My toddler was a good sleeper. Her previous foster family told us that she was a good sleeper prior to her coming to live with us. It was true. We’d put Jessie in her crib, she’d flop over on her tummy and go to sleep. She’d sleep twelve hours most nights and took two naps during the day until after she turned two.
I wrote about Jessie’s Big Girl Bed about a month ago. We were ready to transition her to her big girl bed. Jessie was not ready for the transition. She kept getting out of bed. We knew that was a possibility and that staying in bed would have to be enforced. It turned out that we were old and tired and lacking the patience to walk her back for hours.
I went to Half Price Books with a list in hand. I researched authors I liked and Amazon reviews on books about toddlers and sleeping. Half Price Books didn’t have everything I was looking for, but I was very happy with the books I ended up buying: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child; Sleeping Through the Night: How Infants, Toddlers, and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night’s Sleep. The problem with the books, though, was that we had to read them when we wanted results yesterday.
My mother suggested a crib tent. I liked that the crib tent was designed to keep young climbers in bed and keep pets out. When bedtime came, she was not excited about being sealed in to her bed. I could see how that would be unnerving. Within two to three nights, she was back to sleeping without protest. She would even instruct us to zip the tent.
We still have to move her to her big girl bed, but can wait a while. I should have the books read by then.