The Sleeping Conundrum

If you've read my blog or talked with me over the past few months, then you know the saga that has been playing out at our house. In case you missed it or can't remember, here's the rundown.

• Elise (now 13 months) has been sleeping in my bed since birth.
• I was still wrapping her up (yes, like a burrito), and singing her to sleep
• Shoot-self-in-foot ----yes I know.
• In the past couple of weeks, it's been harder and harder to get Elise to sleep and I'm the ONLY one that can put her to sleep. (Love my kid, but after over a year - I'm so done with it!)
• Why in the world was she still in my bed?
• Ava still sleeps in her crib.
• Ava can climb INTO her crib but has never climbed out of it (until today actually) and has been doing great in her crib so why change anything?
• We didn't want to buy another crib and didn't have a lot of luck borrowing one without having to buy extra stuff for it.
• We bought a "toddler" bed for Ava at IKEA. Didn't want to switch her yet because we were afraid of the transition, thinking she'd have a hard time staying in bed.
• Love IKEA, but beware, their "kid" or what we thought was a "toddler" bed, is a NON-STANDARD size. We bought the bed (without the mattress) last July in MN, thinking we could just use her crib mattress.
• Nope. Crib mattress too short (most if not all toddler beds just use a crib-sized mattress), must buy longer mattress only sold at IKEA. The nearest IKEA is at least 8 hours away. We swear there were no signs or notes on any packaging or even on the website stating it needed a non-standard sized mattress.
• ARGH!!!!!!!
• SKIP: (all the ideas and shopping trips and possible solutions and hair pulling)
• Solution: (for now) - Ava, tonight, is sleeping on our old queen mattress we've been storing for the day we have a true guest room. We put it right on the floor where her crib used to be and it takes up a lot of her room.
• She went right to sleep and is still sleeping.
• We're planning to go to Dallas in late June where there is an IKEA. So, we're waiting until then to pick up the mattress and special sheets for Ava's IKEA bed. (It'll work out okay in the long to have the non-standard but longer IKEA mattress, since Ava is a tall girl)
• Put Ava's old crib in my bedroom for Elise to sleep in.
• If you know Elise, you know she is a super-duper wiggly kid who lets her wishes known and wants mommy when she wants mommy (she's also very sweet and lots of other good things)
• I was deathly afraid and almost positive she'd be one to have to cry, cry, cry it out. All my fault of course because I never let her learn to fall asleep on her own.
• Nope.
• Guess what?
• She's asleep! I did my best to keep her feeling safe and loved, but left the room a few times. She cried some but not nearly what I thought...only a minute or less at a time.
• So, both kids are sleeping soundly.
• Crossing my fingers (okay, praying like the dickens) for the same good luck tomorrow and the next day and the next...

Sorry to bore with all of the minute details - but this has been such a huge issue in mine and Chris' life for many months now - when to make the switch, where are they going to sleep, what if this? What if that?....kind of mental, I know....making such a big deal about it.

Life can go on now. Our big goal is to put both girls in the same room, Ava sleeping in her "non-standard toddler" bed and Elise in her crib. Then, oh then, I will have my room back.