When my daughter was nearly ten months old, we moved her to a floor bed; it was the first step in becoming a Montessori family. The decision was driven by her utter lack of ability to sleep well; she would wake numerous times during the night, often crying and standing at the end of her crib. I thought, “Well, maybe she feels trapped. I would! I wonder if there are other options?” Thus began the deep dive into the world of Montessori.
Let me back up; I knew some about Montessori’s teachings and her theories on child development from my bachelor’s degree in education. It had been touched on briefly during my semester studying preschool educational styles. I remember thinking that if I ever had children, I might want to send them to a Montessori school, because to me, it just made sense. And then I promptly forgot about it.
Until December, when we made a last-ditch effort to fix Piper’s sleep.
The floor bed was just the beginning; I have since completely changed my thinking, planning, purchasing, and parenting to fit the Montessori lifestyle. While our home and family isn’t 100% Montessori (and in truth, few are), we have adapted many of the teachings to meet the needs of our family. And it works for us.
But back to the floor bed. In Montessori homes, the emphasis is on following the child. This is a common thread in all decisions made, materials purchased, changes implemented. Part of following the child is giving them the freedom to move and to explore their environment, so floor beds are chosen over cribs because it facilitates both for young children. Many families start with a floor bed from the beginning; some infants sleep in one from the first night. Others use a bassinet or side-car style sleeper in the caregiver’s bedroom until the baby is a little older to better facilitate nighttime feedings and wakings. For us, we were transitioning from a traditional crib to a floor bed, which was a little different.
I was worried that it wouldn’t work; that she would fall out or cry all night or get up and then fall asleep somewhere in the room.
But I was determined to help her sleep better, and felt this was a good option, so I powered through the fears. My husband and I anchored all her furniture to the walls, added a safety box to the outlet that was in use, replaced the other outlets with safety outlets, and took apart the crib. We laid her mattress directly on the floor and let her explore. We also removed a lot of unneeded items from her room and minimized the toys; a small basket of books, some stuffed animals, and a few teethers.
That night she went to bed easily, as she often did, but woke less. When she did wake, she crawled to the door and cried for us. Soon, the wakings were less frequent, and now at 13 months, she wakes and just calls out to us. When she gets up in the morning or after her nap, she is often found squealing over books in her bed or going through the clothes in her closet (a topic for another day). She is independent, enabled, and happy.
This change really pushed me to research and learn more about Montessori in the home in other ways, which has led to where we are now.
