Going Down?

Well, I knew the day would come when we would have to admit that our little baby is not so little any more...when we would be concerned that she might crawl over the edge of the crib, and we'd have to lower her mattress. That day has come...however, I didn't realize what a dramatic change it would be! Not only does the mattress move down closer to the cold floor but one also has to remove the soft decorative "bumper" and her comfy sleep positioner (kind of like head and arm rests) that we had in her crib against APA recommendations (bad, bad parents!)

The old set up

So, suddenly she's near the floor and colder, has nothing to protect her from banging her head on the sides of the crib, nothing to block out visual stimuli and drafts of cold air and nothing to swaddle her head and body and encourage her to lie still and while she falls asleep. Needless to say the first attempt was a dramatic failure! Karina was very tired and ready for her nap however the change was so exciting she couldn't help herself from rolling around to look at everything and trying to sit up. She couldn't sleep so I decided to try a more gradual transition. I replaced the bumper, but put it on the outside of the crib so it would block the drafts and limit the new visual stimuli to the crib bars only. The new set up

This worked and hopefully after a couple of weeks I will be able to remove the bumper! I have to tell you, though, I still can't get over how much this new sleeping arrangment makes Karina look like such a big girl. And gone are the days when we could sneak in under the cover of the bumper to pop the pacifier back in her mouth without her realizing how it got there!