big girl bed.

I have been racking my brain for a couple of months now about the oh, so big decision-- moving Audrey to a big girl bed in preparation for baby Naomi. I have been over-thinking everything about it, like any first-time mom. I used Facebook and Twitter to ask questions. When should I do it? Do I switch to a toddler bed or twin bed? How do I prepare her for it? (Seriously, I am an over-analyzer.) I received helpful information from other moms, but there was no one-way to do it or one right way. I am continually learning as a mom, that you have to do what works for you. And your family.

So anyway. After going back and forth from buying a twin to a toddler bed, we ended up with an extra-long toddler bed. We bought an Ikea toddler bed off of Craigslist (from someone I know- so I didn't feel all gross about the mattress). We have had it for a couple of weeks now, but didn't have the time to switch Audrey over yet. I think it worked out well having it around before she actually had to sleep in it- she was able to play and explore on it. And we talked about it a lot. Then we decided after we got back from our trip, we would switch her out of the crib and into the bed. She had been sleeping in so many different beds traveling, that we thought it was a good time to keep it up. So after traveling 6 hours in a car, at 9:30 at night, we put her big girl bed in her room and put her to sleep in it. And somehow she slept like a ton of bricks and didn't get up the next morning until 9. It probably could have turned out really sour for us, but she has done surprisingly very well. Even naptime has been fine. I am just waiting for her to discover that she can actually get out of bed without us being in there, so far she just yells for "mama" when she wakes and stays put.

Just shy of 21 months, Audrey switched over to the big girl bed.

Now I get to over-analyze the next upcoming challenges of being a mom: potty training and paci. Both of which, I am in no hurry to do for now.