Big Boy Bed

You might remember I went through another of my shopping obsessions back in the middle of the year about toddler beds, the pros and cons, should we just take the rail of the cot blah blah blah. Well I bit the bullet months ago and put a toddler bed, mattress and baby gate on layby… which had to be finalised this week.

I knew it was coming, the pile of payment receipts shoved into my wallet reminded me, so for the last week or so we adjusted his bedtime routine, gave him a bit more freedom and tried our best to make bedtime the best time. Aidan let me know he was ready too and it was harsh. Since he was born I snuggled that little button after his feed and popped him in bed, occasionally I let Steve do the honours because I didn’t want to be greedy but honestly, bedtime was my favourite part of the day. My always energetic little dude got all squishy and lovey-dovey and gave me kisses and hugs without being prompted. Just prior to changing his routine he decided he didn’t want me anymore… he wanted Dadda. 

He’d push me away. Dadda had to take him to the toilet, Dadda had to read him books, Dadda had to give him his bottle… I was out of the game, my little baby was a boy and he was letting me know about it. I can tell you now, I cried my friggin eyes out. I’m not a helicopter mum, I’m not precious and I give him freedom to be himself but it really hurt, like cut my heart out hurt. I didn’t even want to blog about it. I didn’t want advice or sympathy because I knew it was Aidan growing up and thankfully I wasn’t too self involved to notice.

So, as I mentioned earlier, we changed his routine around. He has a little step stool to get up to the toilet and to brush his teeth. He uses his little table and chairs when drawing or eating small snacks. The change table is packed away and things he uses everyday (hat, shoes, etc) are all at his level. It’s not radical stuff but it’s progress and he’s really blossoming. The tantrums have minimised because of the changes and because he’s calmer his words are clearer and everyone is happier… I’m also no longer rejected which is just lovely.

Aidan helped Dadda build the bed while I moved the room about and removed any hazards and excess toys. I know making Aidan involved in the process helped immensely. He was so proud and knew straight away that it was his little bed, you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face if you tried… I’m pretty sure Steve and I were grinning ear to ear too. He had his bottle, gave us both a hug and kiss as normal and then Steve tucked him into bed and he didn’t move an inch. Steve installed the baby gate onto his bedroom door once he was asleep for our own peace of mind, I don’t think we would have slept otherwise.

That said I didn’t get much. At 2am he woke up and freaked out just a little. It took about an hour or so to get him back to sleep. He didn’t try to get out of his bed, he just kind of tossed and turned. To be honest I think he just had gas from the sausages we had for dinner. I just sat by his bed and waited for him to go back to sleep. Eventually he did and I snuck back to our bed and passed out. Aidan woke up at 8am and stood at his gate and told us to wake up, you know, in the polite way a toddler does. We’re very proud and hopefully tonight goes even smoother.

He’s 16mths tomorrow, it just blows my mind how young he is but seems to act like a 16 year old sometimes. Next he’ll be demanding to get a tattoo and trying to convince me that buying a drum kit would be an awesome idea (although he does have really good rhythm) but that’s a story for another day…