My three year old son will not stay in bed at night. AT about 8:15 we brush his teeth and go potty and then read him three or four books in his bed. Then we put on some music and kiss him and tell him that we will check on him shortly. Within 15 minutes he is out of bed and running around the house. He simply refuses to stay in bed. We have tried positive reinforcement, stars that allow him to earn a prize, and negative reinforcement, taking a toy or privilege away, but nothing seems to work. Our nights are filled with crying, yelling and tantrums that really stress me out. Sometimes it is 10:30 before he falls asleep. We even tried cutting out his nap, but he becomes unbearably grumpy in the early evening. Sometimes it is 10:30 before he falls asleep. I need some help!!
Dear K.,
Ignore him after you put him down for the night, for a couple of nights, as hard as it may be; and it will stop!!! No audience, no show. It worked on all my kids and tantrums ect. It just about drove me nuts for a couple of days but I hung in and it worked. Good luck!
God bless you's,
Kathy N.
have you tried a baby gate to keep him in the room?
Is he staying in bed now? If so what did you do. I have the same problem with my just turned 3 year old, he runs around upstairs opening doors, turning on lights for two hours before he finally goes to sleep... Sorry I don't have any advice but I understand what you are going thru!!!
Good Luck
S.
Unfortunately I don't have any advice for you because I have the same problem... UGGGGH! Just know you're not alone!! Good luck to you and yours and I'll be keeping an eye on the responses for ideas for my little one!!
I used to just go to bed early after putting the kids to bed. and when my son came into the room, I lay there and told him how tired I was and that I had to go to sleep. One night I didn't even open my eyes, and he turned around and went to sleep in his bed. I know it had to do with being out of the crib and having some autonomy. But when I quit the battle of his being up and about 'til late at night, he gave it up, too.
Hi K.,
I recently bought a book from TheBabySleepCoach.com. She gives some good tips about handling this problem. Check it out - there is a 365 day money back guarantee. My 13 month old son went from getting up 2-3 times a night to sleeping until 7AM in a matter of a week. She addresses the issues toddlers have too. One thing she says is to close their bedroom door and put up a gate. When they get out of bed and start banging on the door and screaming you tell them that if only if they get back in bed will you open the door. Another is to give a bed pass, which allows them to get out of bed ONCE for a very short period of time then they have to go back to bed - but it gives them a little freedom in deciding when they want to use their pass. It is hard for me to write it all in here. Check out the website and the book - you will be happy you did!
The book is $130 (expensive, I know). But my husband and I think it was worth our sanity and the baby is much happier and still takes his 3 hour nap every day. Don't cut out the nap - it just makes them overtired and even harder to get them to go to bed.
K.
