confessions of a 1st time mom

Floor bed dropout

confessions of a 1st time momWell, I have a confession to make.  Yep. I am officially a floor bed dropout.  I learned about using a floored from Montessori, and believed in the theories behind it.

Here is what a Montessori-inspired bedroom, with a floor bed, looks like. Super adorable!

http://sewliberated.typepad.com/sew_liberated/2011/01/finnian-and-lachlans-studio.html
http://sewliberated.typepad.com/sew_liberated/2011/01/finnian-and-lachlans-studio.html

Mainly, the idea is that you:

1.  Have your toddler sleep on a bed that is just a mattress on the floor, with no crib.

2.  This is supposed to help the child to be able to mentally map out their environment more easily and develop independence as they should be able to get up on their own in the morning and play with toys for a while, rather than banging or yelling for parents.

3.  This is supposed to help a child learn boundaries in a more internalized form (ie. stay on the bed because they know that is where they will sleep best, not because they are trapped there).

Well…like I said, in theory this is fantastic.  In reality, however, it was totally not working.  My 16 month-old would fall off the bed in the middle of the night and scream until I came in and put him back on the bed. *Side note: This is strongly influenced by the fact that our child has been slow with large motor development and though he can walk already, he still can’t climb or crawl at all.  So, he really couldn’t get back on the bed when he wiggled off of it.  And, he recently started to be impossible to put down for an afternoon nap because he would push up onto his hands and roll off (to protest the nap), but still not be able to get back on the bed.  That lead to 1/2 hour or longer struggles to try to get him sleepy enough to stay on the bed. Argh! Exhausting.

So…yeah.  My 1st-time mom confession of the week is that I’m a floor bed drop out.  Sorry Montessori! I love you, but I just couldn’t do this one.  The crib’s back up.


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