You want to be a big girl? Wish granted.

Just a couple of days ago, I was freaking out that my 17 month old is already escaping from her crib. Like always, I took to Twitter and Facebook crowd sourcing for ideas. Should I move her to a toddler bed? Give her a serious talking to? Let her take our bed and we’ll sleep on the floor? (Kidding, people) I wrote that first post while she was sleeping in her crib, for her nap. I thought maybe I was freaking out for nothing. Maybe she would go ahead and stay in her crib, and only get out when she woke up. Ha! I am seriously funny.

I put her to bed that night, and thought we were golden. I was over-reacting, freaking out about nothing (typical). Three hours later, approximately 11:30 p.m., I heard her crying at the top of the stairs. Game on. I trudged up the creaky staircase, picked her up, and tried every trick in the book, except the most logical thing. I tried bringing her to our bed, where she proceeded to repeatedly kick my hubby in the head before sitting up and singing “wee wee bee bee doo doo da da bee bee…” It was really quite cute, but I was exhausted. So, we went to the couch. She rubbed her eyes, she yawned, she snuggled. I thought I had her. I sang our little nighttime song, “hush little baby, don’t say a word…” Finally, sleep took over. It was so peaceful. Too bad it was me that zonked out. I woke up to her “honking” my nose. This was a disaster.

Two hours later, I was desperate. I didn’t want to fall asleep and leave her to roam the house unsupervised. So, I took a suggestion from my original blog comment (thanks Crystal), and put a tall baby gate in her door. But I didn’t want her to not be able to get back in her crib when once she climbed out. Where would she sleep? The floor? Yes, she would sleep on the floor, on her mattress. I moved it to the middle of her room and explained to her, “you need to sleep here.” Then, I walked out.

It was one of the hardest things to do, but I had no other options. I put a sleeping bag down at the bottom of the stairs, in front of the roaring pellet stove, and attempted to sleep. But it was hard when 20-some feet away, my baby was screaming, “Mommy! No! No Mommy! Help! Help! Mommy! Help! Noooooo!” It was horrible. Awful. Pathetic. I cried. She cried. And then we both slept.

In the morning, though, she decided that a baby gate just wasn’t for her. So she scaled it. She wants to be a big girl. So that’s what I gave her. We took her crib apart, and turned it into a toddler bed. And after rocking her and reading books, I laid her down. “Goodnight, sweetie. You’re a big girl now. See you in the morning. Love you.” I walked out the door. Here’s what happened next. It was an incredible workout.

Screaming toddler chasing me from room.
“Goodnight sweetie. Back to bed. Love you.” (pick 30-lb toddler up, put her in bed)
Screaming toddler chasing me from room. 
“Goodnight sweetie. Back to bed. Love you.” (pick 30-lb toddler up, put her in bed)
Screaming toddler chasing me from room. 
“Goodnight sweetie. Back to bed. Love you.” (pick 30-lb toddler up, put her in bed)
Screaming toddler chasing me from room. 
“Goodnight sweetie. Back to bed. Love you.” (pick 30-lb toddler up, put her in bed)

Repeat 20 times, add in some biting, screaming and scratching, and that was my night. But you know what? She finally gave in. She got up once during the night, but only chased me to her door once, too. And tonight? She didn’t chase me at all. I’m a bit incredulous. Wasn’t this supposed to be more difficult? Wasn’t this supposed to take weeks of transitioning? Nope. I guess she really does want to be a big girl. So, I’ll grant her wish. (grumble, grumble)