Big Boy Bed!

The developmental goal for this week was to get Jasper napping in his big boy bed. He's still sleeping overnight in the crib until napping is established. I have been telling him leading up to this that he was going to start taking naps in the big boy bed. When I'd do that, he'd fall onto the mattress and give his best impression of sleeping (except with eyes open & smiling). We've also been doing all our pre-sleep reading on the bed. He loves the bed and willingly gets on there all the time, generally saying, "read." So ... we took the plunge.

Day 1: Monday.
What a novelty. Clearly he wasn't overly tired at naptime and the idea of staying in the bed had not sunk in one bit. So, he was up and out of the bed, reading books, finding other things in the room to mess with, etc. 5 or 6 times. I tried discipline at first, but it didn't sink in. Then I switched to logical reasoning and singing to calm him down. That didn't work. Finally, at the last intervention I returned to discipline. Either he was really finally exhausted at this point or I was more firm. Whatever the case, once I put him back in bed and talked to him again he then stayed in bed and slept for just under 1.5 hours. This is less than a typical nap these days, but completely abnormal. Froggie was his companion on Monday.

Day 2: Tuesday
Jasper had three other kids over for a playgroup / mom's chat in the morning while I was at the doctor's office and having lunch with Drew. (Gayleigh was home with him, and these women are mutual friends of ours.) When I got home, he was running around fully enjoying the added energy of the company. We didn't get down for his nap on time. In fact it was about an hour late once we finished books. I could tell he was tired. Before I left I explained again that he couldn't get up and would be disciplined if he did. ... That was completely immaterial to him. He didn't even MOVE from the position in which I left him. And he slept for 2 hrs 40mins! His companions Tuesday were puppy and his new baby.

Day 3: Today

Old hat. Jasper woke up early this morning, so I decided an early nap was in order. It didn't turn out to be totally early, but I finished reading & singing to him as well as having our discussion about being obedient and staying in bed by 10 minutes to 1pm. I thought he might be a little squirmy, but I hoped it would be limited. I told him he could roll around, hug froggie, chew on his blanket, etc. but not get out of bed. I left, and he never got out of bed. I watched him from the hallway for a little while and told him he couldn't play with the lamp, but other than that he squirmed around just enough to wear out and fall asleep in less than 10 minutes.

Who knows if this is going to continue, but I'll be pleased as punch if napping in the big boy bed is a non issue by the end of this week.