The move to the big boy bed

So recently Beastie was promoted from cot to cot bed (big boy bed) after a period of intensely hating his cot. Unsure of what was the best way forward I eventually decided that the cot bed sides were clearly the issue, so with a little persuasion I managed to convince my husband to take off the sides. I was excited to see Beastie's face light up, thrilled to find that he too had a proper bed.  I couldn't wait for bed time (routine all planned out and idylic scenario in my head), only to find out that the last few weeks until the present have been anything but idylic. The first night went smoothly, so smoothly in fact that I smugly boasted on Facebook about the transition, knowing other friends would read and be secretly envious of Beastie's progress.

Now as we all know gloating usually comes back and bites us on the backside, and in this instance it certainly did. We are now dealing with a Beastie in our bed. I have heard much advice about how to remedy this situation but nothing so far is having any effect. Having always thought how lenient some parents are by having their kids sleep in with them, I now see it is not so black and white. It is all very well being told to do the 'bath and bed' routine and hey presto your child will jump into bed and nod off during their bed time story but what happens when your child will not respond to that?

When I am getting onto story number four and hearing 'again again', I am thinking who on earth are these children that get sleepy after story time?! and where can I find one? After a few nights of sticking to this routine, and spending the most part my evenings in Beastie's room while he puts his feet up on the wall, lying there thinking 'what am I supposed to be doing now Mummy?', I introduced the baby gate.

Now I thought this was fool proof and guaranteed to combat all the issues, once asleep he would not be able to wander out of his room should he wake up in the night. Wrong again, I think we are beginning to see a pattern here with bars (with the cot sides). He has hours of fun opening and shutting it but will not be locked in. This is where I have had all the advice about 'controlled crying', I am not against it at all but when your child is practically vomiting from hysteria and you live in a block of flats, you think again...

So for now, until I have some time off where I can afford to be tired trying to get him to sleep in his own room, Beastie rules the roost! The only saving grace is that when he does get into our bed it's not my back that gets little toes needling into!

So there I have admitted my poor Mummy skills on this front, bad Mummy!