One Little Monkey doesn't fall out of his bed

Expecting the arrival of Tommy’s baby brother made us think of moving Tommy from his convertible crib to a bed without a rail. I knew Tommy was ready to sleep without the rail because I forgot to put the rail at night a couple of times and he didn't fall out.  With the new baby, we also needed to set Tommy's crib again for the baby.

September 12, 2010

Tommy's transition from a crib to a toddler bed was an smooth process that we started last year when he was 2 1/2 by transforming his crib into a toddler bed –Tommy's crib is is  a 3-in-1, this means it is a crib, a toddler bed and a full bed. I think having a convertible crib made the transitioning easy for Tommy because it helped him to develop spatial awareness in relation with the space available  for his body in the bed. When we decided it was time for Tommy sleeping without the rail, we also decide to create a whole new room for him, which is more appeling for a preschooler. So we bought new furniture for his room, including a new bed. But at the time to chose a bed for Tommy, we chose a toddler bed because it will be the same size of his crib so he dind't have to adjust to a new size bed and it is lower than a regular bed so if the little monkey fall out, he won't bump his head. Tommy's crib was a gift from my mom to Tommy, her first grandchild, so we are planing to transform Tommy's convertible crib in a full bed when Tommy needs a bigger bed and the baby grows out of the crib. This is other reason we didn't bought a bigger bed for Tommy. 

Making the decision if Tommy was ready to sleep without the rail made me think how kids learn not to fall out of bed. I realized it has to be with their relationship with space controlled by the Proprioceptive system, which alerts the body about its location within its physical environment so the body develops spatial awareness that comes naturally to most children while they explore their surroundings as they get mobile by learning to crawl, walk, run, climb; but it is not always the case for kids with a genetic disorder. Even although the spatial awaresness hapends natural in a child development, there are ways to help our kids to develop spatial awareness, specially if they have developmental delays.

• To develop body map by encouraging the child when begins to be mobile to climb under tables or go through tunnels, into cardboard boxes, and any fun place to hide. We bought for Tommy's birthday a play station with has different size tunels connected and he also got a little tend.
• To discuss locations by talking about where the bedroom is, where the bathroom is, where the kitchen is, where his or her toys are and so on.
• To mention which objects are closer and which objects are farther from a child’s current location to give them the idea of distance between them and the objects.
• To teach positional words, which is also a way to work on language development. Examples of positional words (prepositions): up, down, behind, in front, around. A good reference to teach positional words is available in http://downsyndromecentre.ie/advisorypanel/2010/jun/21/teaching-prepositions-positional-words-real-life-c/
• To give directions using "right" and "left". I am reading the Book From Head to Toe by Eric Carle and emphasis body movements to the right or left. I am also learning with Tommy the Hockey Pocky song to practice right and left. 

Even although, Tommy didn't have trouble transitioning to a bed without a protective rail, I am working on promoting spatial awareness because it will help him to be more aware of his surroundings at home, school, playgrounds and so on.  

My Little Monkey doesn't fall out of his bed
He gets all around the bed, 
but doesn't get beyond the edges. 
I have been checking on him at different time
at night since the first day he slept on his new bed.

 July 11, 10:36 PM

July 12, 1:48 AM

July 15, 1:48 AM

July 17, 9:13 PM

July 20 1:03 AM

July 20, 8:56 PM

July 21, 10:23 PM

July 31, 10:27 PM