As my little boy is about to turn 2, I reflect on all of the millions of adjustments and changes we’ve made over this short amount of time. In the beginning it was stopping the overnight feeding. Then it was transitioning him out of being swaddled. Then it was starting solid foods. Then it was giving him food that he actually had to chew. Then it was getting rid of the bottles and going to sippy cups and milk. Then it was giving him real cups. I could go on and on and on…
I bring this up because we are entering yet another stage of changes. Most recently, we changed from living room naps on a cot to napping in his crib. I know this sounds strange, but because he naps on a cot in school, it was the easiest way to get him to nap at home on the weekends. He just didn’t seem to understand why we were putting him in his crib in the middle of the day. Like pretty much all of our transitions, it wasn’t easy and required a little crying on his part and willpower on ours. He now welcomes his naps as much as he welcomes going to sleep at 7:30p every night. The other change that we made, and this one makes me nervous, is giving him a pillow for the first time. My mother-in-law thought we were bonkers that we hadn’t given him one yet. Of course, thanks to the loving internet, I read stories about waiting to give them a pillow because of suffocation… yadda yadda yadda. I knew it was time when he was somehow bending his crib bumper down to have something to put his head on and when that didn’t work, he’d pile up his stuffed animals. This pillow is about the flattest pillow in the world so I have no idea why I’m so worried. The kiddo pretty much loves it and knew exactly how to sleep on it from the start (how do they know these things???). He now even sleeps the “correct” way- he was squishing his body the short way into the crib and no amount of growing seemed to be changing this habit. He still doesn’t get a blanket. He is a crazy sleeper- all over the place, so I imagine it wouldn’t stay on anyway, so why bother.
I’m trying to get myself prepared mentally for the next big transition which will be changing him into a toddler bed. We have a convertible bed, so it won’t be too much of a change other than the opportunity he’ll have to escape. I’m already making a list of all the dangerous things that will need to be removed from my inquisitive little boy’s room to make his, what I’m sure will be many, escape attempts when he moves to his new bed. We are thinking we have another good 6 months or so before this happens- he has shown no interest in trying to climb out of his crib, so we are going to stick with it as long as we can.
As with all of his past transitions, I’m sure in a week or two, we’ll hardly even remember what it was like before.
Moms- what was your most difficult transition with your baby in the first 2 years?
