bring on the tray

This week Oliver transitioned from a crib to a tray bed at school. (Sorry, no picture yet. I tried for days to find one but the Internets have failed me.) A tray bed is a little wooden cot (in the American sense, since a British cot is what Americans call a crib). Barely off the ground.

Most of the children around his age moved to a tray bed months ago but due to space constraints, Oliver continued to nap in a crib. The nap room is an L shaped space, with tray beds on one leg and cribs on the other (and two changing stations in between). As the children get ready to move up from the Infant Wing to the Young Toddler room, they are slowly transitioning to the Young Toddler schedule, which includes one nap per day, after lunch, on a mat. The older Infant Wing children have moved from their tray beds to mats, thus freeing up tray bed space. It's all far too complicated, I know, but it seems to work.

I have been getting antsy for a couple of months now, pestering the teachers for this transition to take place. Even Oliver seemed to want it. While I checked the diaper and nap log book in the nap room he would bolt to the tray beds and look at them longingly.

It all seems to have hinged upon them procuring a unit for mat storage. I tried not to let this piss me off but I pay them about $1250 a month and that seems to have had an impact on my expectations. Lack of a big box is holding back my son's development? Oy vey. Get over yourself RIGHT NOW.

The actual transition has gone remarkably well. I expected Oliver to be the kid who refused to lie down but the teachers tell me he goes right to sleep. His naps are longer now too, around 90 minutes, sometimes longer.

And while we're on the subject of sleep, a few changes at home seem to have improved night time sleep. We take a family walk when we get home in the evening, including Chewy and Penguin (5:30 pm). Then play for a little bit (6:00). Then dinner (6:15). A little more play time (6:40 - 7:00). Then bedtime (7:30). Oliver is now sleeping until 6:30 am, sometimes a little longer. It's a much better schedule for everyone. I'm getting close to 7 hours of sleep most nights, especially when we don't have very loud thunder storms like we did last night. After over a year of very little sleep, I'm starting to feel a bit more like a human again.