A Big Girl Bed & Weaning

With Punkin in the way, The Man & I knew that it was time to move Munchkin out of our bed.  We didn’t want to wait too long and have Munchkin think she was getting kicked by the new baby.  Plus we only have a queen and with a growing tummy, I need a little more room to move around and get comfy in.  My side of the bed is softer than Munchkin likes (we have a sleep number) so she would wake up often and roll into my side when I got up to go potty at night.  We just kept waking each other up.  I was a little sad to move her and I LOVE snuggling with her but I knew it was time.



The Man picked out a mattress for her, a not to expensive foam one.  It’s much firmer than I like but hey, I’m not the one sleeping on it.  We got Munchkin a full size bed because that’s what her crib converts too.  It’s a little big for her room but it’s working.  At some point it will go in storage so we can put bunks bed in there but for now it’s perfect.  We also liked the fact that she would have more room to move around cause she’s a wiggle worm. 

I’ve heard horror stories from friends about getting their kids out of their beds and how it took forever and there were tons of tears.  I was NOT looking forward to it.  So I let The Man put her to bed the first night.  We have always laid with her until she falls asleep (the next habit we need to break).  He wasn’t in there very long before coming out.  She fell asleep no problem.  She was super excited about her new bed.  We left her door open and our door open so we could hear her if she needed us or so she could come get us. 

She didn’t cry (that we heard) and she didn’t come get us until 6:30ish the next morning.  The next night was just as easy, as was the night after.  The switch to the big girl bed was relatively painless.  Sometimes she’ll wake up and cry in the middle of the night.  Sometimes she’ll come on into our room.  But most nights she sleeps in her own bed with no issues.  I’m kinda still waiting for the shoe to drop.  The hardest part right now is that sometimes it’s taking her over an hour to fall asleep and her bed is just so uncomfortable for me.  She also still wakes up early but often when she comes into our room I’ll pull her into bed with me and get another 30-60 minutes of sleep.  She still enjoys cuddling in bed with us which we love!

When Munchkin was sleeping with us, she was still nursing to sleep.  The Man and I decided that when she moved to the big girl bed she would be cut off from the Mama milk.  The first night when I put her down (she never fussed about not getting Mama milk when daddy put her to bed.) she wanted the Mama milk and cried for about 8 minutes when I wouldn’t let her have it.  Then she stopped and went to sleep without it.  The next night she cried for about five minutes and after that she didn’t ask again.  Just like that she was weaned.  It was interesting that about two weeks later we had her sleep with us in our bed and she asked for the Mama milk then.  She didn’t like it when I said no.  At one point she latched herself on and she nursed a little.  There was next to no milk and she’s never asked again. 

While I miss nursing, I physically felt better when I stopped.  My body did not like being pregnant and nursing at the same time.  I’m thankful to have a break between nursing Munchkin and Punkin.  I am so, so thankful I was able to nurse Munchkin.  After feeling like my body failed by not getitng the birth I had hoped for, I feel like my body redeemed itself for nourishing Munchkin for 21 months.  My goal had been at least one year and after that, for as long as Munchkin wanted to age two.  So my goal was completely, 100% met.  I’m so thankful for that!

I’m still surprised that both moving to a big girl bed and weaning were done so painlessly.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad.  It just makes me a little nervous for Punkin!  Munchkin is really getting to be a big (little) girl now!