Sleeping Issues - Columbia, SC

Im going through the same thing with my 2 1/2 year old daughter. I was told to put him to bed and if he gets out keep putting him there until he learns. You will have sleepless nights but for me its working a little. Some nights are harder then others. Im trying a reward with mine, if she sleeps in her bed all night she gets a reward of her choice. That might help. Hope everything works out for all of you. ~Jess~

When we moved my now 3 year old to her toddler bed (because we were having another baby and I didn't want to buy a second crib), she was 19 months old. We made the whole process really exciting for her. We let her go to the store to pick out her mattress. I picked out a few different bedding options in catalogs and let her pick from them. We repainted the room. This was her BIG GIRL room, and she had to be a BIG GIRL now (she was previously sleeping in our bed quite often). Since you've already converted the bed, you might need to be a little creative with ways to make him feel that he is a big part of the process. My daughter was very excited that this was her room and her place to sleep and she actually started sleeping in her own bed for once.

If you don't want to lock the door, which I wouldn't want to do either, you could try leaving the door open and putting up a baby gate. You might need to get one of the really tall ones that they make for the tops of stairs to keep him from climbing over it, or one that is just bars and not a grid (so that there's nothing for him to climb up on).

You might also try asking him why he doesn't want to sleep alone in his big boy bed. Kids think funny things- like you don't love him as much if he's not a baby. Or he'll have to do things he doesn't want to do if he's a big boy. Things that are completely irrational, but 2 year olds don't have the same coping skills so they think crazy things. Maybe he's all of a sudden developed some strange fear- monsters in the room or something. My 3 year old goes through these phases.

I think you do want to nip this having to sleep with him thing in the bud now, or he'll be 4 and you'll still be sleeping with him. My neighbor had this problem with her daughter and they took a hard-line approach. For a week, any time she came out of her room, dad took her right back to her room. The first night, the first couple of times, he explained simply and short that everyone in the family has their own room. She has her own room and she has to sleep there. Put her in bed, kiss her, leave the room. After the first couple of times, for the rest of that night and the following nights dad didn't say a word but just walked her or carried her back to her room. It took about a week, but now she sleeps in her own room.

Even if you don't take the hard-line approach of my neighbor, I think you need to be firm in explaining to him that just because he can leave the room, it's not acceptable to do so. It's not an option. Kids are not dumb. As long as you allow the option, he'll take advantage or it to get what he wants (you in his room). I know it's tough to take control sometimes- especially at night when you just want to sleep. But that is our job as parents. And I'll try to remember that in a few months when my now 21 month old starts climbing out of her crib. I know she will think she can roam the house instead of going to bed! Good luck.

Unless you are just ready for your son to move to a toddler bed, you could try a crib tent. When my daughter started climbing out of her crib we bought a crib tent and it was great! They cost around $60. If you don't want to pay that much you could probably find one at one of the children's secondhand stores or on ebay for less. Good luck!

I have a gate at my daughter's door. She doesn't try to get out (she knows it's useless trying) unless the gate is down.

We are dealing with a similiar issue. I've heard the Crib Tent idea, but it won't work on our crib. You should look at the onestepahead.com website. They have tons of gates, some that are extra tall for climbers and the crib tent some of the other posters were talking about. We are thinking about purchasing one of the tall gates and putting it at her door since we have stairs. Our pediatrician told me to put a lock on the door but I'm not crazy about that idea. Just thought I'd let you know I'm there w/ you! Except my little girl is only 15 months!! She's a big climber.

Hey T.
Get all the toys out of that room and leave some hard cover books. Get a strong baby gate and a monitor so you can hear him. Give him strict orders to stay in bed (not that this will work but he has to know that bed is where he belongs). This will all take time of course. Unless he is sick I would not let him get in the habit of you sleepin on the floor...that's a tough habit to break! I've heard of parents locking children in their bedroom and usally after 5 days it is all over. You may want to invest in a noise maker...WalGreens has them for 20.00 (sounds of rain, or waves etc...) if your sons sleep cycle goes undisturbed that helps a lot! Best of luck. T. p.s. Sometimes I put my 5 year old to bed early so I can read him his story and lie with him for a little bit...it's an easy way for him to wind down from the day...and he doesn't mind when I leave after 10 min and he's still awake. It all will come...when your son is 14 he won't be caught dead with you sleeping on his floor...hahaha..THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

I had the same problem with my son and ended up putting the childproof doorknob thingy's on the inside of the door so he could not get out. Bothered him at first but not for very long. Told him that he was a big boy now and if he wouldn't stay in his bed like a big boy he would have to go back to the baby crib and I made him one time, never had another problem. We also got him a small flashlight, a nightlight and give him a stack of books to look thru at night, he winds up falling asleep in no time.

Have you tried a gate for the door? He might try to climb out of that too, but it's worth a try.

T.,

We moved my son to a full size bed when he was ~18 months old because he was tall and strong enough to climb out of the crib. What we did to start was rock him almost completely to sleep. That is not our normal routine, we now put him down awake, but when we first started the bed, we rocked him until he was completely or almost completely asleep. Then after about a week, we started semi-slowly putting him in the bed more and more awake. I felt this way he got used to sleep in the bed before we made him fall asleep in the bed. Also, he had a musical pooh in his crib and always had his blanket, so we kept those. He due to health problems also had a pillow in his crib and we transfered all that and put the bed in the same spot the crib was so it felt the same to him. Once we got back to putting him down awake, he would occasionally get up, so I put a door protector on the knob, (you can get them from Safety First at Toys R US). This way, he can't open the door from the inside, but I can and the outside is not locked, so I can get in there quickly. If he gets out of bed and is crying, we let him cry for 5' and put him back in bed. If he plays we go immediately, put him back down, but we have really minimized that problem. Also, we have a very repeative bedtime routine. He brushes his teeth and then we read 2-3 or 4 books, then I shut off all the lights and rock him. I think this quiets him down and helps to convert from being up to sleep time. I hope this can help you, fell free to contact me if you want.

What we did when it was time to take our son from the crib to the toddler bed was to put it in our bedroom. We have a parents retreat and just moved things around to put the bed in there where he can see us. I know you said that he keeps coming into your room, I am sure it is just that he is scared. I would try putting his bed in your room until he gets more comfortable sleeping in the bed alone and then move it to his room when if his more comfortable. This is a big change for little ones. Braxton still gets up in the night sometimes and crawls in bed with us, but he loves his bed too.

Well, I understand not wanting to close the door, but that's what you will have to do. Just make sure you have a monitor in there (we hid hers under her dresser) to keep an ear out for her. Also, we had to remove all her toys from her room because she would just sit in there and play. We were less worried about her getting out of her bed than not getting to sleep. Yes, there were enough mornings where we'd come in, and she'd be sleeping on the floor, but at least she slept. Also, they make these really cute sleeping bags with different animals as the pillow. I think my husband got it at Walgreens around Christmas, so I don't know if they carry them anymore. She will stay in bed if she's in that. We just have to use it when we have something going on the next morning and have to get up early. If we used it every night, it would lose its effectiveness.

Also, what we're trying now that she can open doors is shortening her nap. We hope this makes her tired enough to stay in bed.

Good luck!

Here's an idea of the sleeping bag I was talking about: http://cgi.ebay.com/ADORABLE-monkey-banana-sleeping-bag-f...

hey T.! congrats on your son growing up... he probably thinks hes just the COOLEST b/c he can get out of his crib, while at the same time you're like NOOO! i have two little girls and i went through this twice... but at a much younger age. when my 3 year old was 10 MONTHS she figured out the crib thing, and my 20 month old could get out a 9 months... with some help from her big sister. since you dont want to lock him in his room (thats what i have to do now to mine) try putting a baby gate in the door... and then another on TOP of that one, doubling them up. that may stop him for a while. and its the same as letting your newborn cry it out at night so they get used to their own bed... ayden is going to have to learn that he can do this by himself. my girls had nights when they slept on the floor at first... but they learned real quick that its MUCH nicer to sleep in bed. he'll get it eventually, but its something he has to do for himself, not a whole lot you can do but encourage him and love him to death! hope that helps, let me know how it goes! ~R.

It is going to be hard no matter what, but try putting a gate up on the door with the door open and when he gets up, tell him gently that it is time for him to go lay down. Be sure not to get up and comfort him everytime he gets up or everytime he cries. It makes it easier on you, but in the long run, he'll win. I just got through this with my 4 year old daughter a couple of months ago. She used to sleep in our bed for the same reason and now that we have been consistent and firm about bedtime practices, she is doing better and so are myself and my husband. Good luck!