How we got our Toddler to Give up her Pacifier

I was not very proud of the fact that until recently, our 31/2 year old toddler still regularly used a pacifier. She was clearly addicted. She would wake up in the middle of the night because her pacifier had fallen out. She would suck on it between meals, and in fact was without her pacifier only when we removed it from her as punishment. We let her suck her pacifier mostly because the alternative was listening to her whining and begging for a pacifier...

Then an idea occurred to me. My husband and I had been talking about getting the girls bunk beds for some time. We had been eyeing a model from Ikea. It is a very low-lying bunk bed, so low that the lower mattress rests directly on the floor (so our 11/2 year old would not get injured falling off), and the upper bunk is not too high either.  We recently received an Ikea catalogue in the mail, and I showed our toddler the photo of the beds. I asked her if she wanted one. She replied "Yes!, I will sleep on top, and my sister can sleep on the bottom." I replied that it was a good idea, but that once we got the bunk bed, she would not be allowed a pacifier "because girls and boys that are old enough for a bunk bed are too old for a pacifier."  She thought it over, and decided that she still wanted a bunk bed...

And so it was that last week-end, I picked one up from our local Ikea, and my husband and I (but mostly my husband) put it together. Not only do both girls love their bunk beds, but our toddler has now gone almost a week without a pacifier. In fact, their first night in their bunk beds was the first night ever that they both slept through the night!

Final score: Parents 2-Kids 0!

Before: 2 side-by-side beds

After: space-saving bunk beds

Enjoying their bunks!

Papa Returns to Work

Sleepy Smily Baby!

In a few days, Papa will return to work. After having him at home for the entire month of August, it will feel strange.

We had gotten into a nice routine:

I would remain in bed in the morning with the baby, while my husband woke up early with the older girls. He would play with them, feed them breakfast, and then clean up. The baby and I would be up shortly thereafter. After a nursing session, and a quick bite of my own, I would head to a park with the older girls while Papa stayed home with the baby. 

We would return from the park in time for lunch. After lunch, I would hang out with the baby. My husband would put our middle daughter down for a 2 hour nap. Then he and our oldest would go for a swim, or out for a bike ride or a walk. 

After dinner, Papa would get the girls ready for bed while the baby and I hung out some more, mostly nursing. The older girls were usually asleep by 20:30. The baby would stay up until about 22h, after which she would wake up every three hours for more milk.

On the occasion that the older girls would wake up in the middle of the night, my husband would attempt to return them quickly to the land if nod.

And so our routine is coming to an end. Why must fathers be in such a rush to return to work after a new baby's arrival? The kids were rather enjoying being at home with two parents!

New Shared Room: Tour

The girls' shared room is finally ready...We had some difficulty deciding on our toddler's twin-sized bed. Our toddler moves a lot in her sleep, so an upholstered bed was one of the criteria. Additionally, I had been looking for a single bed that could easily transform into a double bed, eventually allowing our girls to sleep side-by-side, but also freeing up floor space during the day. In the end, I settled on an upholstered bed with an optional trundle by Monte, the same company that made our glider.

For the time being, the shared room is hypothetical. The baby still sleeps in our room. Our toddler currently wakes up on average once per night, whereas our baby girl will wake up two to three times per night. By placing them in the same room, we would be courting disaster. I have no doubt that they will wake each other up, thereby further reducing the amount of sleep their parents enjoy!

Toddler bed returns to crib

Toy storage

Glider with photo of baby above

Can't decide which bed she would rather jump on!

I was afraid she might hit her head against the dresser, but she sticks to the other side 

Monthly baby photos next to sound system

And the most important part...Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty has taken over our home

Hello Kitty

I blame myself. I thought the shirt was cute. Approximately 6 months ago, as I was browsing the kids' clothing section of a large department store, I came across a very affordable Hello Kitty shirt in my toddler's size. Later on that day, when I showed her the shirt, she did not seem overly impressed, but did not seem to mind wearing it. At the time, getting her dressed to go out anywhere was a struggle, so I hoped that the Hello Kitty shirt might make getting ready more enjoyable.

Shortly after the initial purchase, my toddler's language skills started improving exponentially. And then she started asking for Hello Kitty clothing. "No, I don't want this. I want to wear my Hello Kitty shirt" she would say everyday. I tried explaining to her that we only had one such shirt, and that it was in the washing machine. She somehow won the battle, and now she owns two short-sleeved shirts, three long-sleeved tops, three dresses, a dozen pairs of underwear, two hats, a pair of gloves, a school bag and a lunch bag, all with the Hello Kitty prominently displayed.

I must say that getting ready to go out is much simpler now. And going to school is enjoyable, as she happily brings along her Hello Kitty school bag and lunch bag. The downside is that everything has to be Hello Kitty. We recently ordered a twin-sized bed for our toddler. I told her that soon she would have to give up her toddler bed, and that she would be getting a "big girl bed". She didn't seem in the least upset, agreed that her little sister should inherit her crib, but did mention that she wanted a "Hello Kitty bed". Would she refuse to sleep in her new bed, I wondered? Then my husband came up with the brilliant idea of buying some Hello Kitty sheets for her new bed. Perhaps we will no longer have to sit with her for an hour before she goes to sleep as she will soon have a tacky but adorable feline to keep her company...

Crawling expert

Baby's Room

Baby #1 plays with future Baby #2

At long last, the Baby Room is complete. Over two years later than intended. Initially, the baby's room was a shared office space. I wasn't too worried as Baby #1 slept in our room for the first 6 months of her life. We then attempted to move her to the shared office/baby room. Against one entire wall was our custom-made office furniture. Against the opposite wall, her crib and our glider resided. Her dresser was around the corner from the entrance, opposite the window. This worked out as she only spent part of the night in this room. During the day, we closed the door, and used the office space only when all three of us were home. Then Baby #1 learnt to open doors, and climbed atop the office furniture. And one day, when she was about 18 months old, we realized that we would have to get rid of the office furniture.

We have been working diligently (yet slowly) on the kids' room since then. The first step was to get rid of the office furniture. The only trace of which is the framed world map that we kept in her room, and a few books and magazines that remain on the top shelf of her shelving unit. The next step was putting her shelving unit together. We bought two units to take full advantage of our high ceilings. We bolted them together, and then to the wall. This unit allowed us to organize her toys, books, and blankets. We then invested in carpet tiles, and put up a few decorative items. Baby # 1 seems to like the end result. She often points to the birds above the crib, and to her baby photos with a big smile on her face.

Where will Baby # 2 sleep? you might have asked yourself. We have a bedside bassinet which we will keep in our room for the first 4-5 months of her life. We then plan on converting Baby #2's toddler bed back to a crib for Baby #1's use. We are not sure what sleeping arrangement Baby #1 will then have. We were thinking of a fold-out kids-sized sleeper, or perhaps a small floor bed. And then when they are a little older, we were thinking along the lines of a trundle bed similar to this one:

Day Bed with trundle that pops up to the same level (Duetto, by Flou)

Without further ado, here is the new kids's room:

Baby # 1 plays with her toys

Two shelving units help with organization

Baby # 1 at 3 weeks above Luca Glider 

Safari animals walk atop the world map

Transferring toys to her toddler bed

Sonos music system next to 1st year photos

All smiles!

Transitions

BB smelling new bouquet of flowers

I have been thinking a lot about transitions lately. For instance, when will our baby be ready to transition from bottle to cup? While she drinks regularly from a straw and can expertly use a sippy cup, she still drinks a bottle of milk before bed, and upon awakening. When will she transition from diapers to using a potty consistently? When will she stop pointing and start telling us what she wants with actual words?

This last week, one of my queries was answered. Surprisingly early. I had been wondering when she would transition from her crib to a toddler bed. Prior to baby #1's birth, we had purchased a 3-in-1 crib unit. It started off as a small bassinet on wheels for the first three months of her life, and with the addition of side rails and minus the wheels, transformed into a crib up until recently. We thought that surely she would use her crib until at least age 2. Then just this last Monday, our active, fearless baby stealthily climbed out of her crib. My husband was playing with her in her room at the time. But she happily repeated the feat in my presence. That night, we placed large cushions around her crib, and checked on her multiple times. 

On Tuesday, I purchased the toddler bed conversion kit, and my husband installed it the same day. She seemed pleased with her new bed, and climbed in and out several times during the day. Her first night in her new bed, she slept soundly all night, and called for us at around 6:15 the next morning. The second night went equally well, but when she woke up a little before seven in the morning, rather than call out for us, she climbed out on her own, and walked to our room.  She hadn't slept this well in over one month.

Now if only all transitions could be this smoothly...