Social Climber

 So the holidays are over; Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that good stuff. Were the holidays good? Yes, they were, thank you very much. And I’m glad they’re over? You betcha.

I’m tiirrred.

But the holidays were great; kids were happy, I got lots of great pics to later prove to my kids that they had a happy childhood, and so on.

I’m kind of glad it’s all over, though. And now back to our normally chaotic, hectic, and overwhelming scheduled programming!

So even after the holidays, I’ve been slow to post. Why is that, you ask? Well, blame #5. Yup. Sweet, pretty, teeny #5.

She might look sweet, and innocent. But behind that adorable little smile lurks the dark heart of a….

CRIB CLIMBER.

Ugh.

I am always careful to save my blogging for evening, after I’ve put the kids to bed. But since the evolution of the crib climb, child bedtime has taken, um, a bit longer.

I have to admit, it caught me off guard. Not many of my kids attempted to climb out of their cribs, and transitioned well into toddler beds without a hiccup. With four kids preceding her, I had never had a problem with any of them climbing out.

Until now.

I’ve come to depend on #5’s naptime and bedtime as the moment of control. Despite the chaos of the day or evening, once the toddler was safely ensconced in her crib, it brings some degree of calm and order to the day. Naptime enables me to conduct a flurry of cleaning while she sleeps. Bedtime means, with a sigh of relief, no more pantry raids or toddler shenanigans.

So you can imagine my distress when I tucked her into her crib for naptime, only to have her proudly reappear 5 minutes later, tugging on my phone cord with a triumphant,

“Mommy, I awake!”

Oh.

I thought it was a fluke. I carried her back upstairs, tucked her in with a gentle admonition to stay in her crib and nap, which she nodded agreeably to.

Then immediately popped out. Again.

And again.

Like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZs4OcJKWDk

Damn.

I know in theory that I could just remove the side rail of the crib, fashioning a makeshift toddler bed. Or, we could set up the toddler bed we’ve kept in storage for her. Or, she could transition right into the full sized bed that’s already ready in the room for her.

Or, I could have an aneurysm from now adding a climbing, non-sleeping toddler to the already hectic bedtime routine.

I considered the methods to try & contain her in the crib. Remember those mesh nets they used to sell? The ones that extended over the crib, basically trapping the toddler under the net like being caught in a giant butterfly net?

They don’t sell those anymore, due to danger/child recalls. Did I consider it anyway? Not gonna lie…

yup. I did.

But no net. But then a friend of mine recommended a really cool solution; a giant zippered sleep sack, the kind that infants use. Did you know that they sell them in toddler sizes??

Now you do.

So one was ordered, & the day it arrived, we made a big deal about how exciting her “pajama bag” was. And she was thrilled.

Until it was time to sleep.

Then, not so much.

Because the idea behind the sleep sack is that the child’s legs are cozily covered by the bag they’re zipped into. Which for babies is sweet & logical.

For a toddler who normally uses their legs to, you know, WALK, or in this case, CLIMB, the sleep sack resembled a cute, pink, prison-issued cloth shackle.

Or so the toddler thought.

She whined. She stood up in the crib, puzzled. She sat down, troubled.

And she fell asleep. IN THE CRIB.

Awesome.

www.reactiongifs.us

Until the next day’s naptime.

When I came up to the sleep sack discarded on the floor like a snake’s shed skin, & the toddler rummaging through her older sister’s toy bin.

Crap.

But I was determined. And that night’s bedtime, I turned the sleepsack inside out (zipper inside) and managed to slip my hand inside to zipper it up. Nailed it!

We gained one night’s sleep from that, and a single naptime. Until #5 learned to wriggle her way out of it like Houdini in chains.

… and she sought vengeance…

It was a dark day in the LPS world; no one was spared.

And the next day’s “nap” led to this:

Her nap denial must involve an element of self-loathing, hence throwing her OWN brush in as well as big sis’.

This wasn’t working.

So I got desperate, and finally caved. We tried the “big girl bed”.

She loved it. It worked like a charm; she snuggled with her bear & fell asleep in ten minutes. Score!

Until the next day (you had to see that coming…).

Long story short, bedtime involved over an hour of tucking, and retucking, toys thrown, giggles, & squeals.

Oh, and muttering under breath., But that was me.

Bedtime now takes a looooong time. I have to monitor #5 closely at bedtime, ensuring that she stays in her bed and eventually falls asleep. It’s not easy. BUT-

She loved being in a big-girl bed, just like #4, the big sister she idolizes. And the biggest perk to no longer being in her crib -besides tossing every last bit of junk into the toilet- is getting to cuddle for storytime with her big sibs, like this:

Or, getting to snuggle & fall asleep with her big sis, like THIS:

(Cue instant heart-love explosion…)

So despite the extra time involved, the big-girl bed process is going smoothly.

Well, for the most part (sigh).

Thanks,#5, for your enthusiastic contribution to household organization, particularly regarding powder product storage.