How to Train your Toddler to sleep in a Toddler Bed:

Because we just recently finished making this transition- I can now say I'm an expert. NOT! I'm not going to lie, this was one of our hardest transitions yet. Tanner was a remarkably easy baby, so I had a feeling that toodlerhood wasn't going to treat us as kindly.
Don't get me wrong. Tanner is a great kid, but he's got a little too much of my stubborn nature in him. He's really trying to push the limits lately and try my patience at every opportunity. Of course, me being pregnant and hormonal isn't a great combination either, but somehow we are all managing.
So anyways, on to the much anticipated instructions.

Step 1: Introduce your child to his/her new bed
Allow them to figure things out on their own and explore the new concept of freedom. (Tip- don't do this right before bed. Give him/her some daylight hours to explore and let the "newness" wear off by bedtime" WHOAPS. Of course I converted Tanner's crib to a toddler bed right before bed and surprised him with it. He was super excited. So excited that he didn't want to lay down. He just wanted to climb in and out of his bed.

Step 2:Put child to bed in new toddler bed
Then wait and watch as he/she climbs out of bed for a few hours trying to decide how important sleep is and how long he/she can survive without it. (if you are like me you are pulling your hair out by this point)


Step 3: Get woken up by your child coming into your room at 3:30 am
Of course he/she is wide awake and asking for their favorite movie (in our case it was "Bolt") and your brain is hardly processing anything because its 3:30 am. But you make yourself and your huge pregnant belly climb out of bed and explain to your child that they can't watch their movie because its the middle of the night and they need to be asleep.
Step 4: Put your child back to bed in his/her toddler bed
then watch as he/she continually climbs back out to try and play.
Finally you give in and put your child in the crib in your room- because you can't keep your eyes open any longer. Then you climb back into bed, only to have the baby in your belly wake up and start playing the drums on your ribs. (Your awake another 1 1/2 hours.) But your toddler, admitting defeat, finally falls asleep again.
Step 5: Repeat the Process again the next night
However, this time you make a pallet on your child's floor next to their bed and sleep on the floor the entire night. You prevent your child from escaping their bed, but the next morning you wake up aching all over. Only one escape attempt and your start feeling like maybe this is possible.

Step 6: Repeat "Step 5" for the rest of the week
Alternate who gets to sleep on the floor with your husband to avoid the back ache every morning.
Step 7: Remove your pallet from the floor and sleep in your own gloriously soft bed
After 5 days of laying on the floor next to your child's bed, you decide to give sleeping in your own bed another try. Success! Your child sleeps from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am- only waking up once at 6:00 am- for two nights in a row.
You start to believe there is an end in sight and stop hating your life so much.

p.s. If there is some simpler way of making this transition- PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME!!!
I dread ever doing this again!!!