With the baby due in early May, there were several tasks I hoped to accomplish before then: getting rid of the pacifier, potty training and transitioning Hailey into a big girl bed in her new room.
When February rolled around, I realized we had yet to do any of it and time was ticking. We decided to start with what I hoped would be the easiest transition- the big girl bed.
Being that our nursery is gender neutral and all set up for baby, we decided to turn a guest room into Hailey’s big girl room. It was quite the project and took a few months to work on. Here is the before…
Tasks on the list included installing a light fixture and fan, fixing plumbing through the closet wall, painting the furniture, installing curtains and buying bedding. David wasted no time on the Mr. Fix-It side of things…
fan installed… check!
closet cut into, fixed, dry-walled… check!
furniture painted… with some great help!… check!
During the entire process, we talked to Hailey about how we were creating her BIG GIRL room and her excitement grew. Finally, it was time to reveal it to her!
I want to add more to the walls, but overall I’m so pleased with the results. The walls are a light green, but it doesn’t really show in pictures. It feels girly and cozy and most importantly, Hailey loves it. She loves the birds on her curtain rods and sheets and the butterflies by her dollhouse. Personally, I want to sleep in her bed now instead of my own.
The build-up worked and Hailey was excited. She kept asking “sleep in big girl bed??” and finally we decided to bite the bullet. I was nervous because her sleep habits are awesome and rocking the boat sounded not only daunting, but possibly just plain dumb. Still, it was time.
We started the bed time routine about 15 minutes earlier than usual that night, leaving plenty of time for books and snuggling. Being the sap that I am, I came up to snap pictures and read one book before handing the reins over to David.
Then I went downstairs and watched on the monitor. David read a couple books, then they rocked and sang and finally he checked that she had all the necessities: two pacis, the sleep sheet, pink blanket, a water, 3 babies and books. Toddlers. Then, he lifted and put her into the bed.
Our plan all along was to treat it like a crib and put her in and out for now.
It was surprisingly uneventful and easy. She took about 45 minutes to fall asleep which isn’t uncommon. She never cried for us or anything. She slept through the night and woke up around 7:30 the next morning, staying in her crib and reading like normal until I grabbed her at 8am.
I was more nervous for nap. We purposely did not make her big girl room as dark as the nursery in hopes that she wouldn’t need it to be pitch black to sleep. We followed our normal routine…
Now to answer a few questions…
Have her sleeping habits changed at all?
Nope! I was nervous because for one nap time, she refused to sleep, which also happened sometimes in the crib. However, same as the crib, she played with her dolls, read books and rested for 3 hours until I grabbed her.
Has she realized she can get out on her own?
Not really. She hopped out once on her own to chase after me. I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I gave her a hug, told her it was time to go night-night and put her back in bed. She stayed. I am WELL aware this will change eventually and I’ll let you know if we run into the problem of her not staying in her room. I’m not looking forward to that!
My hope, though, is that we’ve helped her form the habit of quiet-time and self-play during the afternoon hours. I’m a-ok if she doesn’t want to nap, but still plan to keep the quiet time hours in which she can play in her room.
What are the bumpers in her bed?
I bought these magic bumpers online and am very pleased with them. They are all foam and fit under the normal-sized fitted sheet. The provide enough of an edge to keep her from rolling out, but she can climb over them if necessary.
Does she miss her old room?
Surprisingly, no! I was worried about that, but since moving all her stuff into her new room, she has no desire to go back to her old one. She even refers to it as the baby’s room now. I was pleasantly surprised with this one.
I’m thrilled that the first pre-baby task went so well, but I knew we were tackling the easiest first. Potty training and getting rid of the paci sound so daunting and honestly I don’t know the timeline or plan of attack for those yet, so stay tuned!
Did your kids always stay in the bed or did they eventually start opening the door and coming out?
How did you handle it?
Maureen says
We transitioned our daughter to a big girl bed at 2 1/2 and she never a single, solitary time got out of her bed until 4!! To the point that if she had a night time accident after she was potty trained she would wake up and call for us, still from her bed. We were shocked! Even now, she only gets up and comes into our room if she’s had a bad dream, never because she can’t sleep.
So there’s hope for you still!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh that gives me so much hope! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Shari says
The room looks beautiful — so warm and inviting! 🙂
Karen says
So happy Hailey is doing good with her Big Girl room, it’s adorable. We are moving in the next few weeks and once we get settled into our new place in the city, I’m considering starting the potty training process (so probably around April) then big girl bed in (August). I don’t want to throw too much at her at once. Can’t wait to see the updates with the big girl bed.
Elizabeth @ My Neon Running Shoes says
Eeek! So glad it went well! We had almost the exact same experience you guys did. Needing to get all this accomplished by May and new babies arrive (we postponed potty training after trying once) it’s such a relief when things go smoothly! If you have some success in he potty training arena please pass it on 🙂
John J. says
What a great job you did on every front, i.e. physical room, psychological preparation and implementation. She obviously loves it and feels secure and confident in her new digs. Well done, David and Brittany!
Sam @PursuitofHealthyHappiness says
Brittany,
Great room redo! I LOVE your redo of the dressers. They look awesome. I’ve been on the hunt for some thrifted dressers so I can do a similar project. How about a tutorial? I’m new to refinishing large pieces and would love your insight.
Sam
Brittany Dixon says
I’m far from an expert and didn’t help much beyond picking the colors. David lightly sanded them, then painted them with an oil-based primer, followed by white paint.
We spray painted the handles with rustoleum. Overall, I’m pleased how they turned out whether we did them “correctly” or not 😉
Danica @ It's Progression says
I love the look of her new room! very sweet.
Ali says
Congrats!! That’s awesome that her sleep habits haven’t changed and she took to it! I hope Aiden will do the same thing someday. P.S. I love her Hailey sign above her bed:)
char eats greens says
This is so awesome! And I love her big girl room!!!! The foam is such an awesome idea and totally keeping this in mind when Nia’s older!! I totally want a video monitor, so hopefully we could get one in the future and get in on the action of what Nia does when we’re not there!! haha
Brittany Dixon says
Our video monitor is actually a security camera that links to an app on my phone- I LOVE it. I can check on her whether I’m at home or away. David and I even watched her go to sleep from the Caribbean last year. I highly suggest checking it out 🙂
char eats greens says
Oh my goodness!! That’s amazing! So looking into that (didn’t even know you COULD do that!!! lol)
Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries says
First up, I LOVE her bedroom! You guys did a wonderful job with it. Yay – that’s great she transitioned so well!
Lauren says
Great post and great job on the transition to “big girl” room!
Just wondering when you started implementing the quiet-time/self-play thing with Hailey, or when she really started to “take” to it? I am really hoping to do the same routine with my little guy (16 months) in the afternoons, but so far if he’s not sleeping at nap/quiet time, he doesn’t really tolerate being in his crib for any length of time…
Brittany Dixon says
Gosh, I wish I had a better answer because I’m not really sure when we started with the self-play. It probably started early on with our desire to help her fall asleep on her own. Sometimes she would fuss and we’d leave her (as I knew the difference between a fuss and a “I NEED YOU” scream). When she would wake up from naps, I’d always give her a few minutes to ‘wake up’ and between that and her being a pretty chill kid, she started to just play with what was around her. I’d watch her for a bit and go in and get her because I never wanted her to get to the point of screaming, but I always encouraged a few minutes on either side of sleep to settle down or to slowly wake up.
I hope to do the same with baby #2, but I’ll try to pay more attention since honestly I’m not if it was anything we did or that we just got lucky!
Maria says
The room is adorable and I love her name decoration above the bed!
Happy all went well and you have a great sleeper on your hands. All I hear from moms is how they aren’t getting any real sleep until their kids are 18. That scares the crap out of me 🙂
jade says
Those bumper things are so interesting! We aren’t yet into transitioning (it’s sort of a play by play to see when he learns how to climb out of the crib and we all feel that it is soon) but he moves around sooo much when he sleeps that we will probably just start with the mattress on the floor but when we move it up we might just have to look into those!
Paulina says
We moved my toddler to her big girl room and bed right around her 2nd birthday. That was 3 months before her little sister was born, so it left us plenty of time for the nursery to become the ‘babies room’ incase she wasn’t ready. It was almost exactly like you described. We took time redocorating the room for her, and talked a lot about the room. She was so excited to move and never looked back. We had a hard time finding a tall enough step-stool for her to climb into and out of bed. I ended up getting a ugly plastic one from Target that was in the utility aisle. Oh well, she’s almost tall enough to get rid of the thing. And I just use a baby gate across her room so if she ever does decide to get out of bed at night, she is still safe in her room and can’t wander through the house. We still haven’t tackled potty training OR the paci. I’d like to get rid of the paci first and honestly, I think I just have to take it away from her and deal with the outfall. She already knows that it’s only allowed for naps and night time. And as for potty training, we’re tied to her daycare schedule for that, so I have a few more months before I have to worry about it.
I’ll look forward to how your family tackles them as well!
Brittany Dixon says
I’m totally getting a baby gate for her door if she decides to start getting out! I have zero issues with that 🙂
I know we’ll just have to rip off the bandaid with the paci, too, but I am just dreading it. She hugs and kisses it goodbye when she gets out of bed in the morning- HA!
Kim says
We moved my daughter to a big girl bed and room at 18 months, a month before her baby brother came. And a year and a half later she has never gotten out of her bed without someone coming in to get her first! I hope Hailey keeps up the great sleep habits for you also!
Brittany Dixon says
Ah, that’s amazing!! I’ll hope for similar results 😉
Marie says
Good post. We’re still in the crib at 27 months – no new baby coming, and she hasn’t climbed out (or even tried) as of yet so we’re hanging onto the crib for as long as we can — but I know the day is coming so I appreciate the thoughts on this subject and your experience.
Brittany Dixon says
It was much harder on me than her. I’m such a softie! Thus the excessive pictures 😉 I went through all her old clothes today to prepare for baby and almost had a melt down. They grow SO quickly.
Kate says
That is such great news Brittany!! My son Charlie is 2.5 and we just did the same thing a few weeks ago and it went exactly how you described it. A lot easier than I expected as well! Its funny your to dos (paci, potty training) are my exact list too. I am due in July. Good luck with the transitions and let us know how it goes. Can’t wait to hear any tips you have.
Beth says
Can u please tell me what kind of camera/monitor u have. It has a great picture, we have a Motorola one that I’m not thrille with and would love a better one for baby number two-due in May. Thx!
Brittany Dixon says
It’s a dlink security camera and I love it because I can access it from my iphone no matter where I am. I highly recommend it!
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=128821&SRCCODE=WEBGOOPA&cm_mmc_o=mH4CjC7BBTkwCjCV1-CjCE&gclid=CPKyi5iVzLwCFcY7OgodghwA7w
Katie Harding says
I am expecting my third this summer so our little one will be going into a big boy bed as well so this is great inspiration! I love the dresser makeover, everything looks adorable!
ErikaMC says
Our son is 2-1/2 and so far he hasn’t ever tried to get out of his crib so I’m wondering when the right time is. We don’t need the crib for any other reason right now but I also feel like with potty training and breaking the pacifier habit coming up that that will be a lot to take on at the same time so maybe starting with the “easiest” one first is a good idea. But I know the pacifier one is not going to be easy at all so I wonder if it’s better to have him get use to the bed with the comfort of pacifiers (he only gets them at nap and bedtime) and risk upsetting his sleep habits once he is in the big bed or get rid of the pacifiers first.
Also, I would love to hear the story behind the matching shirts and the jeans that have a 12″ cuff on them 🙂
Jessie says
That room is beautiful. I want to sleep there!!
So funny what us parents decide to jump into first! We got rid of the pacifier at 6 months, potty trained at 2 and now at almost 2.5 I’m wondering when to put Lyric into a big girl bed. We are traveling to Arizona at the end of the month and it’ll be the first time she won’t be sleeping in her pack & play. Guess it’ll be our trial run!
Avery @ Young Aspirations says
Love this!! Her room looks great and I’m so glad she made an easy transition. She’s gonna make such a great big sister 🙂 Also curious what monitor you use?? We’re in the process of registering so I’m curious which ones moms love!
Brittany Dixon says
It’s a dlink security camera and we’ve loved it!!
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=128821&SRCCODE=WEBGOOPA&cm_mmc_o=mH4CjC7BBTkwCjCV1-CjCE&gclid=CPKyi5iVzLwCFcY7OgodghwA7w
Corinne says
Beautiful bedroom, I understand why she is loving it. I noticed in your post that you give Hailey a water bottle. Which one do you give her that does not leak?
Brittany Dixon says
We’ve had great luck with the Munchkin cups for bed time-
http://www.diapers.com/p/munchkin-click-lock-trainer-cup-9-oz-2-pk-girl-412905?site=CA&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc_D&utm_term=MC-537&utm_campaign=GooglePLA&CAWELAID=1380237632&utm_content=pla&ca_sku=MC-537&ca_gpa=pla&ca_kw={keyword}
No leaking! 🙂
Christina says
Her room looks great! Yay, Hailey!!!
Brittany – if it gives you any hope, we took my daughter’s pacifier away around age 18 months, and it went MUCH better than I anticipated! After a night or two asking for it, she just stopped and never mentioned it again!
Sarah (SHU) says
I am so happy it went so well!!!! Gives me hope for when we eventually take the plunge (although I think we are going to convert the crib to a toddler bed as an interim step maybe). H is such a good kid!!
I have no paci advice bc I feel lucky that A just quit it on her own at like 6mo. Hopefully she won’t be tempted by pacis around for her baby bro (she’s gearing up w lots of “I’m a baby” pretend play 🙂 )
Beth says
Great job on the big girl bed! I know what you mean with the to-dos, I am due a week after you, and my girl is almost 2 1/2, I just don’t think she’s quite ready for a big bed yet with all of her twisting and turning at night.
And my girl was a HUGE fan of the paci. Let me tell you, that has been the hardest. We had her throw it away herself last week because she’s such a “big girl now” – and naptime/nighttime is not the same. Sure, she still sleeps, but she cries for about 5 minutes first. Every. Single. Time. I think she just liked to go in her crib before so she could have alone time with her paci! Ugh. We haven’t given in yet, but it’s heartbreaking to hear the cries when she has never made a peep.
I cannot wait to hear how you approach it!! Good luck with everything!
Jen W says
Is it a twin or full size bed? I am about to follow the same steps as you. My little just turned 2 year old needs to get his big boy bed, get rid of the pacci and potty train before June!
Brittany Dixon says
Full sized! She looks so little in it!
Good luck with all your to-dos! I hope we can check off a couple more before May. I guess we’ll see 🙂
Christina W says
Sorry to comment on such an old post, but can you please tell me where you got her hanging name letters? I love them! Thanks 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
No prob 🙂 We got them at Michael’s and painted them ourselves!