My son who is 2 1/2 and will turn 3 in Feb has always been a good sleeper until last week. We transitioned him to a toddler bed around 26 months. No problems. At night he usually gets into bed after our nightly routine and goes straight to sleep. He would stay in there until I came and got him in the morning. At least that was the case until two things happened. One he learned to open doors. I think he is practicing his new found ability. The first night he came out. I took him back to bed and said you need to sleep. And he did. Last night, he came out 10 to 20 times and ended up going to bed an hour after his bed time. So the second thing that happened is the time change. So instead of waiting until I come get him, he has woken up and came out of bed 1 hour to 1 1/2 before his usual time. what is scary is that one morning was that one morning he came out and got his step stool and put it by the child gate leading downstairs to turn on a light. I think he was trying to find me and wanted the light to get open our door. We have still have the audio in his room so I can usually hear him if he is loud getting out of bed. I was thinking that I could also set up a bell or something so that I would know if he came out of the room. So I think we figured out the safety issue with him getting out of bed. However, he is not getting all the sleep he needs because he is going to bed late and getting out of bed early. I would love suggestions on how to get him to bed and then in the morning keeping him in it.
Thanks in advance!
Hum, it looks like everyone is pretty agreed that door knob covers. I was worried about this because of going potty. Although, he is not yet potty trained and even if he was, I would probably want to take him. Also I was worried about fire, but the door knob allows us access which I think is more important.
Daylight savings time sucks!
Thank you all for the advice!
Put a baby gate in his door way so he can't get out and wonder the house. We used to door knob covers and they worked great too.
I had to use an "ok to wake" clock with my second child. Basically, the clock turns green when it is ok to wake up and come out of your room. If it's not green, it means go back to sleep.
I also second the door knob cover for safety issues.
Get a door knob cover for the inside of his room.
Go to the local hardware store and buy some door knob protectors. They look like a ball that has 2 halves. They fit over the door knob and have rubber on a couple of push in bits so an adult can push those in and turn the actual door knob. A small child cannot connect to the knob and make it turn since the inside of the protector is slick.
These should last until the child is about 4. Then they watch enough and figure out if they put the little bit on top then put their weight on the protector and turn it at the same time they can open the door.
They cost about $3 each or come in a package of several. We had them on the closet doors, the bathroom doors, and did not have them on the bedroom doors. We don't care if the kids come crawl in bed with us. They will outgrow that soon enough.
It does take them time for them to adjust to the toddler bed.
Then add in the "time change". Ugh. We went through both of those
stages. Give it some transitioning time.
Try a knob cover on the inside of his room esp since you have the audio
still on in his room.
In time (not long at all) he will be used to his new "big boy bed", the excitement/newfound freedom will wear off and he will be sleeping in later again.
Just have to get through the time change first. It's affected everyone in our household.
Be sure he really is tired when you put him to bed. I have and that makes
a world of difference!!
If for some reason the knob covers didn't work, we had some grandchildren who can open them even though they shouldn't be able to, you could put a lock on his door to keep him safe in his room until you get him up. You don't want him getting hurt or into something. Our kids are all grown but our pediatrician told us to put locks on the outside of their rooms and it worked. Just a hook lock or something not major will work. Our first two were 12 months apart and got into all kinds of things when they'd wake early.
Welcome to giant developmental leap land....In a few short months your toddler will start to lose his baby belly, he will start talking like a preschooler, and you will be blown away by how grown up he seems. Both of my kids had rough sleep patches as soon as they hit 2.5, and it didn't settle till a month or so before their 3rd bday. Giant things are going on in their brain! They start to truly want to make decisions about things, such as when they go to bed!
I had a friend who had a great idea for keeping her kids in bed so they'd go to sleep. She told the kids she would know if they got out of bed. Then she proved it to them. She put them to bed, closed the door, and then for a couple of nights watched under the door to see if their little feet touched the floor. It only took her a couple of nights for them to believe her. She coupled that with a reward system for not getting out of bed unless it was an emergency and her kids ended up being super sleepers.
As for the time change thing. It lasts about 1-2 weeks for my kids, and then their bodies readjust because of the altered bedtime.
As for door knob covers -- by they time my kids were two they had figured out how to beat them. They work for much smaller/younger kids that can't get a good grip on the knob, but not for older kids. I've found that communicating good expectations for behavior and following through works much better than just eliminating the possibility of the behavior you don't want.
I agree with the baby gate at his bedroom door. Door knob covers are an ok idea too, but if his door is closed and he really needs something in the night you may not hear him calling for you as easily. (unless you still have a baby monitor on at night?)
