If I had discovered Montessori before Bear was born I'm sure I would have started him on a floor-bed. I like the rationale behind it. "We have mentioned the child-bed on the floor which gives the baby more to see , verses the crib high in the air with a limited view. From the lower position of the child-bed, the child builds a visual map of her room before she begins to move about in it and take in even more. It takes time for the child to build this visual map. Repeated experiences are necessary for the visual cortex to lay down impressions in her brain. These experiences allow the child to add the necessary visual information to her internal map for movement in her room. They build a framework for her understanding of how distance is experienced between points in her map and the relationship of those points to speed and time through movement. Thus from the beginning, they build a sensorial foundation for physics. A child-bed prepares the baby to move about in her room just at the time that her brain is ready for more information to be absorbed through her senses. Thus she can provide for her own needs and continue her own learning. She is happy because her opportunities for learning match her abilities." However as things turned out we taught Bear to sleep in a cot and that's where he's slept from 3-months-old - until now. He sleeps like a champ and his gross motor skills haven't suffered so I have no regrets. However the cot has been posing a few problems recently and it's time to move on.
So now's the time. We decided to make the change on the first night back home after holidays. Bear and I took apart his cot and packed it away (no turning back now). I toddler-proofed the room thoroughly. Emptied all the drawers and cupboards. We made sure he was well and truly tired at bed-time. Then followed his normal bed-time routine without any fuss. Amazingly he fell asleep on his floor bed after less than 20 minutes of complaining on night one. It's been a week now and no floor-bed related disasters!! Amazing!! My favourite thing about the floor bed so far was when I went in to check on him during the night and found 2 soft toys in bed with him. He had been able to get them out of the cupboard himself and put himself back to bed without a peep.
0 Comments
|
Categories
All
My name is Vicky and I have 3 boys - Bear (10), Fox (8) and Wolf (6). Somehow I stumbled across Montessori and now my goal is to raise and educate my children with a Montessori approach in Dubbo. Archives
April 2024
|