Finn’s Big Boy Room and Goodnight Routine

This post is sponsored by Disney Book Group

We moved Finn out of his crib! Have to admit it was hard to do. I kept putting it off.  I mean, he has been crawling out of his crib since he was 9 months old. Never once fell out, just muscled his way out and escaped. After a couple of hard nights of putting him back in the crib maybe 15 times, he finally stayed. So it really wasn’t going to be an issue putting him into his big boy bed. Just sad for me to leave the official “baby” stage. But, he was ready and we wanted to give him more space in his room. He has done awesome sleeping in his big boy bed at night and for his naps. I am going to share how we get Finn to bed in 5 minutes and the changes to his room for his big boy room!

Toddler Bedtime Routine- 

• Our bedtime routine starts after we eat dinner at about 6:30/7:00
• After dinner is eaten, Kevin puts Finn in the bath while I clean up dinner.
• When bath is done we do our family scripture reading or play some quiet games
• Then, Finn is ready for bed about 7:30/8:00.
• We close his black-out curtains and turn on the sound machine and tell Finn it’s snuggle time
• Typically, I get to put Finn to bed because he requests mom ❤️ We always read a book or two.
• Then the reading light goes out, and I rock Finn for a couple of minutes. If he asks for more books, I tell him we will read them in the morning and he is always good with that answer because he knows we will
• He isn’t all the way asleep when I lay him in bed, but his eyes are nodding off and that is when I put him in his bed (more on how long it took to get him to go to bed on his own below).

PS- Finn wakes up about 6:00/6:30 every morning and then naps about noon-2:30 everyday. 

Books are an essential part of our nighttime routine. For ALL of us. My girls also read before bed and that helps them to go to sleep too. We just got Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy sent to us from Disney Book Group, and everyone got a kick out of it! Drew Daywalt is the author of the New York Times #1 best-selling author of The Day the Crayons Quit. Scott Campbell is the illustrator.

 About the book- It is a modern take on the classic bedtime story, and will get even the most rambunctious kids ready for bedtime. When a boy who routinely refuses to go to bed gets a talkative stuffed animal, the tables are turned! Roderick hates going to bed, and the young boy has become quite resourceful in coming up with ways to delay the dreaded hour when the lights must go out. Roderick’s loving parents–fed up with the distractions and demands that have become his anti-bedtime ritual–decide to get him a stuffed animal to cuddle with and help him wind down. However, Sleepy quickly proves to be a bit high-maintenance. Just when we fear the night may never end, Sleepy’s antics become too exhausting for Roderick to bear. And finally goes to sleep! 

Bed-

When we took out his crib we decided we would use THIS daybed we already had. And it has been perfect. On the bottom part of the bed is a trundle with another mattress when we have a lot of guests. The little step stool we had is perfect in here now! (Find the stool HERE).

Window Treatments-

We have had blackout curtain panels since Finn was born. Highly recommend for kids who nap. We have THESE blackout curtains. And we recently changed the curtain rods to THESE that allow the curtain panel to go flush to the wall, allowing little light to come in! 

The first couple nights we started to put him in his big boy bed he did cry and say he wanted to “get out”. So I picked him up and rocked him for another minute then put him back in bed. He cried and then got out. So I just went back and put him back in under the covers and talked about his cousins who sleep in big boy beds like Finn is now. He tried to get me to “lay down, Mom”, so I did. But that wasn’t the best choice. The next night he tried to get me to “lay down” again. And I realized I had almost created a bad habit. I personally don’t think bedtime routines should take 30 minutes. Kids should be able to get themselves to sleep. So he cried when I wouldn’t lay down with him and I just kept putting him back and would pat him and tell him goodnight. Then stopped talking and just would lovingly put him back. That took several times, the one night and now he goes to bed in under 5 minutes. 

Biggest tip is to remind them they are big boys like daddy or a cousin or friend. And also I did say “I’ll be back to check on you.” Which I did, but after he was asleep.  That seemed to comfort him. And giving him a stuffed animal like Roderick in the  Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy book helped, too.

Bedding- 

THIS Zip-up Bedding has been the best because we don’t need the side rails to keep him in the bed. It zips up like a sleeping bag! Also the top comes completely off so it is easy to wash both pieces quickly. We just keep the one side zipped so that he’s secure, and it is also so easy to make the bed.  We have a basket by his bed that we put some of his stuffed animals and pillows from his bed in. (Find bedding HERE and use code NESTING20 for 20% off)

Dresser-

One big change in his room was his new dresser. The original one we had was basically falling apart. Neither the new or the old cost a lot, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. We switched to this mustard yellow Ikea dresser. Funny thing was I posted the mustard yellow dresser and a solid wood dresser on my Instagram Stories for everyone to vote on and over 70% voted for the wood one. Then, I posted WHY I had picked the mustard yellow one in the first place ( photo below with Finn’s pants and the blanket) so everyone could see how cute the pop of color was. I had everyone RE-VOTE and it totally flip-flopped. Over 70% voted FOR the mustard yellow dresser! 

Just shows what an inspiration a photo will do! And you can see how his room was set-up before, if you forgot. I basically flipped the bookcase to the opposite wall where the dresser was. 

We changed out the knobs to THESE leather pulls and the zebra knobs are older originally from Anthropolgie. Finn isn’t potty trained (yet) so we still have a changing pad. One thing at a time.

You can see our love of books with that filled bookcase. I actually went through it and picked out books to put in our Little Free Library the other day, too! 

Toys-

I created a new station for toys that Finn actually plays with now at his age. I used THESE vintage locker crates inside THESE wood cubes and filled them with puzzles, car race track, cars, Magnaformers and Skoolzy Peg Board. There are a few other toys in his closet, but not much. We donated a big bag of random toys that he didn’t need or use, and now all that we have is the awesome things he loves.

Finn does watch a TV show when he eats lunch but that is about it. If I set out a stack of books or bin of toys, he will sit and go through them especially if I turn on nursery rhythms in the background. Really, it is the greatest thing. 

You can order a copy of  Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy and  The Day the Crayons Quit now! Both are wonderful books to add to your collection! 

Click on an image below to Shop Finn’s Big Boy Room-

Hanging lights above dresser are from Bright Lab Lights

Bedding is Beddy’s (I have on my girls bed too and LOVE them)

Wallpaper Details HERE

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