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Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying this three day weekend!
We have been going through a bit of a transition over here and I have been meaning to share it with you all for a couple weeks now. I wanted to see how things pan out before I offer any sort of advice, so.. drum roll…. we switched our two year old, Hayden, to a big girl bed! I know some of you might think this is a little early, and it is definitely sooner then we transitioned our oldest from a crib, but Jeff and I agreed that this was the perfect time.
Right before Christmas (like the night before to be exact) Hayden started asking for more baby dolls. She is that child that drags her baby dolls with us everywhere. She has a high chair and stroller for them, you name it. So, I frantically ran out and grabbed a few more things for under the tree that were baby doll related, including a play crib. Ever since she opened that present she has been fighting us to not sleep in her own “baby crib” and requesting a “big bed”. She went from being an excellent sleeper to waking up multiple times per night and refusing her crib. After two weeks of that, my husband and I decided we would let her try a big girl bed. We did take a few extra steps in hopes of a successful transition that I will share below.
Step number one is to make sure you are prepared with all the necessities including milk!
One thing we learned about going through this when our five year old was younger, is the key to successfully transitioning your toddler to a new bed is to keep as much else about their bedtime routine the exact same. For us, her routine consists of a warm bath, cozy jammies (that she gets to pick out), a few books, a cup of milk, and then some snuggles. We also try to keep as many of the same blankets and pillows from her crib in the new bed.
The first night I could tell that she was excited but also a little nervous. She climbed into bed, we read our books while she drank her milk, and I tucked her in. Once I turned off the light she yelled for me and was a little upset. This was new to her and she wasn’t quite comfortable yet. I refilled her milk cup and cuddled her while she drank it. I could tell that this calmed her nerves and made the new bed feel a little more familiar. After that she quickly fell asleep, and for the first time in two weeks we all got some good sleep!
Looking back on when I was growing up, my mom always required us to have a glass of milk at our family dinners. It is a great source of calcium, vitamin D, and potassium and it gave us the nutrients we needed to grow. Now, it is at the center of a big milestone for my baby as she is growing and transitioning from her crib to a big girl bed. There was even a new study that showed milk was one of the most shared foods on Instagram. One out of every four food posts included milk! It just goes to show that real dairy milk is everywhere and it’s embedded into some of the most important moments in our lives.
Overall, this is been a fairly easy transition for our little girl. I think the keys to success were following her usual bedtime routine, being prepared with all the necessities, and knowing she was ready. This was a really big moment for her and was even more enhanced with milk. It’s been two weeks now and we are still going strong with Hayden in her big girl bed. I am so proud of her!
I would love to see your personal moments that were made better with milk on Instagram! It can be anything from meeting a friend for a latte to making your morning smoothie. Be sure to include #LoveWhatsReal and #Sweepstakes in your post for a chance to win an entire year worth of free milk!
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Such great tips, thank you for sharing!