Hellobee

It happened innocently enough.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and I placed Juliet down in her crib for her regular nap. Since my pregnancy has really kicked in, I normally take this time to rest/nap myself and let Drake watch some TV on his own. I got Drake set up with his snacks and show and left the gates open for him to come up if he needed anything. I checked the monitor and saw Juliet sleeping and laid down myself. A short time later I was awoken to Drake standing by my bedside. For some reason he didn’t want to watch shows much that day, so I gave him a list of things he could do including drawing or playing quietly in his room. Drake’s definition of quiet and mine seemed to differ, and a short time later I was once again woken up. I asked him to lay down with me quietly for a few minutes, and then we would get up and play together. As luck would have it somehow Drake, who rarely naps at five, fell asleep beside me, and so for a short time the entire family slept.

A short time later I woke up to hear what once again sounded like a child’s footsteps running and roaming around downstairs. I looked over to see Drake still asleep beside me. I walked into the hall and that’s when I spotted Juliet’s door was open. Upon entering her room I saw a small pile of blankets and stuffed animals in the corner of her crib. Following a small trail of toys I found myself downstairs inspecting each room until there in the playroom, standing in her toy chest, was Juliet happily playing and delighted to see me! Of course this was shocking, though Juliet clearly had a grand adventure.

After Mr. Chocolate returned home and I relayed the story, he insisted that it was now time to convert the crib. He was too worried about Juliet attempting the climb again and hurting herself. This was entirely new territory for all of us as Drake was not a climber. We converted him over to a toddler bed at 3 years 3 months, more for his age than anything.

After her next nap we took off the side rail. At first Juliet seemed delighted by the change. Drake and Juliet jumped in and out of the bed gleefully. Mr Chocolate and I were thrilled; maybe this would be a smooth transition after all (famous last words of every parent).

At night time the whole family went to send Juliet off in her first night in a big girl bed. The moment we walked into the room and Juliet saw her bed again, the tears started. Mr. Chocolate placed her in her bed and she ran out crying. I lifted her in and the same thing happened. Drake got into the bed and tried to get her to come in, but she stood at her door crying. We kept placing her in and trying to get her to lay down. We read stories, we sang songs, we laid on the ground but nothing would convince Juliet this was the place for her to sleep. Finally after about an hour I could see she was starting to get tired, probably worn out from both the crying and the fact that it was now almost an hour and a half past her bed time. I shooed everyone else out of the room and placed Juliet in her bed and cradled her in my arms as I laid beside her. I turned on her Violet dog and stroked her cheeks, kissed her, whispered to her, and slowly watched her drift off to sleep.

The next day, 5:45 AM precisely, I was woken up by cries and screams over the baby monitor and before I could even get my bearings and sit up, there was a little jiggle at our door as a crying Juliet entered the room. I tried to get her to go back to her room but with her hysterics and my fear of waking Drake up so early, I ended up letting her sit in our bed playing with my phone while Mr Chocolate and I tried to eke in just a bit more sleep.

Figuring she had a late night and and an early morning nap time ought to have been easier (famous last words again!). At her usual nap time I placed Juliet in her bed once again and was met with resistance. At one point I left to check on Drake and Juliet followed me out of her room and stood at the top gate crying. Eventually I got her to lay down with her pacifiers and stuffed pig, and as long as I stayed near her she laid in the bed quietly. After an hour past her normal nap time I simply had to leave to check on Drake and do other things. I could hear Juliet crying once again, but she surprisingly stayed in her bed and shortly afterwards she fell asleep in her bed. I was worried that these changes would affect her sleep, but thankfully she napped her regular 2 1/2 hours before once again emerging from her room in a mess of tears searching for me and Drake.

Truthfully at this point I was ready to throw in the towel. I was terrified we were ruining Juliet’s good sleep patterns, and the last thing I needed was two children roaming the halls at all hours when I have a newborn expected in a month’s time. I started to google, ask forums, call friends, anything to find out what the solution to this was. I got many mixed answers to this ranging from stick it out, switch back to the crib, etc. But the one I heard that appealed the most to me was turning Juliet’s crib around so that the back part, which is higher, faced outwards preventing her from climbing out. I called Mr Chocolate immediately saying this was the answer. Mr Chocolate, who was staunchly in the no going back camp, conceded this might work.

That night we turned Juliet’s crib around and placed her in it. She was hysterical. She didn’t try to climb out but she was also very unhappy with yet another change in her bed routine. Mr. Chocolate became concerned she might become wedged between the wall and crib somehow, so after watching Juliet cry for ten minutes we moved the bed around. It was then that Mr. Chocolate suggested changing out Juliet’s door knob so she couldn’t open it. He said eventually she would adjust to the new bed if we gave her time, but this would solve my fear at least of her roaming the halls all night. After double and triple checking her room in every manner of babyproofing, we switched out Juliet’s door knob and once again placed her in bed. I stayed with her til she was drowsy and then got up to leave. She immediately sat up crying again and when she reached her new door I heard her fumbling with it. Oh the tears, on both ends. I watched in the monitor as she ran back to her bed crying and within a few minutes she was asleep.

The next morning I woke up to hearing Juliet stirring in her bed. I watched the monitor as she sat up and assessed her room. On and off I would check the monitor waiting to hear her cries, which never came. I watched her play in her bed with her toys, read books, do some puzzles and generally play contently in her room as she had in her crib previously. After observing her on and off for half and hour, and hearing Drake waking up in his room, I got up and went to Juliet’s room. Juliet was delighted to see me and start her day, and I was thrilled that she had slept until her normal wake up time and hadn’t woken up in tears as I had feared she would.

We are now in the slow transition of getting Juliet adjusted to her new bed and room situation. We had already planned to transition Drake to a larger twin bed, but this has been a nice jumping off point for us to start the talk with Drake, who is also hesitant about this new change coming up. Most nights I still lay with Juliet for short periods of time, turning on her Violet music to signify it’s bed time, and helping her gather her piggy and pacifiers. Juliet has rolled out of bed twice now, though not enough to wake her up. When I move her it wakes and upsets her, so we plan on putting in a bed rail in to prevent that (Drake’s old one as soon as his new bed is set up), and perhaps add a little security back into Juliet’s bed to help her adjust.

I have also debated whether we should place a night light in her room, something she’s never had before, as I’m not sure if it will aid her in any way. Juliet seems to be developing an attachment to a stuffed pig I bought for her birthday, so this might develop into her first lovey. With this new change I am even less likely to take away her pacifier, something I was debating before the baby’s arrival, but now is off the table until she is more comfortable.

This wasn’t my ideal timing to make such a large change to Juliet’s life and routine at such a young age, especially a month before a newborn will enter our lives. I feel Juliet is too young to understand these changes, so I am allowing myself to comfort and stay with her as she drifts off to sleep. I have been trying to keep her busy and active during the day as well as pushing nap a little later to help her be more tired. Overall I think we have been doing an ok job, and I hope that as the days continue there will be less tears and eventually easy acceptance of this new situation. Watching Juliet adjust to this life rocking change (in her mind) has reminded me not only of how small and young she still is in many ways, but also to be more patient, present, and understanding in general with both my children, as time is fleeting and changes come along quicker than we realize. In some ways I do wish this transition had happened later, for Juliet and my own sake. But I also can’t see a better way to spend Juliet’s last days as a baby as when I get to snuggle up to my little baby girl, watching her drift off to sleep in my arms once again like she did when she was a newborn. Blessings find a way to come disguised it seems.