After my son, 2 1/2 years old started climbing on top of his crib (there is a shelf/drawers attached to the crib where he climbs up on), we put out the "Big Boy Bed" in another bed room. Just recently, he started sleeping in his "Big Boy Bed" only when my husband or I lay down with him until he falls sleep, otherwise, he would get up and play and does not go to sleep. Sometimes it takes 1 hour until he falls sleep. Also even he falls sleep in his "Big Boy Bed", he gets up in the middle of the night, and we bring him back to his crib and sleeps unitl the morning.
Is there a good way to make him go to sleep by himself in his Big Boy room? He used to fall sleep all by himself and our bed time routine was only 30 minutes or so (by reading books) instead of 1-2 hours now. How can he fall back to sleep in that bed instead of coming out the room to look for us (I don't want to lock the room as everyone else out there agree with me.)
The "Super Nanny" method really does work. The first time, you simply say "It's time for bed" and put him back in bed. All subsequent times, say NOTHING and put him in bed. The first night will be VERY difficult and will take forever, but the time will decrease nightly. After about 3-4 days he should be putting himself to sleep. The first night will be extremely heartbreaking, but it will be worth it and he'll be okay.
I wouldn't lock him in his room, because it may scare him since he can not see you. We put a baby gate in our boy's doorway when they were little. Our youngest will be 3 in Dec. & we don't have to put up the gate any more (we put him in a big boy bed when he was about 2 y/o). After a while they get bored & go to bed (or fall asleep on the floor, then you can put him in bed), but at least you have peace of mind about his safety. Being he is a climber I would mount a gate to the door instead of using a pressure gate (pressure gates fall over when climbed on). Our oldest did not climb gates, but our youngest climbs everything!
God Bless!
When my twins were switching from crib to bed, we ended up having to put a baby gate in front of their door. We would tuck them in, of course they would get up and play, we would tuck them in again about half an hour later, and they would get up and play some more, but we would not go in there again until we went to bed and usually one of them was passed out on the floor, we just moved him to his bed and asleep they stayed. Did he switch rooms completely, or have you just not taken down the crib? He could be going through not wanting to sleep in there either because he is not familiar with it. Good luck with the sleeping, I am not looking forward to my daughter being at that age, but I still have another year until then.
Put the "Big Boy Bed" in the room that the crib is in and move the crib out of that room. If you don't have another baby on the way and have someplace to store the crib out of sight, do that. You have turned his sleep world upside down by taking him out of the crib that he is familiar with AND taken him out of HIS room. The special "Big Boy" sheets that someone else suggested might be added incentive. Once he gets used to sleeping in the "Big Boy Bed" then you might try to convince him that the other bedroom is bigger, better or whatever. But try to make the move to the other bedroom be his decision. Children can get attached to things that as adults, we don't think twice about. Good luck.
I would not put him in his crib. I would put him back in his big boy bed. Is he by chance one that tosses and turns all night? My son refused after about 6 months of sleeping in his big boy bed to even sleep in it. We finally about 2 months ago put a full size mattress on the floor for him to sleep on. He was one that would be up one to three times a night. Finally when he turned 2 he started sleeping through the night. He was put in a big boy bed at 14 months because he climbed out of his crib. I still have to go in and lay by him till he goes to sleep but I prefer that over having him keep my whole house up at bedtime when my daughter needs her sleep for school and my hubby needs his sleep for work where as I can take a nap in the afternoon when he sleeps.
Sahm of a 5 year old girl and a 2 year old boy and a great husband.
Transitioning to a "Big Boy Bed" can be challenging but it doesn't have to be. If you don't want to have to lay with him to fall asleep then don't. If he comes out of his room put him back in, you must be consistent. The reason why he doesn't go back to sleep on his own in the middle of the night is he doesn't know how to in the big boy bed since you are there to fall asleep with him at bedtime. Thus when he wakes up he is looking for you to fall back asleep. It might be challenging at first but as long as you and your husband are in sync and consistent then it should only take a few days to break him of having you fall asleep with him.
Good luck!
We had to threaten my youngest with a spanking if she got out of bed again. She did it so often. After a few spankings she quit. She learned to lay in bed until she fell back asleep. She is 10 now and stil is a wiggle worm in bed, but only gets up if she is going to vomit and then runs to the bathroom. Or if she has a really bad dream. And thankfully that is only maybe once or twice a year. Good luck and God Bless.
I had the same issue with my son when he was 17 months. I ended up laying down with him every night when he went to bed. It could take anywhere from 1-2 hours to get him to sleep. My life was miserable as I never had a minute for myself. I finally ended it when he was 4 but it was 2 years of hell until I did. With him we did a reward chart. For every night he went bed nice, I let him pick out a Car from the movie cars. You could also do a sticker chart in his room that he could put a sticker on every morning that he went to bed nice the night before and if he gets 5 stickers he picks out a prize. YOu have to find something that is really important to him.
If rewards don't work, another option (more severe) is putting a lock on the outside of his door. Let him know that if he doesn't stay in his bed, you will shut and lock the door. You might have to lock it for a while just to show you mean business. When he falls asleep, you can go ahead and open the door. You have to make sure there is nothing in the room he could hurt himself with before using this tactic.
just consistency. bring him back over and over, supernanny style. i eventually had to lock my son in with a baby gate or a childproof knob on the inside for his own safety after i found him on top of the fridge in the middle of the night, eating granola bars. (shudder). but take him in, do the routine, and tuck him in and leave. no deviations, no excuses. and do it over and over until he realizes he can't play you and you will win. good luck.
We just let him play at naptime until most of the time he falls asleep. Sometimes he doesn't, but they are getting older and may not need a nap every day. For bedtime, we just kept putting him back in bed, over and over for a few days until he stayed. It helped that he knew he would get in trouble for getting up and making noise because his baby brother is in the same room. Also, we put all the toys away in bins in the closet before bed, so there isn't much to play with. Helps to be sure the bedtime is right (not too early or too late so he isn't over or under tired). Just don't start indulging him or it will never stop!
I forgot, we also got him that twilight turtle nightlight that projects stars all over the ceiling. He can play quietly with that, in bed, until he falls asleep.
Hello.
Um, first, putting locks on the door is illegal. I used to work for the State and answered a lot of investigations on parents that locked their children in their rooms. It is illegal and can bring trouble.
That being said, I liked the idea a previous writer said. Let him go with you to pick out special sheets or maybe a special blanket. I would get a radio/cd player that special music can play on or a book can play on. If he won't stay in bed then he doesn't get to continue to listen to the radio. Or, get a tv/dvd player in his room let him watch for 30 minutes and he gets up, it goes off. Lastly, I would get rid of the crib and not let that be an option anymore.
Hope that helps.
Ok, this one takes a lot of patience and about a week to two to settle into routine but IT WORKS... do whatever your routine is (AND STICK TO IT...) brush teeth, read, sing, prayers, whatever, then tuck him into bed. Leave a night light on or something that will make him comfortable (even a hall light) and tell him you will sit by his bed until he falls asleep BUT he cannot get up and he cannot talk to you. Every night do this, but get closer and closer to the door each night (at least by a foot). Eventually you will just be sitting in the doorway and then be out of the picture all together.
Please take it from a mom who would lay down with her kids and even fall asleep BEFORE they did...laying down with them does not encourage them to independently fall asleep and will only breed problems and continue this agonizing problem for you for much longer than you want it to be...this method works...I've done it with my kids and patience is what will win out.
Oh, and as for waking up and going back...just gently guide him back to bed. If he can't fall asleep give him some books to look at in bed but tell him he's not allowed to get out of bed except for an emergency (and be clear as to what that is).
Another trick, if you haven't done it already is to get some really cool sheets for him for his big boy bed...something he is REALLY interested in...for mine it was Buzz Lightyear. If you find something in the store look on ebay...there are tons of resale sheets from TMNT, Elmo, Rainbow Brite, Star Wars...you name it...fun sheets, make for fun bedtime! Good luck!
If it's safe the the room with the big boy bed, just put him down to sleep and leave. If he comes out of the room (pull a "Super Nanny" on him and) put him back into the bed. If he gets out of his bed and stays in the room, let him play until he gets sleepy. If he gets noisy or doesn't look like he plans to sleep, then put him back into the bed. Just keep doing it until he gets tired enough and then just stays there to sleep. Don't lay with him because then you will have to start all over again. This 'high maintenance work should only last two to three nights at the most. Now when YOU get ready for bed, leave his door open but put up a baby gate so if he does wake, he can just play in his room until he falls asleep again or until you wake up. He might be able to climb the gate so use your imagination and put it up a little higher but make sure he can't crawl under it. See if that might work.
Good Luck!
Do you have a cat or dog? Maybe make it a special deal that he can sleep with the pet if he's in the big boy bed? Assuming another child isn't on the way, move the crib into storage so it isn't even seen as an option to go there?
C.
One thing you might try is putting a gate up on the outside of the door frame. That way if he does get up and open the door to go out he won't be able to leave his room. We've been doing that for awhile now and it seems to work well.
