Big Boy Bed Update

So, let me just say, this has been the easiest transition ever!  I don't really know what to attribute it to...the great advice I followed in how to switch him from crib to bed, the awesome new clock we bought or our sweet boy's laid back personality and desire to obey.

As you read in my last blog post, we started the transition, by having Judah take his naps in the big boy bed and still sleep at night in the crib.  After 5 days of very successful naps, we started doing our nighttime sleeps in the bed as well.  I will be honest, I didn't sleep very well that first night.  Not because he got out of bed, because he didn't.  It was my worry that he would get up and out and I wouldn't hear him!  After another 4 days of him sleeping at night in his big boy bed successfully, we took the crib out of his room all together and it is now officially set up in Audrey's room waiting for it's next occupant!

Before each nap time and nighttime sleep, we made a big deal about the fact that Judah was going to get to sleep in his "Big Boy Bed" and then explained very firmly that he wasn't to get out of bed or he'd be punished.  We told him he could get out of bed in the morning when he saw his new clock turn green.  Not once did he get out of bed before falling asleep. 

And after about a week, he had the concept down that he didn't get up or come out of his room until his clock turned green.  (Only one time, he came out about 15 minutes early, and I walked him back to his room, told him he had to wait till the clock turned green.  I laid him back in his bed with a couple of books, and my sweet 2 year old actually waited patiently until his light turned green.  I walked back in his room and said "Look it's green...you can get up now!)  After that morning he had it down.  In fact, a couple of mornings, I've heard him wake up early and be in there talking to himself and as soon as the clock turned 7:15am, I would hear his door open, and he would come out with a huge smile and excitedly say, "It's green! It's green!"   I profusely praise him for staying in bed until his clock turned green and we jump up and down and celebrate that it's time to get up for the day!

That clock is the best purchase I think we have ever made!!  Here's what it looks like when it's glowing green in the morning...

We had friends recommend a certain "Monkey" clock that will open it's eyes when it's time for the child to wake up, but I kept thinking, I wasn't sure if Judah would see the eyes, because we keep his room pretty dark.  I researched tons of different clocks and this one had the best reviews, and is great.  Also, Judah loves that if he presses on the right foot of the clock it tells him the time.  It's fun for him to hear the voice right now, but we have hopes that in the future with both the digital and analog clock it will help him to learn to tell time.

So, all that to say, the transition has been a success, and our little boy let go of one more vestige of babyhood.  We are officially in the little boy stage of life, just as we are about to enter the new and exciting world of having a baby girl!