Operation Big Boy Bed- Night 1

It's about 9:00. Evan cried for 10 minutes then fell asleep in his new toddler bed. Slept of for 45 minutes and is crying again. I patted his back and he went to sleep but as soon as I left the room he was at it again. This is going to be a long night.

We decided to start the transition now because we don't want to buy another crib or try to transition after the baby is here. I don't want to spark up any jealousy or possessive issues or make things harder than they need to be. We got Evan a toddler bed from Amazon since I wasn't pleased with the crappy choices in the store. It's a great frame and matches our current furniture, too. We had to buy another crib mattress since that's what fits the toddler bed but the bed holds up to 50 pounds so he can use it for a while.

I'm hoping things won't be awful for too long since he is good at taking naps on his mat at school. We had to use a gate on his bedroom door. I had a terrible nightmare that Evan came out of his room in the middle of the night and the dogs mistook him for an intruder. It was a sign. It'll prevent the dogs from going in to his room and bugging him. Also, I can picture Evan getting up before us and playing in the cat box. Not cool. Plus, since he is too young to follow directions well (stay in your room) this will help him understand that night-night time means you stay in your room.

I'm hoping by Monday night, things will settle down. We'll see!

Update: He did sooo good. Much better than I anticipated. I thought we'd be up the whole night. He was up at 9:00 and again at 2:30. At 9:00 I patted his back and he went back to sleep. I wasn't so lucky at 2:30. I tried to pat his back for 45 minutes but he wasn't going back to sleep. I kissed him and said "night-night," and left the room. He cried and I stood around the corner feeling horrible. He cried for a couple of minutes and walked back to his bed. He slept until 7:30! I heard him get up and play a little before yelling for us. I made sure to make a big deal about him doing such a good job. I went in with a big smile and gave lots of hugs and kisses while telling him how proud I am of him. He was all smiles.