My daughter has slept through the night since she was 6 weeks old but for the last two weeks she's been getting up one-two times a night. At first I thought she was teething, and then maybe she was too cold (we turned the heat on at night) but she's still doing it. We put her in a toddler bed when she was 18 months so she's getting into our bed. I can get her to sleep in her own bed by standing outside her door until she crashes but I'm so exhausted. I don't want her getting into the habit of getting into bed with us. Please give me some suggestions. Thanks.
My 23 mos. old boy did that last month so I researched it on-line and found out at this age they sometimes need a shorter nap. Or if I give him extra exercise that helps too. It's a relief to know it's a solvable problem. I was getting cranky getting up too much. It's much better now. Good luck.
You could put a baby gate at the door of her room to make it a non-issue. It probably won't take her too long to get the idea, esp. bc she has such a good sleep pattern established.
You need to do the "Silent Return". It is just taking her back to her bed without looking at her and without talking. You may have to do it 50 times the first night (or more) but the next night will be better. She'll learn if you are consistent. Our daughter started popping up when we moved her to a toddler bed (at age 2) and this solved it for us.
I used it last night with my 16mo too. She kept waking up and crying for me. After having got her out the first time to make sure everything was fine (we're both recovering from a cold) she was just interested in coming to see me. So I would let her cry, go in and give back the lovey and blanket she had thrown out, lay her down and leave. I had to do it three times and she gave up.
Something I have noticed with my 2 year old is that it only takes one time for him to learn how to get what he wants. For example, ONE time, I let him get out of bed to go potty, so he asked me every night after that for almost 2 weeks. It takes only one time to break a good habit, but many many times to make a good habit and get back on track. I think that your daughter has figured out a way to be with you at night, and it is going to take a few tough nights to get her back into the habit. She won't stop trying if it works sometimes.
