replied, "I show Elissa my big bed?" The lightbulb went off, "Oh, is that what you want? To sleep in your new bed?" "Yeah, Mommy! I do!"  So Chris and I pulled the twin mattress into Charlotte's room, placed it on the floor next to her crib, and hurriedly put the new sheets on it.  Charlotte immediately went to sleep, and we didn't hear a word from her until 7:30 the next morning.  Naptime was equally easy.  We were astounded. Surely, it can't be this easy.

Saturday night: more crying ensues.  I give Charlotte the option of sleeping in her new big girl bed or going in the crib.  Neither seemed to be the right choice.  I tried lying down next to her, but she just wouldn't go to sleep. I was starting to nod off, while she was making duck signs with her hands.  When I tried to get up to go, the sobbing started up again.  Chris tried his hand at it and made his escape just as she was falling asleep.  Five minutes later she wakes up because she can't find her paci. Hysterics start up again, so we wind up just putting her in her crib. It's 10:30. She's never stayed up this late, ever.

Sunday night: still more crying.  We try to make our escape, thinking for sure she'll get up and run after us. This is the crazy part. Despite the mattress being on the floor, Charlotte never once gets up and comes out the door. She cries for about twenty minutes.  When I check on her later, her head is at the foot of the mattress, but she's still on it. She must have it in her head that she can't leave the bed once she's in it. It's cute but hilarious at the same time.

Monday night: about 15 minutes of crying.  Charlotte still never gets up off her mattress. Chris goes in the next morning to see her reading in bed and smiling.

Tuesday: we finally get around to disassembling the crib and assembling the new bed and the toddler rails I scored for $10.  Charlotte is so excited that she jumps around the room, calling "my bed, my bed!"  We read stories in bed, she cries for a few minutes, and goes to sleep shortly thereafter.  We find her sitting up at the foot of her bed.  She immediately gets off the bed, but it's clear she hasn't left the bed yet.

Tonight - night six: Charlotte and I read stories in bed. Chris chases Tandy out of the room for the fifth time in ten minutes, we each give Charlotte a hug and a kiss, we tuck her in, Chris chases Tandy out of the room, one more time Charlotte giggles, and says "nigh-nigh." And that's it. Silence. We shut the door, Chris does a silent dance and fist bump into the air, and we head downstairs.

Success!

(By the way, we have a baby gate set up to prevent Charlotte from going down the stairs in the middle of the night.  We close it each night,, but like I said, she doesn't leave her bed once she's in it. Crazy girl. I wonder how long it will last until she figures out that she has complete freedom to roam around).