BIG GIRL BED

So we had not implemented a real bedtime before Shade started public school for several reasons. First of all, if my kids went to bed early, they got up early. So that meant that if we wanted to stay up later than them, we would have to still get up early. Second, since Kellen got home late ALL the time, he would hardly ever get to see his kids. And finally, since we home schooled Shade, there was no real reason to get up early. So the kids always went to bed the same time as we did - usually around 9:30 or 10:00 (but then they would often sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning). But when public school started, we decided to do an earlier bedtime. 8:30. That meant starting the bedtime ritual around 8:00. We were really nervous about how Olive would handle it since she would be going to sleep by herself now. The first night she cried herself to sleep, about 15 minutes. The next night only about 5 minutes. The next couple nights she just whimpered right before we laid her down, but then she went to sleep. Then after that, she would go down no problem. And they usually sleep until 7:30 or 8:00.

So, in anticipation of having a new baby in a few months and not wanting to buy a new bed, we decided to switch Olive over to Shade's bottom bunk early so she could have enough time to adjust. I suppose we were expecting the worst. But it actually worked out really well. Kellen had gone to the store while I was sleeping on Saturday (I had worked the night before) and picked up some "girly" sheets (Frozen) and blanket (Disney princesses) for Olive as well as a guard so she wouldn't fall off the mattress. That night he took Olive in Shade's room and let her help him put on all the new bedding while making a big deal about her "new" bed. She absolutely loved it! One of her favorite shows is Frozen. She often walks around the house or sits in the car singing "Let it goooo... let it goooooo..." So she LOVED the pillowcase with Anna and Elsa on it and kept cuddling it :) So needless to say, she transitioned very well to sleeping in a new bed that night. We only had one mishap where she woke up around 5 am and I guess she didn't remember where she was and tried to crawl out of bed looking for us and fell onto the floor. But I just went in there and hugged her better, then put her back in her bed under her blanket, and she fell right back asleep! And the next night, no problems at all! I mean, things we haven't anticipated are bound to pop up, but I am glad she is actually excited to sleep in Shade's room. One less thing to worry about for baby #3!