We were stationed in Columbus MS when Zoe was born. We moved from there when she was 2 years 4 months old. She had her first everything there. Her best friends, her favorite Sunday School Teacher, all things familiar to her. We made progress on potty training her and she was sleeping in her own room. She was still in a crib but she was still sleeping in her own room.
When we moved here to Oklahoma she had a very hard time which in turn made me have a hard time. She was confused as to where home really was because my in laws live in the city and we would spend a lot of time down there and she loved it. But when we would come up to our home home she was confused, why can't she go to the Zoo on a whim? Why can she not play with her friends (my in laws neighbors)? Where is MS best friends? Where is the home she once knew? Why doesn't she recognize anything!!??!! When we said we are going to church and Ms Dianne wasn't in the nursery, she didn't know why? She started pulling her hair out and I didn't know what to do about it.
I decided I was going to be overly routine for her. Make friends for her up here. Make our home home a place she knew and trusted. I am by nature an attachment type of momma (co sleeping, no crying, hold them often type). Well part of building her trust was allowing her to sleep in our room.
When we got here she wanted NOTHING to do with her new room. She didn't like it and she would scream and cry. It wasn't a naughty scream and cry, it was; I am scared to death of this new space. It broke my heart to watch her go through that. So she started co sleeping again. Which wasn't too bad except I was pregnant and she was starting to kick a lot. Towards the end of my pregnancy we got her transitioned into her toddler bed at the foot of our bed. That was BIG step for her. We talked about how we were going to slowly move her into her own room. I would make little hints here and there "You know Zoe, you are going to be sleeping in your own big girl room soon". She would say stuff like "No that's okay I like this room"! HAHA... I remember when I would mention Zoe was still in our room people would look at us like we were complete freaks!! LOL I am glad I don't let things like that phase me.
Zoe would see other kiddos rooms and I would always point out their beds and how her friends were sleeping in their rooms. Not as a comparison but just to note. One day it all clicked. We went to her little friends birthday party a couple of weekends ago and she said "I want to sleep in my own room like AK and E"! I said "You DO"!!!!! She said "Uh Huh"!! I told her okay and that night we put her big girl bed in her room and she slept there all night!! We slept on the floor in her room since it was her first night!
I was so amazed that she was making such a big girl move on her own. I thought surely this is going to be a fluke once the newness wears off she'll be like forget this. No, she LOVES it!! She is making plans for a sleep over with a friend! LOL I just wanted to brag on my big girl. Bless her heart, she brags to everyone "I'm sleeping in my own room", and they look at her like haven't you been sleeping in your room for a long time. Then we break out the story.
I cried the first couple of nights. Now I think this so awesome!
Thank you for sharing this story...don't ever worry about what other people think or the comparison junk that is out there. I know it is hard to do nowadays, but you just do what you have to do. Everyone has their own story and own experience about what worked for them. It still bugs me sometimes when people ask me questions about why Jenna's hair is so short and I feel like they're judging me, but they don't know my daughter the way I do. Anyway, I am so proud of Zoe too! :)
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