When I was pregnant with Oscar, and even after he was born, I didn’t create a nursery for him. We planned to co-sleep for a few months, and then sleep in the same bedroom with Oscar for at least a year (which is now recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics to reduce the risk of SIDS). Also, we live in a two-story house and sleep in the second floor loft. The other two bedrooms are downstairs. I had no intention of traipsing up and down the stairs in the middle of the night to comfort a wakeful infant.
Although I knew Oscar’s transition to his own room would begin once he was sleeping through the night (which didn’t really happen until he was around fifteen months), the move happened all at once, literally overnight.
One day last week I put Oscar down for a nap in his pack-n-play in my office. I closed the door and within minutes heard some strange noises. I opened the door to see that Oscar had climbed out. Not really believing it, I plopped him back and in and watched him climb out so swiftly and gracefully it was as if he had been doing it his whole life. So I took him upstairs to sleep in his “real” crib, but I spent the whole time fretting that he might climb out of that, which could mean falling out of the loft (only a widely-spaced wooden railing separates it from the first floor) and being seriously injured or even killed. Knowing we wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink that night, Darin and I decided to immediately move him into my office and move my office upstairs.
Oscar now officially has his own room, after eighteen months. We moved out all of the furniture except for his crib, the glider, his dresser, and some shelves for toys. We are in the process of decorating the room and making it Oscar’s little room at last.
It’s pretty weird not having Oscar near me at night when I’m sleeping. I used to be able to hear him sleeping and I loved it. Now he seems so far away. But I love the way he runs in and out of his room during the day, dragging toys out to the living room. And I love saying his room.
Here is the room in transition. If you look closely, you can see the little prisoner.
Between Lightning 
Congrats, big boy Oscar!
Thanks for sharing this milestone with us, Sandy. Show us room pix when it’s done!
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Oh man, you’ve given me hope and melancholy all in one post. I too love to sleep with Max but Mr. Max wakes up every 1.5 hours. I will miss his sweet cuddling but I look forward to this one mythical day when he can, like Oscar, sleep through the night.
We also have this upstairs master, wide-spaced rail on the staircase system. I’m glad to hear we’re not the only ones who will one day sleep on a different floor from our kids.
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He is too cute 🙂
It is a huge transition! When Fynn was born we lived in a one bedroom apartment. When we moved, he was just over two, and finally he had his own room. I remember that feeling, of how far away he seemed… and sometimes I still feel it. But space is a good thing 🙂
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Doesn’t that change make him seem like such a big kid?
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He’s a big boy now!! Wow. My kids never climbed out of their cribs and slept in them for 3 years each. It was a big thrill for them to get their own rooms finally after that. If he seems really far away, you could always still use the monitor to hear him or feel closer to him.
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Big boy! The days of our little men sleeping and being content in a P&P are coming to a screeching halt, arent they?!
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wow!!! big boy.
My kiddos started climbing out the vrib at 14 months andthey have been in their toddler beds since, however, they spend a lot of time in OUR BED (see my blog!LOL)
i ‘m glad that the transition is going well. 🙂
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My 2.5 year still sleeps in his crib, but only for half the night. I put him to bed beside me, in my bed, then I move him to his crib. Then around 1 a.m., he wakes up, calls for me, and I bring him back to my bed, where he falls asleep right away again. Some nights he doesn’t wake up and I miss him terribly! I know how great it is to have our little ones sleep beside us.
Also, yay that the transition went well! What a cutie. 🙂
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