Big Boy Bed

When Aiden returned to us after our very dramatic Sam-summer, he had learned to crawl out of his crib. Not good. Too much freedom. It wasn't so bad when Rex was here because that's when EVERYONE was here and he was in our room. If he climbed out of his crib, we knew instantly and could either put him back in or in bed with us.

As soon as real life began, however, it was up to me to get this kid to stay in his crib at night. Here's how it progressed:

• Night 1: Put Aiden in crib. Walk out the room with door open. Hear a "thump, THUMP" as Aiden tosses his sippy cup of milk over the edge before tossing himself out. I run in. Put him back in. Screaming. "thump, THUMP!!" Wash, rinse, repeat. Finally I stand guard by the door until he's too tired to crawl out (and I'm practically passed out on the floor.)
• Night 2: Put Aiden in crib. Walk out the room with door open. "thump..." I run like the wind and catch him hanging half in, half out of his crib. Set him back in his crib, give him his milk, and hide behind the corner to hear the next "thump..." Night 2 ends the same as night #1. Utter exhaustion for both parties.
• Night 3: Put Aiden in crib. Dread what's coming next. "thump..." Run like the wind only to find Aiden standing in his crib laughing at me for falling for his trick. I return his bottle of milk and wait a little longer in between "thumps" before running in. This kid is getting smarter. At 3:30 AM, Aiden escapes and wanders the house. I get up and find him crying by the laundry room door to the garage. Takes another hour to get him to stay in bed. Sam wakes up. Aiden wakes up. More madness ensues. I helplessly nurse Sam while Aiden runs around the room, pulling clothes out of drawers and definitely NOT sleeping.
  
• Night 4: Exhaustion draws me to the brink of madness. I take the dang mattress out of the crib (I don't have to return the milk or Aiden back to bed this way), put Aiden down on it, and CLOSE the door. Screaming. Pounding on the door. I'm wondering if this is considered abuse... and then silence. I peek in to see if he fell asleep on the mattress. I can't find him. Not on the floor. Not behind the door. Not under the blankets. No where. Then I see slight movement on his Spiderman chair. Aiden is sitting up in his chair, arms on the armrests, with his head nodding up and down every once in a while. He fell asleep SITTING up in his chair. Stubborn boy! I move him to the mattress.

• Night 5: Rex is home and changes the crib into a toddler bed. Oddly enough, Aiden went to sleep just fine in it. The worse is over and I can finally get to bed an hour earlier. Now we just have to beat Aiden at racing to the door as soon as we plop him down in bed. So much for the sweet goodnight lullabies and cuddles before peacefully falling asleep. We race.