Tag: sleep

Sleeping Arrangements

We have plenty of room in our new house.  We each have our own space and own bed, but that doesn’t mean a soon-to-be-4 year old can’t use her imagination.

I bought 2 booster seats recently (online of course) so we had a few big boxes laying around.  One of them got 2 eye holes cut out and is used as a box monster.  One got used as a present that we open up, revealing said soon-to-be-4 year old.  And the other?  It got taken upstairs and is now used as a bed.

Yes, Samantha is sleeping in a box.  She says she sleeps well.  I can’t really say.

On Friday night, we were all hanging out on the driveway.  As it got dark, Brian laid down and started gazing at the stars.  The next thing we knew, Samantha had run upstairs, pulled out her sleeping bag, pillow and animals and brought them all down.  She wanted to lay down too.  Since it was pleasantly cool, we told her that we’d try to camp out on Saturday night.

Well, Saturday came and was busy.  We didn’t get home until late, so camping didn’t happen.  Needless to say, she was ready for it on Sunday night.  But she didn’t understand what “school night” means.

Brian relented and set up her tent on the porch.  At first, she was not cool with the fact that we were going to sleep inside, but was soon calmed by “Let’s Talk” with Daddy.  We talked about coming inside whenever she wanted, and other such things.  We read a book using a flashlight, but then she asked for her night-night music.  I told her that the bugs would be her night-night music tonight.   Brian said he thought she’d stay out there for 15 minutes.  I thought she’d stick it out.  Brian and I walked by that kitchen window for the next few hours wondering what was going on in there, but we never saw the flashlight.  Finally, at 10, we opened that noisy, creaky storm door to check on her.  She was sound asleep.

At 5:55AM, I heard the door open and little footsteps run to the potty.  But then, back outside.  She was a trouper.  In the morning, I asked her how she slept, and she said “not good.”  I never got an answer why though.  We promised that we’ll all try it again soon.

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Big Girl Bed Update

Samantha has fewer things in her room these days.  We used to have mostly books, but a few toys in there too.  Because she can get into everything now, I have been removing unnecessary items from her room.  Some things (like all the clothes in the top 2 drawers of her dresser) will have to stay, but we’ll have to work through those battles as they come.

She has done very well in the new bed.  She has taken an afternoon nap both days this week.  Yesterday was a very late and short nap, so she woke up in a definite funk, but it was a nap nonetheless.  Last night, it only took her 1 – 1.25 hours to go to sleep, so it’s an improvement from the night before.  Brian put her down for her nap today, and it was a record 30 min!

The time change has messed up our household a little, so maybe that’s partially to blame too for the weird sleep schedules.

Samantha’s Big Girl Bed

I guess I need to be prepared for a no afternoon nap week.

Brian and I had debated about how to transition Sam into a big bed.  My thought was set up the bed, let her see it, talk about it for a few days, then move her over.  Maybe nighttime in the bed at first, but naps in the crib (for my own sake really).  I had been convinced to remove the crib after a few days, even if she wasn’t keen on the new bed.  Brian’s idea was put up the bed, take down the crib.  Boom.

Her bed arrived at our house (via Brian’s “awesome” new ride) on Saturday.  We had a lot going on that day already, so it sat in boxes.  We had been talking about a big girl bed for a while, but I didn’t know if she would associate herself with one.  She knows a few other kids with big beds, and even jumps on the babysitter’s daughter’s big bed.

When she woke up from her nap on Sunday afternoon, Brian arrived home with her new mattress (via Brian’s “awesome” new ride).  Sam was super interested.

We had talked about what kind of mattress pad we needed, but never actually bought one.  The time had come.  Amazon (where I buy most everything) had waterproof mattress pads for about $14.  Thanks – I’ll take two.  Brian wanted to leave the plastic on the mattress.  Ew.  Luckily for me, he bought a floor sample mattress so it didn’t have sealed plastic.  The salesman also convinced him that we needed a mattress protector (even fancier than a waterproof pad).  Thanks mattress man!

I got ready to go back to the mattress store to buy a protector.  Lately, Samantha is in a stage where it’s really hard if I leave her.  She wants me to be with her at all times.  So, she and I venture out in the rain.  The mattress store was closed, but luckily mattress man was still there.  I guess he felt sorry for a pregnant woman with her two year old in tow standing outside in the rain.  He cut me a better deal than the price on Amazon (even a put-it-in-your-cart-to-see-the-price deal) so I bought two.  Thanks mattress man!

When we got home, the bed was set up and the crib was gone.

For now, we’re using the bed stuff that I had in college.  I think that when we move into another house, we can decorate her room then.  Her favorite color is still blue, so I think it’s a great fit.

It took her about 2 hours to fall asleep last night.  We found her in various places each time we went in: sitting on top of her new nightstand, in the closet wearing slippers, etc.  Like I said, I guess I should be prepared for no naps this week.

By the way, did I mention how much Brian loves his new ride and talks about it?  It was raining all weekend during the hauling of the big items.  Nothing got wet, nothing was tied down, nothing was covered with a tarp (or tarpaulin, as my dad would say) and all arrived safe and sound.  Does someone else want to hear him talk about it?

And another by the way, I shot these pictures in manual.  It’s the first time I’ve ventured over to the “M.”  They didn’t turn out that bad!  I do stalk a few good teachers and mentors.