ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Baby climbed out of her crib Wednesday night.

Had a long night that night. Baby was up about 10:30, screaming for me. This hasn't happened for MONTHS - I bet it was last summer the last time she cried or called out for us in the night. I went to her room, rocked her for a few minutes, and put her back down. I went back to bed, settled, and was one sigh away from going back to sleep when she started again. I sent The Hater. He didn’t make it back to the bedroom before she started screaming for me again. I waited a few minutes, then went back and checked her diaper. (just pee – no poop) Rocked for a while, but she flipped out when I tried to put her back in the crib. (She was so upset that I thought in the back of my head that I shouldn’t leave her.) I ended up with her in the living room cradling her in the recliner for about 30-40 minutes. She was quiet but awake the whole time.

At one point she told me she heard sounds. When I asked her what sounds she said “doggy – woof woof” (then pause like she was listening) “woof woof” and pointed towards her bedroom. I told her there were no dogs in her bedroom.

Finally I took her back to the crib which went over like condoms at a Catholic school. I walked out of the room and back to our bedroom, told The Hater that we’d let her scream for a bit, and went to potty. While I was away from the monitor he said her screams escalated, then he heard a thud followed by bigger screams. He thought OH NO on his way to the bedroom to check on her, but when he rounded the corner her bedroom door knob was wiggling.

Sure enough, he opened the door to her at his feet wanting to be picked up. About that time I was done on the potty and just knew that she was still screaming and The Hater wasn’t in the bedroom. As I walked out of the bathroom he brought her to me, screaming. He told me she climbed out of bed and he heard a thud and he was worried that she was hurt.

She came to me, put her head on my chest, and immediately stopped screaming. I assured him that she was fine.

He turned off the tv and the three of us went to bed. She started out on my chest, but I moved her between us. It took her 30-45 minutes to go to sleep, but after she was asleep she was out for the night. She’d wake up and change positions (get on my pillow with me), but not pat us or try to talk to us.

Thursday morning I asked her if she remembered crying last night, and she said yes. I asked her if she could tell me why and she said “sad”. Granted, she only knows how to label two emotions right now – happy and sad – so I’m wondering if maybe she had a nightmare? Who knows. The neighbor on that side of the house has a dog, but we've never heard it when we were inside our house.

I reported this to day care Thursday morning and they were convinced that she should be in a toddler bed that night. I was hesitant to make that change right now because I’ve read about people who freak out after one fall and move their kid too early out of the crib and it takes them forever to transition, but on the other hand I don’t want her to fall out and get hurt (climbing out and not getting hurt doesn’t bother me so much). I've also read lots of stories about babies with broken bones and concussions from climbing out of the bed, and who wants to do that?

So after much hem-haw'ing and emailing just about everybody I know with children (and those I know without children who have a good head on their shoulders) - I had The Hater at home on his snow day Thursday taking apart the crib and putting together the toddler bed. He called me at one point to tell me he was in "allen wrench hell".

We weren't eager to make this move, but here we are.

Thursday we picked up Baby at day care and told her about her awaiting "big girl bed". We came home and she went nuts over it. She was so excited. She climbed in and out, pretended to sleep, covered up baby, had big fun. And she was big into the new bed - that is - until it was time for bed. Then she screamed. Bloody murder. Like the world was ending.

I let her go on for about 15 minutes before going in, but I had to scoot her back because she was up at the door trying to get out. She was scared to death. She clung to me like a koala bear. I couldn't stand it, so she slept with me Thursday night (The Hater was out of town).

Friday morning I updated day care at our strike out through bleary eyes. They told me I needed to put her in bed, shut the door, and not go back until the next morning. I just didn't think I could do that with The Hater gone. It just seemed cruel. But about that time I received a wonderful email from a brilliant friend and Mom to three boys. She suggested we set up the pack and play in her room and give her the choice every night of where she wanted to sleep. They did that with her oldest son and (although it took months), he eventually moved on his own. She's my most brilliant friend EVER.

So Friday afternoon I set up the PNP and told Baby she could either choose to sleep in her big girl bed or the pack and play. I left it at that. She continued to play in her bed. ... Fast-forward to bedtime, when she refused to choose either. I put her in the PNP and closed the door. She screamed for 24 minutes before going to sleep. She slept the whole night. I slept the whole night without being kicked or nudged or patted. It was wonderful.

At naptime today I gave her the choice again. And again tonight at bedtime. Let's just say that the screaming is getting shorter in duration and intensity, but she's still sleeping in the PNP for now.

And we're okay with that. And thankful for all of our friends and family who answered our frantic email of what to do next.

It should probably be noted that she gets all of this honestly. Somehow my eggs must have been affected by the adrenaline rush I had when I went sky diving three months before Baby was conceived. She's already showing signs of being almost as stubborn as I can be. And I was a terrible sleeper, a light sleeper.