How to Get My 2 1/2 Year Old to Go to Sleep by Herself??

i AM GOING THROUGH THE SAME THING WITH MY 3 YR OLD. AFTER CRYING A FEW NIGHTS HE FINALLY JUST CRIED LESS AND LESS. ITS HARD I KNOW BUT STICK WITH IT. AND DONT EVEN START IT WITH THE NEW BABY. I LEARNED THAT LESSON. LOL

My first son was like that. What I did was I took him to the toy store and told him to pick out a bed buddy. A stuff toy that he could snuggle up to. I told him that his bed buddy would keep him safe at night. I even did the goofy conversation with the toy, telling the "buddy" that he would need to help my son go to sleep and keep him safe. After the first night, my son would only go to sleep with his "buddy", he didn't need momma anymore to help him. I did continue to tuck BOTH of them in at night and read a story. It's a security thing. He ended up out growing his buddy and gave it to his youngest sister as her bed buddy.

Ahhhhhh! I feel your pain. Unfortunately you're going to have to let her cry herself to sleep. It might take two or three nights, but she has to actually learn that she is ABLE to comfort herself to sleep. As the other post said, music might help. I had a classical/waterfall combo that helped. Every time you give in she learns that if she cries long enough, you'll be there. You have to tough it out. Believe me, I know it's hard, but it will help her self esteem to learn this little bit of self sufficiency.

Good luck,
~K.

I did the returning her to bed and letting her cry thing. It took 3 nights before my daughter got the hang of it, but it was well worth it. However, I have heard people talk about sitting next to the bed instead of getting in it and slowly backing yourself away from the bed, until your out the door. Try sitting in a chair next to the bed and then stay in the chair until she falls a sleep, then gradually move the chair further from the bed.

Hey A.
I was in the same situation as you with my oldest!! Of course I did pay for it too! However, there were several things that I tried but the ones that worked best were putting in a CD or tape of very soft music( waterfalls actually) and let her listen to it until she feel asleep. Another thing I tried was to let her listen to a book on tape. Something that she really likes! I am sure that there are tons of ideas that others have but one thing that was really hard for me was to just let her cry! That never worked for me! I know this may not be of much help, but maybe so! Thanks! GOOD LUCK!
C. Stork
www.forourkidz.fourpointmoms.com

i had the same problem with my 2 girls and i sat in their room and said nothing (of course i almost fell asleep myself) and each night i would move farther out of their room they do not have a night light in their room but i leave the hallway light on and now they sleep in their room alone.. it took about 2 1/2 weeks but got it to work. good luck!!!

Wean her gradually. Don't lay down with her, sit beside her bed, with your hand on her if necessary. As time goes by, move further away, until you are not in the room.

What I did was I put a t.v. and DVD player in my three year olds room. The rule is she is allowed to watch a movie that will not wind her up, one time. I giver her about three movie choices to pick one movie . She loves this because it's kind of her way playing a part in bedtime. And she knows once she watches it one time, the t.v. goes off. I know people say it's not good for them to watch t.v. before bed but Mia is quite active and she really needs that time to just calm down. I tuck her in and tell her I love her, she gives kisses and I also warn her that if I hear her cutting up, the consequence/rule is the t.v. volume goes one notch down. You would think they'd be too little to understand but they do. I also have a two year old and he goes by the same rules.

I am a mother of a two year old, a three year old, and a thirteen year old. I adopted all three. I got my first at the age of seven, my second at five weeks old, and my third child at four days old.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
A.

My son is about that age and there are times that he won't go to sleep without me either. When he was younger he would only go to sleep by being rocked to sleep. We started to give him a blanket of some sort and now he can't go to sleep without it. You might want to try giving her one of your shirts or something with your smell on it. She might just want to be with you for a security, so try to replace the security. I hope this helps.

Face the fact that now this habit is going strong, it will take strong action from you to fix it.

Lay down with her until she is asleep every night and leave a nightlight on. Every time she crawls into your bed, do not allow her to do it. Simply pick her up and take her back to her bed and lay down with her until she falls asleep again. This may mean weeks of doing this but it will pay off. Reward her in the morning for sleeping in her big girl bed all night regardless of how many trips it took from you. Make a huge deal of her successful but time & consistent determination from you will solve this issue.

I had the same situation with my girls, but my first was (and is) pretty "high needs", and has a lot of anxiety problems. Since we were going to be putting her sister in the same room with her anyway, we put in a second bed and I would lay on that until she fell asleep. I suppose you could try the same thing with a comfy chair if you have no intent on them sharing (of course, little girls will eventually have sleepovers, so you could plan for that too). It helped give her that sense of closeness while being a little more independent, and she soon learned that she could do it on her own. I hope this helps :}

Okay there lil mama, not only are you going through just having had a new baby, but this part of parenting is VERY HARD. I remember crying too with both of our kids. With my son I was by myself and with my daughter... I have another baby to take care of. With Vanessa, after having gone through what I did with Noah, I was a lot more stonger. My son took forever in having him go to sleep cause I would GIVE in. Our daughter, she only took was a week. SO! What you have got to do is...

(and I know this sounds mean right now, but I promise it's not)

Just take her to her room. Read ONE book. And then tell her it's time for dream time. Walk out and shut the door. Don't even check on her until about 10-15 mins (you can even go longer depending on the type of crying you hear, your mama... you know).

Everytime you do go in and check on the sweetie, say the same thing: (this is vital) It's time for sleeping (or whatever your family calls it). You are safe and I love you honey, Mommy is just right out that door. Nighty-night. Then walk out. 10 mins or so later (try making this time longer and longer)... Again, do the same thing.

Now I just wanna forewarn you. This can take up to HOURS, but I promise it WILL end and each night that YOU STAY STRONG... the less amount of time it'll take. Since you have the hubby, he can contribute as well. Whoever is most likely there at bedtime should do it to provide that sense of consistancy. THAT is VERY important. Perhaps bed time can be her and Daddy time if he's up for the challenge.

I wish you the best of luck. Remember that the second one is ever so much easier than the first, because.... you ALREADY know and START EARLIER. Our third, Natalie, she's already going to sleep alone in her room since 8 mos. I know it hurts to hear them cry, but I promise it's the only way that our little ones learn.

Hello, A..
My son will be 3 in July and he slept with me and my husband in our bed up until about 4 months ago. When I finally decided to put him in his own bed, we went to Wal Mart and I let him pick out some new sheets for his bed. He chose Spiderman and he loves them! The first week, I stayed in his room by his bed until he fell asleep and then I went on to bed. Then, the first night of the second week, I told him that I wasn't going to stay in there and he would have to be a big boy and go to sleep on his own. If he started fussing or crying, I would wait at least 10 min. and then go reassure him he would be alright. He would finally go to sleep after about 45 min.- an hour. But only after 2 or 3 nights, we had no problems and now he goes to sleep on his own within 10 minutes. We do have a nightly ritual: I give him a bath, he brushes his teeth, I read him a story, and we say our prayers together. Every child is different, but no matter what you do, try to have some kind of routine every night and I think after a couple weeks, your daughter will fall asleep on her own. Remember, BE STRONG!!