I survived the Great Wiggly Worm Migration of 2011

Since he was born, we have been using Gabriel's pack'n'go as a portacrib whenever we visit either of my parents. It's always worked great. He is still sleeping in his crib at our house (he doesn't try to climb out-and if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!) although once he is almost fully potty-trained we will have to move him to a bed so he can get up and go to the potty when he needs to. So basically, he has no experience in sleeping in a bed to speak of. On our first night here, I set up his porta crib, padded it down with bedding (they're not the most comfortable things on the planet) and put his babies in it. But when I put him in it this time, I noticed that with his giant bee pillow that he insists on sleeping with, he can't even stretch out his legs fully! My husband and I knew that he was slowly getting too big for the porta-crib but this time I felt like I could no longer deny that he is too big for it.  He spent his last night in the porta crib that night, and the next night I had to come up with a solution. I decided to make him a nice little pallet on the floor beside our bed, using the 'mattress' from his porta crib, sleeping bags, and comforters. I even rolled up some blankets to use as makeshift bumpers on either side, and used extra pillows at the top to protect his head from the wall and floor. Then I added his precious babies. I think it looked pretty comfy!!

Gabriel was excited about his new 'big boy bed' and after some minor baby-rearranging, went to sleep without getting up once! (My biggest worry, but we brought our video-monitor with us, so I was able to spy on him). He slept soundly until his father and I came to bed a few hours later. Turns out, I was worried about the wrong thing. I had just fallen asleep when I was awoken by a small thud. Baby head hitting wall. I looked over, and sure enough, somehow he had burrowed past his pillow barrier and knocked his head against the wall, hanging half off his bed. I carefully picked him up and placed him back in the middle of his bed. He slept through the whole thing. About thirty minutes later, another, larger thud. He had almost completely rolled off his bed and into the hardwood floor!! I picked him up and placed him back in his bed. I was really tired at this point, so about twenty minutes later when he rolled off again (it was around 2 a.m. now) I became desperate. I needed sleep, and I didn't want my precious little G baby head knocking against. any more wood. I laid down beside his bed, acting as a physical barrier to keep him from rolling off the bed. It wasn't the best night of sleep for me.
Last night, we tried it again. This time, we put his head facing the opposite direction, so he would roll (he only rolls to the right for some reason) against the rolled-up blankets I put against the wall instead of onto the hardwood floor. When my husband and I came to bed, he was sleeping peacefully on his little bed, right in the middle. I woke in the night to use the bathroom, and he was still good. Then, around 3:30 am, I woke up to pee and looked beside me at his little bed. NO G BABY!!! He was NOWHERE to be found. Panicked, I felt underneath our bed to see if he somehow rolled underneath-no. I stood up and raced to the door. But then I noticed a little bundle in the front of our bed. He had wiggled like a little worm right off his bed and migrated halfway across the room, sleeping soundly on the cold hardwood floor!! So yet again, I picked him up and placed him back in bed, laid beside him on the floor, and we went back to sleep.

 To get an idea of how much room he has on his bed, here he is sitting on it. We laid him down so that his head was resting on the yellow bee pillow.

The X at the bottom of the screen is where his head was on his pillow. You can see how far he traveled.The bad news? I have no idea how he is going to survive a real big boy bed since he rolls and wiggles around so much. The good news? I survived the Great Wiggly Worm Migration of 2011.