While I’m not really losing sleep with Lil’ Pizza like I am with Baby Pizza, I’ve come to accept that as a parent of a young child, you are consumed with all things related to sleep not only when they are babies but also as they grow older. Here’s what I have been thinking about related to sleep for my newly turned 3 year old.
“But I’m not tired!”
I’m not sure when naps will completely phase out of Lil’ Pizza’s life, but I get sad just thinking about it (purely for selfish reasons). I think the day is approaching faster than I’d like to admit. There are days when Lil’ Pizza will be in her room talking and singing to herself for over 30 min and then suddenly she will start yelling, “I’m not tired!” over and over again until I come into her room. Those days feel extra long without her napping. Thankfully, I still have days when she naps for a solid two hours.
She’s still in a crib
Earlier this month, Lil’ Pizza turned three. She is so chatty and is my big girl, growing every day in independence and confidence…but she still sleeps in a crib. I know it bothers Mr. Pizza because he is always asking me when we should transition Lil’ Pizza out of the crib (which is his way of really asking when I am ready to make the switch). It does seem strange that my “big girl” is still in a crib, but I imagine naps gone indefinitely and Lil’ Pizza coming to our room early in the morning to start her morning chatter. From when she was about 18 months old, Lil’ Pizza jumped out of the crib about once every four months. We would talk to her about how unsafe it was and how she could get hurt, and then it wouldn’t happen again for another few months. She hasn’t climbed out recently, but every night she climbs into her crib herself. We borrowed a mini crib for Baby Pizza, and I can tell the time will be coming soon when it’s probably better for her to switch to a bigger space as well. Should I make the jump and transition Lil’ Pizza to the toddler bed now even if there is nothing urgent that is forcing me to make the change? (Can you tell I have been dragging this one out as long as I possibly can?)
Diapers at night
Lil’ Pizza has been potty trained since 27 months but she still wears diapers at night. While I was potty training her, I had read how I needed to be all in and stop using diapers for naps and night time, but I couldn’t make the leap (who wants to wash wet sheets when I can avoid it?). Her diaper at nap time even took some time until it was consistently dry. I’m surprised how full her diaper can be when I get her in the morning. Her pediatrician wasn’t concerned and I’m not too concerned with it either…just yet. I am looking forward to the day we have one girl out of diapers completely!
Drawn out bed routine
It feels like her bedtime routine gets more and more drawn out these days. Unless I am very strict with her, she’s always asking for more books to be read, more stories to be told or more food to eat. Nowadays, after a few books read to her and a few stories told to her (she loves storytelling), I will just have to quickly close the door and say, “I love you, good night, no crying.” Every night, as I am about to close her door, she’ll yell out “one more please!” And I’ll comply if I’m not too tired.
The one thing she can’t be without
Lil’ Pizza LOVES her blanket. Sometimes if she hasn’t it seen it in awhile, she will run to it and get all giddy. She’s named it “Edwin” after the cat from the book, Olivia. Before Baby Pizza was born, she liked having any of her Aden and Anais blankets but slowly she became attached to one very specific one. My friend gave me another blanket that had the same pattern, but Lil’ Pizza got upset when I casually tried to switch it out to wash her blanket. She even had to name the other blanket Edwina to show that they are different (she claims it’s Edwin’s sister). Lil’ Pizza needs to sleep with it and also takes it everywhere we go, which makes washing it pretty difficult. I’m often faced with tears every time I need to wash her blanket.
She was beyond excited when I handed her blanket, Edwin, to her after it was washed.
. . . . .
What are you thinking about related to sleep with your child right now?
grapefruit / 4923 posts
i hear you on so many of these issues! i think my 3 year old just dropped his nap, which makes me sad. on the upside, we don’t have to worry about planning around his nap schedule on the weekends, or fighting to keep him awake in the car if we are close to nap time.
pomelo / 5628 posts
She and my son sound exactly the same! I am dreading the transition out of the crib…
coconut / 8279 posts
My son is 4 and we still use Pull-Ups for bedtime. We don’t have laundry and wet sheets would mean a trip to a laundromat. Full time working parents (I work days, DH works nights) don’t have time for that, lol
His toddler bed is still in our room even though he has a full sized bed in his room just because sometimes if he wants to come into our room and sleep in his toddler bed, it means that I’ll be able to sleep an extra couple hours.
nectarine / 2054 posts
Our 3 year old (and a bit…) is still in his crib too! I think for us it’s also tied to the naps issue.. he will also sing to himself and roll around in his crib during naptime, and he ends up falling asleep only half of the time, maybe. I think the downtime helps him, though. I know that as soon as we switch to a bed, he just won’t stay in the bed for his naps!
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
DS is turning 3 in a couple months and he’s still in his crib too. I’m scared to think what nighttime sleep will be like if he’s in a regular bed. Although, once when we were on vacation he did have to sleep on a twin pull out bed and he did very well. It also could have been because he was so tired from the day’s activities that he just knocked out!
We have, however, ditched the diapers completely and every now and then he does have an accident at night. But for the most part he’s good about letting us know he needs to go in the MOTN. DH thinks that transitioning him to a toddler bed will help with him going to the bathroom on his own. I beg to differ though!
cherry / 108 posts
My oldest is 2.5 years old and I have no desire to transition her out of the crib anytime soon. I’m right there with you in picturing her walking into my room (or the baby’s room…ahhhh!!!) in the middle of the night….no bueno. My best friend didn’t transition her son till after he was three. He just said one day he didn’t want to sleep in a bed with bars lol. They transitioned and it was seemless! Hoping that miraculously will happen for me when the time comes!
blogger / apricot / 431 posts
@edelweiss: Very true. It does help when we are out because I don’t stress as much if she ends up not napping or napping in the car.
@Beehive: I agree with you…it def is her downtime. Over the weekend, I decided to not put her in the crib at all and she had a meltdown in the late afternoon and just passed out on the floor. Haha. With her, even if she naps she still goes to bed about 30 min later than when she doesn’t nap….she takes longer to fall asleep but she will happily sing and talk to herself (sometimes for almost an hour) at night!!
blogger / apricot / 431 posts
@rachiecakes: Ain’t nobody got time for that! Haha. I do like the idea of the toddler bed in your room. A friend told me this is what she did too and it worked out really well…my room is a bit limited but we’ll see I may somehow make it work if I am desperate
@Mrs Green Grass: @Chicfro: Good luck when you decide to transition. I am thinking I should try to transition within the next two months. I just keep going back and forth about wheether I should wait til she completely stops napping but who knows when that day will be…we’ll see!
blogger / apricot / 431 posts
@jojepie: Does he just yell out that he has to go pee and you hear him (monitor? Or does it only happen earlier in the night?) She used to even poo in her diaper at naptime but wouldn’t say anything (even though she is very verbal)…which is why I am so nervous to just drop it completely. Hope he surprises you and your transition will be smooth (when you decide to switch).
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
@Mrs. Pizza: Sounds travels really well in the upstairs part of our house so he just calls us when he needs to pee. He didn’t really poop at night so that was never an issue. We always make sure to pee him right before he sleeps. Sometimes if I wake-up in the MOTN to tend to DD then I will pee DS. At times he will pee at 2am and then sleep until 6a, other times he’ll wake-up at 5a to pee and then insist on not going back to crib. I think that is what I am afraid of if he’s in a regular bed – that he will go to pee in the MOTN and then not want to go back to the crib. I guess we’ll see what happens when we decide to bite the bullet.
clementine / 878 posts
This is SO us at 3 years old too! And yes DD is so obsessed w/ her Aden and Anais blankets… as are so many other toddlers I know. A whole generation of adults will have floods of nostalgia every time they see Aden and Anais swaddle blankets. Heehee…
blogger / apricot / 431 posts
@gracecat: Haha your comment is so funny….I can totally see the group of adults and their dearly loved blankets.