Sleep in a big kids bed

We worked really hard to train Samuel to go to sleep on his own. I am proud of this. Sleep is so important for growing babies and it helps to keep mums and dads happier. I never really rocked Samuel to sleep because I was worried that being rocked would become his sleep-aid, which would result in him only falling asleep when being held or rocked. Samuels sleep-aid is actually his toy comforter, Lamby, and a toy glow worm that plays music for 10 mins while he falls asleep. We started Samuel with this routine when he was very little and it mostly worked, except for the nights that he was sick or teething. He could fall asleep anywhere that he could lay down and hold Lamby (the only time I found putting him to sleep hard was when traveling on a plane or when going to a mums and bubs session at the movies, otherwise putting him to sleep was a breeze).

But now all of this good work could change when we transitioned Samuel into his big-kid bed. A decision we made when we found out we were expecting Sebastian, instead of buying a second cot we would buy Samuel a bed he could transition into. 

I did some research to get tips on how to transition a 1 year old into a bi-kid bed. And, as usual, I found nothing helpful. It was clear that not many people had this problem, after all a 1 year old isnt a big kid! SIDS advises to only put children who are 2 and over into big-kid beds. Children under 2 should be in a cot. Fair enough, because they are too young to understand that they need to stay in bed and they might hurt them selves climbing in and out (not to mention protesting sleep by playing with toys in their room). But this only just made me more worried about transitioning him, until I saw that Sebastian at 8 weeks old was outgrowing the bassinet. I had to get started.

So I came up with a plan. This is what I did step by step to help Samuel transition into his big-kid bed all the while knowing that if it didn't work we would go to Ikea and buy a second cot.

I hope these steps helps others who might be in the same predicament I was in: 

1. Be clear and consistent about bedtime routines - dinner, bath, pjs, milk, brush teeth, read a book and down to bed at the same time every night - whatever you do, do it together and do the same thing every night. You want your kid to know that you love them and will spend time with them so they don't get separation anxiety when you put them down. You always want them to feel safe, and know that this is still a normal part of their day even though they are now going into a different bed. So get a clear bedtime routine before thinking about transitioning. 
2. Transition out of a sleeping bag - This is important. The little information I did find on transitioning a baby into a big bed is that they shouldn't be in a sleeping bag as it may cause injuries when they do try to move around. As tempting as it might be to try and restrict their movement, you don't want them to hurt themselves.
3. Get yourself a monitor for the new bedroom - This was one of the first things I did when I found out I was having Sebastian. I love being able to check that my babies are sleeping and knew I would need this for Sammy's big boy room.
4. Get them comfy in their new room or bed - I would play with Samuel in his new bed and bedroom, we taught him how to go up and down the bed, we read him stories in bed, play with some special toys. He clearly enjoyed being in that room and being on his bed. We also made his bed safe, we got steps and a rail for the bed so Samuel could easily get in and out of bed without falling. We made sure he was confident getting in and out before proceeding to step 5.
5. Offer a nap in the room - I did this on day 1 of the transition. Samuel protested twice. The first time he crawled out of bed and actually knocked over a lamp that I had near his bed (another note is to make sure there is nothing that the baby could pull down on themselves like lamps, curtains/blinds, picture frames, toys etc). I went in and calmly yet firmly told him it was bed time, took the lamp out of the room and put him back to bed. He stayed in bed for about 10 mins then crawled to the door and started crying. I did the exact same thing I did last time, I went in and calmly yet firmly told him it was sleep time and he had to go to sleep. 10 mins later he was out. (YAY)
6. Make the leap into the big-kid bed and be consistent about it - We decided that we were just going to continue to put him to sleep in his big-kid bed after his first successful nap. So on day 1 we put him to sleep in his big-kid bed for the night, again he protested twice, and I took the same approach as mentioned above. He finally fell asleep and slept all night. I was worried he would wake and come into our room but he didn't. Once he fell asleep I opened the door slightly so he could come out if he needed to. 

Today is day 8 of him sleeping in his big-kid bed, and so far it has been successful. If he really protested I think I would have tried to persist between 3-6 days before giving up. So what next? Sammy still needs to learn to sleep under a sheet (i've got no idea how to make him do that) and in a few weeks I'll transition Sebby out of the bassinet into his cot. Wish me luck with that transition. x