Big boy bed for Lijah

We got a little blue racecar toddler bed for Lijah last month and have been trying to transition him out of his crib well before baby #2 comes in September. Even though all of the advice out there says not to get in the habit of rocking your baby to sleep, we fell into that habit. And just like they all said, he would not fall asleep any other way because he was used to being rocked. This made for some long nights of having to walk around rocking an almost 30 pound limp little boy - and this was no fun for mommy. :(

When we first got the bed he wanted to push it around like one of his little Matchbox cars. He just wanted to play in it, not sleep in it. Since he had no interest in sleeping in his own bed - I decided to start letting him sleep with me for awhile so he could learn to fall asleep without being rocked, and that worked really well. Then it got to the point that every night he would turn sideways in the bed and start kicking me in the ribs, and he insisted that he use my arm as his own little pillow (yes, I had many nights of my arm falling asleep under the weight of his head). So then we decided to start to make the real transition.

The first few nights I would crawl into his bed with him, read some books, sing some songs, and stay until he fell asleep. He would sleep fine until he woke up, and then would need to come back into my bed. Then he caught on to what I was doing and refused to sleep at all, even with me laying in his bed next to him.

So I had to buckle down one day...and although I always told myself I would never do this....I put him in his bed, gave him a kiss, told him that I loved him, and quickly left the room and shut the door. Of course he cried, and he screamed, and he rattled the doorknob trying to get out. It broke my heart, but I knew it would be best for him in the long run. Finally after about a half hour of this he fell asleep.... Every night since then it has gotten better and better.

For the past few nights, we have read a few books, turned off the light, had some cuddles for a few minutes, and he was off to sleep - and slept through the night all by himself!