Trouble Falling Asleep - Manchester,NH

When our son was small he needed me with him to fall asleep.
It was a bit of a problem if he woke in the night because he needed me to fall asleep again.
I backed off on the snuggling slowly - made it short - then sat near him in the rocking chair till he drifted off.
Eventually the chair moved closer to the door.
And finally he could fall asleep without me being in the room.
I'd come check on him before I went to bed.
Make an effort to wean her away from it slowly.
Also try to wear her out (run her around after school) so she's tired enough to fall asleep quickly.

Believe it or not she will eventually grow out of it. I had a friend with a son like that. He stopped sleeping with mom at 14. Just let her be a kid a little longer.

Ten years old? That's a little old to be doing that to you. I can understand the progression as I have two daughters, but my oldest daughter stopped calling out for me between 5 & 6. But 10 is way too old to be crying for mom at night, she's almost in middle school! I think you just need to be firm with her, and see if there is something else than can comfort her, like a favorite stuffed animal or a cool night light. But you need to have a serious talk with her about growing up and moving past her clinginess to you at night. Plus, it's not fair to you!

Hi Erica,

I'm glad that most of your responses have been positive ones as like everyone said time will fly with our little ones. I know it's hard with all we have to do, but I think it's sweet and so worth it!

My daughter is only 3 1/2 and we still lie down with her to sleep (and expect to as long as we need to), but I've heard that you can keep leaving the room once she's tucked in bed, make excuses like you forgot to do this or that and eventually lengthen the time you're away and she'll fall asleep in the meantime maybe? I've heard moving yourself further away will work too.

Depending on how you feel though I'm not sure there's any rush. She may just grow out of it. Talking to her and preparing her might help too.

Good luck!

I went from snuggling in her bed and falling asleep with my 7 year old (and getting back up a few hours later), to sleeping on a camping pad/sleeping bag in her room all night, to laying on the pad to read while she fell asleep, to sitting in a chair in her room to read, to sitting in the hallway where she could still see me until she fell asleep, to sitting in my own bedroom to watch tv. I would just take it slowly and back off in stages. Pretty soon she will be 15 and slamming doors to get away from you, so enjoy these times when she still needs you.

Hello There,
My son will soon be 8 and we still have the same issue. When he was so young, I was determined to train him to fall asleep on his own. We were doing pretty good until I had a bad skiing accident and couldn't put him to bed myself for several weeks. My husband, so exhausted, would fall asleep with him. Now, we are in the habit and personally, I think there are much worse habits. Every time we are snuggling and I am worrying about the dishes that need cleaning up, the laundry that needs folding and all the chores I still need to do that night, I also think about how quickly these first 8 years have gone by and how quickly the next will, when he won't want me even in his room. My older sister never did this with her first two kids and always did with her third because time does go by fast and your daughter will be on her own before you know it! I know tmy response won't be the most popular answer, but I once saw a woman speaking at a graduation ceremony (it was all over utube) talking about things she would have done differently with her children. One of the first was "let him sleep with me whenever he wanted". It really does go by fast! Good luck!