**Update below!**
With August rolling into September (eek!), we've finally got things underway with Operation Big Boy. We have decided that each kid should have their own room for now, at least until Baby Earth is no longer nursing throught the night. So rather than decorate two rooms, we're keeping the nursery the way it is, and transforming the guestroom/office into the Boy's new Big Boy room. We are making the switch now, in the hopes that the Boy believes the change to be a result of him growing up, rather than the arrival of Baby Earth.
Yesterday, my mom and I spent four (!) hours sorting through baby clothes, and have decided that it would be a very good thing, financially-speaking, if this baby turns out to be another boy. Most of the clothes, especially the earlier gender-neutral stuff, can go either way. Well, all clothes can go either way if it's a girl, I guess, but I've spent the last two and half years drooling over the girls clothes that I couldn't buy and developing some serious girlie clothes-envy. If we have a girl, we may just end up broke, because mama lurves to shop, and nothing fits mama anymore, so all mama does is buy baby clothes.
Today, the mission was bed shopping. We started out at
the very expensive bed shop that was recommended to us by a very nice man at Sleep Country Canada. Personally, I thought that their website was more impressive than the show room, but the people were very nice and helpful. At a thousand bucks a p
op, though, we decided to forego buying the bed frame here. Mr Earth and I are sleeping on a bed frame that was used when he got it fifteen years ago - ain't no way I'm spending that kind of cash on a kid. Sorry, Boy, love ya and all but no way. It wasn't a wasted trip, though, because the Boy had a great time jumping on the bean bag chairs, and I did spend an ridiculous amount of money on a duvet cover and pillow sham (possibly the real reason for the trip). I saw this online and fell in love with it. Nothing else would do. Apparently, though I don't have many food cravings while pregnant, I do have some retail cravings. Food ones would be cheaper...
Next we went to Sears Home Outlet, hoping to see some of the beds that I found online earlier in the week. No deal. We found similar beds, but they were all in the $500 range, and I still balked at the price. I still think that this is pretty expensive, especially as the bed didn't seem to be that fabulous. Also, they didn't seem that different from the ones that saw online, only they were more than twice the price. Why on earth would they offer the same bed online for less than half the price? This confuses me. Why would you want to shop in the store? Although...I hesistate to buy a bed online because you can't really tell the quality. It makes me nervous.
Finally, I convinced Mr Earth that we should check out IKEA while we were in the neighbourhood. Mr Earth loathes IKEA. I don't blame him though, it's usually a madhouse there when we go, and the Boy likes to run through the aisles like a maniac. It's an accident waiting to happen. I did find a bed that I really like. It doesn't have drawer storage underneath, and it only comes in black or white (why not natural wood?? curious), but I like it and I like the fact that I could take a look at it in person. The Boy had a grand old time trying out beds, and trying out the ladders on the bunk beds (have I mentioned the accident waiting to happen..?) By the end though, he was tiring, and starting to freak out because he wanted to play with all the toys. We decided to go home and think over which bed would be best. That probably had to do with the fact that the bed is found in three different aisles and three different bins in the checkout area. Too confusing for us and a toddler teetering on the edge. We beat it home.
So the question is, which do we choose? The mate's bed that I've only seen online, but question the cheap price? Or, the IKEA bed that is lovely but has no storage, and is only in black or white? They're about the same price, so that's not an issue:
And, more importantly, will the Boy sleep in either of them? In an entirely new room?? That's what I'm most nervous about. We're trying to make as exciting as we can, and we are talking it up big time, but the Boy is change-resistant. I'm hoping that two months gives us enough time to get him settled in the new digs. Any suggestions on how to make the transition easier?
**I figured out why the beds were so much cheaper online than in the store: they sell the bookcase-headboards separately. Sneaky, sneaky. (That, or I'm just stoopid.) So, the IKEA bed is now $100 to $130 cheaper than the Sears one. It's hard to picture the bed above without the headboard, but it seems kind of plain. Still sturdy though. Argh.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Operation Big Boy
I refuse to be labelled! OK, just this once: Baby Earth, the Boy
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18 comments:
I'd go with the one with storage.
And good luck with the transition; we're working on it too, but since Bee has never slept anywhere but our room, we're also working on a plan B.
The one with the storage looks more solid...and also a bit bigger so it should last him for a while. Could you call and ask some questions about the cheaper online bed? Is it wood? Veneer? How are the drawers constructed? And, most importantly, what is their return policy, so if you get it and don't like it, perhaps you could return it.
If you got the Ikea bed, you could buy some inexpensive under-bed bins on castors to put underneath it. Voila, storage. But the other bed looks sturdier.
Mm, ya, I'm going to go with the one with storage, too. But I LOVE the sheets (oh, and shopping for baby instead of you...yup...I've been doing that for three years while waiting to 'get my body back' hahaha).
make sure you can return the one online, and then buy that one.
we need to buy a new bed for our kids soon and the prices terrify me! i love the captain's bed, though and want one for each of the kids. but we would have to take out a loan!
and i left a comment at your last post about gender. . .
I've heard that Ikea beds are terrible - really poor quality and uncomfortable. So go with the Sears one!
I'm thinking about my two-are-better-than-one arguments. The basic one: if your first baby was easygoing, highly portable, never required much in the way of attention or entertainment, then you'll probably find having two to be quite a bit harder. In MY case, however, I spent most of the Pie's infancy saying, "I can't believe how easy this is!" Because she just liked to watch her brother. Best entertainment in town.
storage for sure. storage. wistful sigh....
how about a bunk bed that can convert to a loft bed with a desk underneath?
shit sorry...so many choices. My girls sleep together in bigirls bed and littlegirls bed is used by me when mr mumma is snoring his head off.
I'd choose the storage. You can never have enough storage.
Definitely go with the storage. You'll miss it if you don't have it.
Our girl just got a white storage bed and is loving it! She's older--she finally has her own "girl" bedroom set! (We had a bunk-bed set and each child had one half of the bunk-bed in their own room).
With the girl, we had to play up the transition from crib to big-girl bed but she kept the room.
When her brother arrived, we were only 4 months away from moving so we kept him in our room until we moved--then they both got their own rooms in the new house. So, I'm afraid I'm not much help but as long as you play up the excitement of the "big boy room," I'm betting he will adjust well!
Good luck!
We went with an Ikea junior bed for MF, and he LOVES it (the red Kritter bed, with the cat and dog headboard). For storage, we bought a couple of Ikea plastic folding underbed boxes that work beautifully. In a few years, we'll move him up to a bigger bed.
I hear you on the clothes thing. Having a second boy probably saved me from binge shopping for cute girly things... ;-)
Ha! As the mother of a little girl, let me tell you - you will bankrupt yourself buying cute little girl clothes. My bank book has suffered the (as I call it) having-a-daughter fate.
As for the beds... I love the Ikea bed. I'm really partial to white furniture for kids. Also, I'm pretty sure Ikea sells under bed storage.
Of course, these could be both moot points, as you could have a second boy, and you could have a bedroom stuffed with 4 people in a few short months ;)
I have A LOT of trouble making decisions like this. The bed thing seemed so much like the stroller thing in that none of them seemed to have it all, the expensive ones seemed a bit better quality wise and you have to buy the damned thing and use it to figure out if it is going to work.
I really liked a couple of Ikea beds. I always go for storage
Yeah, I'm hoping for another girl, too. So much cheaper!
I also was going to suggest craigslist for kids stuff, but I see from the post above you're onto that one!
Every time I look at beds for my son (who will have outgrown his toddler bed in a couple of months) I tend to think of maybe only a mattress on the floor. Besides they can't fall out. that's a plus.
I can't say much about the transition, my son slept in our bed for months, and has slept in the same bed ever since (you could transform it into the toddler bed). We didn't buy the bed it was a gift (second hand), and when he was two years old we moved him into his own room and told him he had to stay there for sleeping. (Oh, and decoration? His room still looks like our living room minus the sofa plus his bed and a few toys. He doesn't mind.)
Maybe you could find something used? Just buy a new mattress.
Some great comments there. I find buying beds online is a lot more hassle free then going from shop to shop.:)
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