2 Year Old Won't Stay in Bed - Saint Paul,MN

Oh boy, does that sound familiar! Reading your note brought back so many fond memories of that time. :) I really don't think there's one way to get him to stay in bed - all kids are different and you may need to try different things and see what he responds to. Try and be patient as difficult as that can be, believe me.

I tried putting the door knob covers on my son's door but as he got older he got very freaked out by it and to this day (he's 5) he hates having his door closed. Instead we put a baby gate in the doorway as a reminder he was to stay put. He had a CD player to play lullabyes and a few board books and toys in his room to keep him busy if he got up early. If he would come out of his room (which was a lot at bedtime) I would just walk him back to his bed. I put him to bed earlier, read stories and laid down with him for a bit. We would also have lots of talks and he would tell me about his day - really great bonding time for the two of us. I would give him warning before I left and would remind him that he needs to stay in bed. Each time he would come out of his room I would put him back, we would do this over and over again until he was satisfied that the boundaries were staying put, then he gave up.

It really can be a challenging and frustrating time. Whatever you choose, be consistent, calm, and firm and eventually he'll understand. It'll be over soon enough! :)

Good luck!

S.

I would give him a earlier bedtime, so when he does finally fall asleep its not so late. Routine is always good.
I don't think its anything bad for him to be reading books, since he can't hurt himself. Its a phase, he will grow out of it and know what to expect during bedtime. Right now kids test the limits and try to be independent. As parents we need to be undersatanding and wait it out, lol.
I say keep him in his room and keep his bedtime the same every night. Do you put a gate up?

Here's the routine I have with my kids and it works great. At 7 pm the get jammies on, brush teeth and then I read a story and they get in bed. They each have a cd player and a lamp or night light in their rooms and the rule is that if they come out of their room or are screwing around in there they lose their music and their light and then they are in the dark with the door closed, no exceptions. It works great! Be consistant, it'll pay off :o)
Good luck,
J.

We are going through the same problem!!!! I've tried "Super Nanny" too. Going throught the same routine every night and that doesn't work. Itsounds terrible, but the door covers did not work for my son, he was able to take them off himseld after day 2. I bought a lock for his bedroom door to lock him in his room. Once he knows the door is locked he knows it is time to sleep. Once he has settled down I will "re-tuck" him into bed and leave the door unlocked or open.
Sound cruel but it was the only thing that worked!

T....this is going to sounds kinda bad... but its an idea. I had a similar issue with my 2 year old. you know those door knob covers...well i had to put one on the inside of my sons door from keep him from waking up whenever he wanted and run around the house. Its still on his door now. It keeps him in his room. when we first did it he was mad and cried and then he'd go up to his bed a fall asleep. now its not an issue. we do use it still just because we don't want him unsupervised if he wakes up in the middle of the night or in the morning. just an idea

We are having the SAME EXACT problem with our son, who will be 2 in May. We just moved him to the bottom of a bunk bed about a week ago, and he will NOT stay in the bed. Our oldest falls asleep, while our little one is up playing toys, etc. I'm glad he stays in his room, but I really need him to stay in the bed. I, too, have tried the Super Nanny approach (say less to them each time you re-put them back to bed, then just say nothing). Doesnt' work for us either so far. THe only thing that seems to work is after about 1/2 hour, if he keeps getting up, I turn the night light off. He doesn't seem to want to try to get out of bed when it's completely dark in his room. I give a flashlight to the older one in case he needs to wake up to go to the bathroom. If you have any other ideas..please share! :)