losing sleep

I'm toying with the idea of taking the side rail off Jake's crib and turning it into a toddler bed. He climbed out of the Pack and Play two weeks ago at his grandparents house and more than once I've caught him with a leg over the side of his crib in the morning. In regular life Jake doesn't climb much, but when he does it's pretty extreme. He can get his leg over my shoulder if I'm sitting on the floor so you can imagine the damage this kid can do if left unattended and off the ground.

My biggest line of defense in keeping this kid caged is a Halo Sleepsack, and luckily they are making them in toddler sizes now because his toes were practically poking out of the 24 monther. If you're a mom with a baby, buy this. It's the best twenty some dollars you'll ever spend. I've used them since Jake was born and they are the next best thing to tying your brat's legs together. Toys'backwardsR'Us sells them cheapest.

I think Jake is ready for a big boy bed. His head is always at the same end of the bed in the morning as it was when I put him to bed the night before. That doesn't sound like much, but I've found that child with his head at the foot of the bed and his feet up on the rail, butt hovering at four inches in the air at 4am. He does well on regular beds in guestrooms all over Philadelphia and the few times that he has been in my bed he doesn't fall out but he makes sure I do because he needs an entire queen sized bed for himself and Bear and has no qualms about kicking and punching until they get their space.
It will probably be much easier to switch to a bed sooner than later, and maybe we can get this transition down before we move on to the serious potty stuff. I'm a big fan of yanking habit forming baby stuff before the habit is formed. That's why Jake wasn't allowed bottles after 11 months, pacifiers after 3 months, and I cut his thumbs off shortly after I pulled the paci. I'm just not the kind of mom who has the patience to deal with childhood addictions. I have to many of my own big girl ones to deal with.

I'll get a safety rail just in case, and will put a baby gate in Jake's doorway. Unless one of you are genius enough to tell me how the hell you block off the stairs in a 120 year-old row home with plaster walls and one inch by one inch wooden banisters. Something tells me that Little Benny Franklin probably took a few tumbles back in the day. Luckily back then you could only fall up the stairs, and the constant ice and snow numbed you instantly. And if you were really good you could loop your book belt thing over the railing and stop yourself before you were seriously injured or ripped the knee of your knickers.

I'm not sure that I'm ready for a big boy bed. It seemed like nothing about Jake was ever babybabyish and putting him in a bed is a pretty big deal for me.

I like to sit Jake up on the crib rail before he goes to bed and we rock back and forth and count to 25 every night. I'll definitely miss that. On the other hand, I'll be able to sit on his bed and read him a bedtime story if he has a regular bed and can lay down with him if he isn't feeling physically well and is in need of a big snuggle. Or if I'm not feeling mentally well and am in need of a little snuggle.

I'll probably be a wreck for the first week or so the rail is off, so I'll need a good excuse for sleeping on the floor in Jake's room. When he moved to his crib from the bassinet we were in the middle of a heat wave and Jake has air conditioning. Now it's freezing outside and my flannel sheets and down comforter are so much more inviting than a cold floor.

Any suggestions? What was it like when your baby graduated?