Trading Spaces

The day has finally arrived!

Our living arrangements (living with my parents in their small house) are not ideal, but they are manageable under the circumstances. From the day we moved in (Gabe was 1 week old), Gabe has shared a room with Jon & me and has slept in the Amby bed. Kate, on the other hand, is the only one in the house with her own room...sleeping in a crib given to us several years ago (her crib is in storage). This wasn't a perfect setup, but it has worked. Our only problem has been that Gabe is a VERY light sleeper and has continued to wake up in the middle of the night at least once a week. On these nights we either give him a bottle, put him in bed with us, or go sleep on the couches so that he will fall back alseep in his own bed.....and sometimes all three! Not fun no matter the option! We have tried to come up with different sleeping arrangements, but in a small house, there aren't many options. Well, realizing we had to try something new but not knowing what, our "icing on the cake" happened.....Gabe fell out of the Amby bed! There comes a point when the baby is strong enough to pull up on the netting, shift the balance of the hammock, and cause it to tip forward...and out goes baby! This started happening with Kate around 8 months old and we moved her soon after to her crib. So, during naptime, Gabe discovered his new strength! It was time for a change!

So, we took the plunge and changed everything!!! Gabe was moved into the crib in Kate's room and Kate into a toddler bed in our room. Still not ideal, but it will be safer for Gabe. And Kate, if she does wake up, will simply crawl into bed with us and fall back to sleep immediately. Tonight is our 1st night..........

Last night in the crib for Kate and the Amby bed for Gabe

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Both kids seemed excited about the switch...espcially Kate!

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And Gabe loved that he could safely pull up in bed....and chew on the rails!

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BUT, when it was time for mommy to leave and the kids to stay in their new beds......I had two very unhappy babies! Gabe was panicked and Kate kept crying and saying she wanted her crib. Then she wanted in our bed and said, "I won't break it." Don't know what that was supposed to mean, but they were both so pitiful! I stayed with Kate for a while until she finally agreed to stay in her new bed as long as I left the bedroom door open. Then I went and "rescued" Gabe, rocked him in his new room for a while, and put him back down. He still cried for about 15-20 more minutes, but didn't sound panicked anymore.

Finally, Gabe sounded settled and Kate had stopped talking. I waited a bit longer to be certain, snuck in to check on them, and found two sleeping beauties all snug in their new beds! :)

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