Adventures in toddler beds

I moved Stephanie out of her crib and into a toddler bed at the beginning of the summer because she was jumping out in the middle of the night to come into our room. As annoying as it is to be woken up by a 2 year old poking you in the eye I was worried that she'd hurt herself scaling her crib while she was half asleep.

The first step was deciding what to do about her crib. Should we convert it into a toddler bed or buy an inexpensive toddler bed? We chose the latter. Eva is still in our room sleeping in the pack n play. The plan is to get Eva to wean and start taking a bottle or a straw cup with formula and then hopefully start sleeping through the night. Once she is successfully sleeping all night then I hope to move her into Stephanie's room where she will be taking over Stephanie's crib.

I decided to buy Stephanie this bed and hoped and prayed that she would be so excited about having a big girl Dora bed that she would stay in her bed all night long.


That idea did not appeal to Stephanie. At all. She was very excited about the bed. Loves that Dora's face is on it and was even trying to sit on it as I was putting it together. But what I think appealed to her more than anything was that I made it so much easier for her to get out of bed and come into ours.

Hmph. I hadn't thought about that.

After about a week of her coming out of her room several times when she should be sleeping I came up with an idea. And you may judge me for being mean but I don't care. I am no longer being woken up at 3am by a 2 year old who wants to play instead of sleeping.

I grabbed a screwdriver, the tool not the drink, and unscrewed her doorknob and turned it around so that I can lock it from the outside. She complained the first couple of days about not being able to escape but now I hear her check the doorknob, realizes that it's locked and goes to sleep. Sometimes on her bed.

Sometimes on the floor.



I have even found her in her closet on top of a basket full of towels.



Maybe some new bedding would help.

I was thinking of getting Dora bedding to match her bed but while reading the not so great reviews on Target's website I changed my mind. I really didn't want to spend a lot of money but then I noticed that a cheaper set had great reviews and it was in stock at my local Target.

The next morning the girls and I headed to Target and for $22 dollars I bought this super cute Circo Happy Flower 4 piece toddler bed set.



The sheets are super soft and the comforter seems like it will be nice and warm. Stephanie LOVES it. The first night we used her new bedding she jumped right in and pulled up the blanket and was ready to read her book.

Did I mention that it only cost $22? For 4 pieces? And it doesn't feel like sandpaper I swear.

I wonder if Target sells something that will get Eva to wean so that I can kick her out of my room, too.