Big Boy Room!

We transitioned Brennan into his "Big Boy Room" a week ago.  Overall, the transition has gone much smoother than anticipated, complete with a fair share of trial and error.

Prior to transitioning him, we talked about his new "big boy room" frequently.  Since we remodeled the room, we had plenty of time to talk about it!  We also played in his room occasionally before switching him.  Brennan helped us move his books and bedtime friends into his room for his first overnight sleep.  We completed his regular bedtime routine and he was quiet in his room for about 10 minutes before coming out, looking terrified.  With a few extra snuggles and songs, he fell asleep for the night.

Nap time the following day wasn't as successful. After multiple escapes and returning him to his room, we attempted a variety of strategies to get him to sleep--re-tucking him in, sitting in the room with him, locking him in his room (but Mr. Houdini unlocked it within seconds!), and putting a baby gate at his door.  He was having a grand time with his new found freedom!  After about 90 minutes, we gave up as we had plans to meet my best friend in Bowling Green.  Brennan barely made it out of the neighborhood before falling asleep in the car!

We decided to keep the baby gate in his doorway, taking it down after he fell asleep.  This resulted in Brennan coming into our room immediately after waking up in the morning, stating, "I don't want to sleep in there anymore!"  After a few days of this, and his wake up time being earlier each day, we decided to keep the gate up overnight.

To encourage him to stay in his room happily, we put toys in his room after he fell asleep.  Since he is able to reach his light switch, we tried turning off his ceiling light with the pull string.  The next morning, we heard, "Please turn on the light"  The next night, we left the light pull chain and only had to give minimal reminders to turn off his light.  Another morning, after a few minutes of fussing, Brennan asked, "You want to play with me please?" while sitting in front of his toys.  He also wants his door to be open.  After closing it one night after he fell asleep, we heard him around 4:15am, getting out of bed, stating "I want it open", opening his door, and going back to bed.

He's getting better each day and we're so proud of him!  Usually, he falls asleep quickly and rarely asks for us to come back to his room to tuck him in or sing another song.  He frequently falls asleep on the floor, taking all of his bedtime friends, pillow, and blankets with him.  We return him to his bed overnight--that's a long time to sleep on a hardwood floor!