Jenna Bush Hager has revealed that her four-year-old son, Hal, has switched to a “big boy bed” after being “shamed” by the “entire community” for sleeping in a crib.
The Today host opened up about her youngest child’s milestone during the show on Thursday, saying the toddler made the decision to move into a bed alone without her help.
Bush Hager, 42, caused a stir a few months ago when she admitted that Hal was still in a crib and wanted to sleep in it until he started kindergarten.
“Hal has been in a crib from birth until about a week ago,” her co-star Hoda Kotb, 58, explained to viewers.
Jenna Bush Hager, 42, revealed on the Today show on Thursday that her four-year-old son, Hal, was finally sleeping in a “big boy bed” after being “embarrassed” that he was still in a crib
The host shared a photo of her youngest child, fast asleep in his bed, which had been lying unused in his room for “about two years”
Bush Hager said she was “quarantining” in her room with COVID-19 when Hal decided it was time to say goodbye to his crib.
“I was pushed into my room and watched whatever was on TV,” she said.
“And Hal was free to be himself,” Kotb suggested, and her co-host agreed that was probably what happened.
Bush Hager recalled how her husband, Henry Hager, ran into their son’s room after hearing him shout, “Daddy!”
“He went in and (Hal) said, ‘I’m ready.’ And Henry said, ‘You’re ready for what?’ He said, “I need to move to my big boy bed.”
The mother of three explained that her son’s bed had been in his room for “about two years” before he wanted to sleep in it.
Bush Hager then shared a sweet photo of Hal fast asleep in his big boy bed.
‘It all happened without his mother’s help! And I wonder if I’m too presumptuous when it’s just about him,” she admitted.
Bush Hager said she was ‘quarantined’ in her room with COVID-19 when Hal told his father, Henry Hager, he was ready to sleep in his bed
“You all had shamed me, and in fact the whole community had shamed me for the fact that he was in a crib. You all kind of embarrassed me,” Bush Hager said
Bush Hager admitted that she may be “presumptuous” when it comes to her only son, but her co-star Hoda Kotb said she loved that Hal told her when he was ready to make the move.
Bush Hager and her husband also have two daughters, Mila, ten, and Poppy, eight.
“It’s funny because sometimes when we’re out of the picture, we think that change won’t happen without our pushing, our cheering and our guidance,” Kotb said.
The former first daughter said she tried to push Hal into his bed after she faced resistance because he was sleeping in a crib.
“You all had shamed me, and in fact the whole community had shamed me for the fact that he was in a crib. You all kind of embarrassed me,” she recalled.
‘And I said, “Okay, Hal, I think it’s time, some friends have said it’s time to move!” And he wasn’t ready, he was scared.”
Kotb, a mother of two young daughters, supported Bush Hager’s decision to let Hal choose when he wanted to go to bed.
‘You know what I like? He actually told you when he was ready,” she said. “What difference does it make if he’s in a crib or in a bed? And when he’s twenty, he won’t remember being in a crib until he’s four and a half.”
Bush Hager, however, wasn’t convinced her son could survive.
Bush Hager caused a stir in October when she admitted that Hal was still in his crib. “You guys are normal, right?” she asked. Producers behind the scenes responded with a resounding ‘no!’
‘What? “I didn’t even ask you, I asked them,” she shouted, referring to the viewers at home
Bush Hager said she tried to talk to Hal about moving to a bed, but he “wanted to be the only toddler in his crib.”
“He’ll remember because this will be on the Internet,” she told Kotb, laughing.
Bush Hager caused a stir on the Today show in October when she admitted that Hal was “still in his crib.” She jokingly asked if she should “bring him out at some point” and move him to a bed.
“You guys are normal, right?” she asked, turning to the cameras.
Producers behind the scenes responded with a resounding ‘no!’
‘What? “I didn’t even ask you, I asked them,” she shouted, referring to the viewers at home. “It’s normal for a four-year-old, your last child, to be snug in his crib where he feels safe, right?”
Kotb wanted to know how her son got up to go to the bathroom during the night while he was in his crib.
“He doesn’t have to, but if he ever had an accident, it would happen in his crib,” Bush Hager explained.
Most toddlers will transition from a crib to a bed between the ages of 18 months and three years Cleveland Clinic.
Bush Hager noted that she was ready to move Hal to a bed, but he was adamant that he wanted to stay in his crib.
“I said, ‘Would you, maybe let’s try to put you to bed next week,’ and he said, ‘Not this Christmas, but next Christmas,’” she said in a baby voice.
“He wants to be the only toddler in his crib,” she added. “Anyway, to each their own.”