Big girl bed= Big pain in the butt

Yesterday, with Little Sister at school and Hubby home, we all tackled some big projects around the house. My Mom and I took on the big task of cleaning up and assembling a big, sturdy bunk bed we got from friends.

My hope was that maybe a big girl bed would help Little Sister overcome her (newly returned) sleep troubles. I remembered the nights we tucked her into a big girl bed at my Auntie Ann's before heading to Disney; she felt so grown up that she didn't move a muscle until morning.

This time, not so much. For one thing, she was SUPER excited- like that little boy in the Disney vacation commercial. Then, she couldn't get used to not seeing Big Sis. Nor could she get used to hearing her every time she moved. She wanted to jump on the bed (of course) but bumped her head on the top bunk. She played with the new blankets and throw pillows and found any other reason to stay awake she could.

Big Sister had troubles of her own. For one thing, she was a little afraid of climbing down, so we had to practice over and over and over. The number of stuffed animals in her bed is ridiculous, so she had to deal with trying to keep them all in place. And at one point she bumped her head on the wall- the noise so loud that I had to climb up and check on/console her.

THEN, Little Sis wanted to see what we were doing, so she stood up and tried to climb on her railing. She did a somersault and fell out of bed. Both girls had to be comforted and reminded about the rules of bunk bedtime.

Finally, after lots of talking, giggling, bouncing, tossing, turning, fussing,(them) singing, cuddling, scolding, and praying (us) they settled in to sleep.

Little Sister woke up a few times in the night, no doubt the result of being in a strange place, but they slept well and slept in.

But tonight, Little Sis had to fuss herself to sleep in her crib again. She was just too overtired to settle in any other way. Maybe once I get her back on a decent sleep schedule, she'll be ready to lay down and sleep in her new bed.

Tonight, I stayed in her big girl bed for about a half an hour, and then ended up leaving her in her crib. I snuck in after a while, took the blanket off of her head (?!) and made sure she was snug and safe. Then I took Big Sis to bed. A few minutes later, I had to remove Little Sister's foot/leg from between the crib rails and comfort her. Still later, I heard Big Sister singing loudly over the monitor and had to go in to tell her to SHUSH! And just now, I had to go in with a flashlight to find a missing teddy bear.

Now, as I said, Little Sis is overtired. And Big Sis is loopy on pain meds. So I'm not ready to give up yet.

But boy, this whole big girl bed thing sure is a big pain!