The Communal Bed is Out of Control!

My son and the cats have been sleeping in my bed for at least a month. For a while it was cute, but now I'm getting cranky and resentful about it. Here are a list of my complaints about the communal bed:

1. My son is a bed hog. He splays his entire body throughout the bed so that I am wedged into a small corner, as if I did something wrong and need to wear a dunce cap.
2. My child insists on leaving the reading lamp on, and when I attempt to turn it off, even if he appears to be fast asleep, he freaks out and screams as loud as possible until I turn it back on.
3. I will awaken to one of the following sights or sounds at any given time at night:
a. One (or both) cat(s) purring very loudly in my ear
b. My son's butt in my face since he has shifted sleeping positions
c. A cat's butt in my face
d. The ambient light from the reading lamp, laughing at me because it is still on.

Needless to say, the communal bed is out of control. Please help me, readers. I need to transition my son back to his bed as soon as possible. What do I do?

Inter-Species Slumber Party

I've accepted that my bed is no longer my bed. At some point during the evening my son wanders into it, the cat jumps up onto it and all of a sudden we are having an inter-species slumber party. Here's what I woke up to this morning:

Bed, Glorious Bed!

My son loves his bed. Upon reflection, I realize that he has been wanting to sleep in a "real bed" for sometime. He observed me putting on my pajamas, brushing my teeth (he does both of these things too with help from me) and then getting into bed! He would become sleepy, and point to my bedroom and when I opened the door he would climb into my bed. I don't blame him, I mean it is a really nice bed.


But now that I think about it, that's what he was trying to tell me! He wanted a bed of his own! And now he has one.

Big Boy Bed

I was told by multiple sources that it was time to transition my son to a "big boy bed" when he was able to successfully climb out of his crib by himself. I met a mom in Dunkin' Donuts who gave me a great idea to get him comfortable with this new space.

She suggested that I sit with him on the bed and tell him just how cool his bed was and how all his animals were there, nobody had a bed like he had, and it was an awesome place to be. This is what I did.

I read him a few stories on the bed. He was so cranky at the time that I was trying to make the bed look amazing, that he screamed through "Good Night Moon" and "Pat The Bunny."

Eventually he lay down and I rubbed his head until he fell asleep. He woke up an hour later and I went into the room and repeated the head rubbing process. He went right back to sleep. I think he likes his new bed!

Pictured Below is My Son Asleep in His Bed
We Have a Crib That Converts into a Toddler Bed- Hence the Bars...

Ready For a Bed?

Last night I saw something amazing, my son climbed out of his pack 'n play.
I attempted to place him back in the crib to see if this incident was a fluke. But the moment his feet touched the Pack 'n Play mattress, he began to scale the walls and he was out of the crib once again.

So I put him back in the crib and left the room. But one minute later, I heard knocking on the door of the room he was in. He had gotten out of the crib and was trying to get out of the room.

I called his pediatrician for advice.
"Well," she said "It looks like he's ready for a big boy bed!"
"Really?" I replied "But he's only 20 months old!"

She insisted that since my son is able to escape the confines of his crib, the next natural step is to put him in a toddler bed.

I am still unsure of what to do. Any thoughts?