battle of wills

The Bear has never been one to easily give in. I still remember the doctor telling me when he was born that he didn't want to baby-sit him when he was 3. No joke. Nothing about "it's a boy" or "congratulations". I was told my kid had spunk.

This past week, we've been transitioning him from his crib to his big boy bed. The crib is a convertible one which means that it goes from crib to toddler bed to full size headboard.

The Bear had been trying to climb out of his crib. He had gotten one foot on top of the crib and it was only a matter of days before he was going to end up falling on the floor. I wasn't in any rush to switch him before Baby came, but things rarely happen on my timeline in this family.

He LOVES being in his "new" bed.


The problem is he can get out of it. All by himself. Whenever he wants. He's normally okay once he goes to sleep. The battle is getting him to lay in it long enough to fall asleep. He knows he's supposed to lay in it. He'll stay put as long as I'm in the room and goes scurrying back in as soon as I walk in the room.

It took almost an hour tonight to get him to stay in. Most of that hour the furthest I could get in leaving was shutting the door before he would be yelling and out of bed.

I'm not sure how long it's going to take to get him used to this idea. Supernanny gets it all done in less than an hour. I don't yell or even say anything. I just open the door and point to his bed.

Not our last battle of wills, I'm sure. Here's to opening I have more persistence than a 22 month old.