Zayne's tiny kingdom

Me with a perky Zayne Mojica, comfy in his seat

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I have to shelve the story of Peter Rabbit and Bubble guppies as I am excited to tell you about the crib/bed of my ward Zayne.

Yes, at the end of the day, Zayne's bed/crib is his kingdom just like our bed is our own refuge and haven where we rest our tired backs from the day's hard labor.

As you can see Zayne has a brown colored crib with a white, transparent mosquito net hanging over it that is zipped outside which allows me to see what he's doing inside.

Since he was one year old I have to put him to bed or crib at 2 p.m and take him out at 4 p.m. No fuss, no drama, just set him on his bed and he'd fall asleep.

I usually come to his house at 9 a.m and sometimes he's still sleep and I have to get him out when he slept more. He loves his crib; it is very soft and fluffy and his room is conducive to sleeping.

The music of Mozart or Tchavoischy often plays in the background. There are times he doesn't want to leave the crib which he considers his sanctuary from the world. I guess we all have that feeling when we were kids.

Even when I change the beddings and linings of the crib I have to ask his permission because he would mumble that it is his crib. I have to explain well that his bed needs to be cleaned.

Then the day came when he wouldn't fit in his tiny kingdom anymore as his legs got big. When he sleeps he has to curl up his feet to fit in. I can see he was uncomfortable already but still he clings to the crib.

Then finally it was decided that they have to get a new bed for him. I learned that the new bed, light brown colored with a blue cover/tent over it was made by IKEA.

The blue cover has stars and a moon on it. It has a stair when he climbs. At first I thought it was a toddler bed but it wasn't. It can also be used by an adult.

He was excited and the old crib was placed at the garage. But come night time he won't sleep on it unless there's someone there with him.

Zayne's fine with the bed at first but he won't sleep on it. The first week was hell as it was maddening for me to convince him to sleep during his regular period so he won't get cranky.

Then I finally got him to sleep on the bed one afternoon with minimal drama by sleeping with him in the room. Unknown to the family then he told me to bring back his old crib/bed.

An older and bigger Zayne during a school program

I explained to him he is already big and he has to sleep in a new bed that fits

his size. He would get cranky and his tantrums would get quite loud.

Right there, I thought that kids should be transitioned into sleeping in their new bed before letting them use it permanently. I guess Zayne missed his old bed badly.

Again as the Nanay (Mother) Nanny, I have to do research on this and found out that any sudden change would take the kid out of his or her comfort zone. It wasn't easy but thanks to his comfortable room which included venetian blinds, the transition wasn't too hard.

In fact in one of the readings I had I learned about this baby sound machine.

Transferring from one bed to another is a harder habit to break as time goes on.

But now that he is five he is okay sleeping with his own bed. I was told though that there are nights when he would just wake up early in the morning and join his daddy in bed.

Next time, I would tell you the story of how Zayne watches TV and how he changed his viewing preferences from Little Einstein to Team Umizoomi to Bubble Guppies and finally Benjamin in Peter Rabbit as his friend. Till then, have a good day.

(The blogger/author is a veteran journalist from Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao in the Philippines who works as a nanny in North Carolina. Read her blogs on susanpalmesstraightfrom the Carolinas.com)