Child Out of Bed, Climbing on Furniture

How about Duct tape?! Just kidding! At that age you could use a reward program. A sticker chart on his door. when he stays in bed until you come in, he gets a sticker and after so many, a reward. You could also remove them if he doesn't behave so he will learn consequences. You may have to go a litte JoJo on him. (supernanny)
Time outs do work if YOU follow them. I am guilty of that one. I did read 1-2-3 and that still has some effect if done properly. I didn't believe that there was a certain way but there is. Good luck!

Remove the "apparatus" from his room. We're getting bunk beds in a couple of weeks and won't have anything else except the beds in the room until our climber is used to sleeping in there.

(fyi... degree in psychology/counseling and am a teacher)... once your son realizes that there's nothing fun about getting out of bed, then he'll stop doing it.

Time outs do work if you make them work. We've only had to do them a couple of times. No TV, no radio, no toys, nothing. Pack and play by himself for two minutes with nobody around him. Works like a charm. Likewise, standing your ground helps, too. My son knows that throwing a fit will get him nowhere, so his "fits" last five seconds, then he moves on to something else.

We have two (both boys; one is 3.5 and the other turned 2 in October) in big boy beds and I know what you're experiencing. They share a room, which only adds to the challenge of getting them to stay in their beds. When they first "moved in" together, I sat by the door until I knew they were sleeping, which required routinely putting them back in their beds for about an hour each night. Now I tell both of them they can take a few cars (favorite toy) to the bedroom and leave them on the floor by their beds. If they are loud or leave their beds or cause any trouble in the room, the cars are removed. This also works (putting them in a toyless bedroom) for time outs when I need something more severe than sitting on a "naughty stair".

I would suggest just letting the little guy stay up later for a bit; he probably wants more attention with the new baby in the house.
If you know that he really is sleepy and needs some rest at that time, you can find a copy of "The No Cry Sleep Solution" through the public library (you can order it through the library system if your local branch doesn't have it). There is a toddler/preschooler version of this book; that's the one that you want. There are many great suggestions in the book.
Things that often helps with getting a child to bed (if you can tell that he is actually tired and needs to go to sleep) are: to make a point of no TV right before bed, only quiet activities right before bed, one or two stories with only quiet activity in the rest of the house, and then a short time together with lights off. This is a good time for some night time prayers and talking about what you are thankful for that day.

Time outs worked for my older daughter but not my younger daughter. I have to try timeout and then swat her butt when she won't listen. She's much more stubborn and not very concerned with pleasing mommy like her older sister.

Did he climb out of his crib? If not then why switch? Unless you needed the crib for the little one. If you didn't need it then put him back in his crib and explain that big boys stay in bed and when they can't, then they have to go back in the crib.

My mom had a problem with that with my little brother. She tried everything to get him to stay in bed att night..eventually she had to swat his tail every time he climbed out and after two or three times each night he would stay put. After a month of so he learned mommy was more determined than he was and he stayed put. As a teenager you couldn't get him out of bed....maybe mom should have swatted his butt again. :)

Personally, I would remove the furniture because he could climb up the dresser and have it fall on him...

Dear K.,
Where does he fall asleep?
I would go in every 15 minutes or so (not sooner) and put him back, without saying anything.
You just have to keep doing it and make sure that nothing can fall on him if he is climbing, and that there is nothing harmful within his reach in the closet.
Also make him clean up any mess he has made(while wandering in his room) in the morning or after his nap, before he can play.....

I thought I was the only one with that kind of problem. My son is turning 2 in March. I also have a 2 month old baby girl. My son jumps on the couch and his bed everywhere. He is like a jumping bean. What I do is: I tell him to put his head down. I know it sounds crazy but it works. No matter where he is at for instance if he is at a restaurant and he is banging his utensils on the table, i tell him put his head down. He covers his eyes and does alittle whimper. He knows he has done bad. I hope this idea works for you also. Good Luck

Hi K.
I hear you.We also have a bed hopper you may have read my post earlier.Ours is out the second the bed routine is done.We have resorted to a stairgate on the door and leave the door open a bit (as he hates the door shut).when he keeps getting out the bed and shouting at the gate we shut the door for a second or two, he cries, then eventually stays in bed.we have to do this about 4 times each night.He still wakes once in night and daddy just puts back in bed.This has been going on for about amonth.very wearing but better than putting him back to bed 100 times a night like i was doing with the silent treatment.
hope your guy calms down he sounds stubborn and inventive like mine! i keep hearing its just a phase but sometimes that means nothing eh
chin up

Make sure you tether the dresser to the wall! Also, if he still has two naps, get rid of one and shorten the second. With that age, it is often better to avoid or short-circuit the behavior than fight it head-on.

Plus, it's very hard to enforce behavior if you aren't in the room at that time (with that age, and with a new baby in the house, I'm thinking you can't really be on top of him every minute. Also, guessing the new baby is part of the reason for the restlessness.) I would take the pick your battles approach - make sure there's nothing in the room to hurt him, put a gate on the door, and allow him to tire himself out for 30 minutes. My older son dragged his pillow and blanket to the doorway for months and months and would not sleep in his bed. Drove us batty, but it didn't hurt anything.

I have 4 children. they are 8,7,6,and 4. When my 4 year old was born, my oldest was only 3 1/2. All my little ones got up out of bed and "explored". They are exploring their limits. It was fruturating at first. I had to go upstairs, put them back in bed, and then come back downstairs. I got grumpy about it at times, but punishing them never worked. You just have to be patient. He will eventually stop. He is just liking the idea of getting out of bed. It took mine a little while, but then I was right back at it with the next child. You learn to love the sound of their footsteps on the floor. That is something that I now miss. It was like music when my husband and I were downstairs. We would hear walking, then we would tell them to get back in bed, which eventually you would be able to do. Instead of going to his room. Anyway, we would tell them to get back in bed, then we were hear running footsteps, instead of walking. It will happen. Just be patient. Learn to listen to his footsteps with a smile, and it won't be so hard. Just don't let him know that you are smiling on it. It is kind of like when we mess up with God. He always picks us back up, reminds us that what we are doing is wrong, and then lets us fall again. We have to be patient, the same way God is patient with us. Good luck.
T.

Hi K....I dont have advise on how to keep him in bed...but my peds dr told me when my boys where little to bolt the dresser to the wall so when they climbed on it ..it wouldnt come landing on them. Dressers are heaving and could hurt your son very badly.....Good Luck with the staying in bed issue...

Make a routine for him. Our routine is to bathe, go to the bathroom, get in bed, say a prayer, then give him a book and let the dog sleep at the foot of the bed. Then I tell him I have to go to turn the light off or some other excuse (never tell him you are going potty, then he'll need to go). Then if you have to go back in there to put him in bed, and tell him again that you have to do something. It may take him a half an hour before he goes to bed. But usually he falls asleep with the book on his face! Hope this helps!