Kids Won't Stay in Bed at Night

i would throw down sleeping bags and let them come in when needed. I have a sleeping bag on my floor all the time for my 3 year old...she used to come into bed a lot and it got to be too much because i would lose sleep. we did give her a reward for sleeping in her bed for 10 nights (took her more than 10 nights to earn it), but for now she sleeps most nights in her bed. if she does come in the middle of the night, she knows she has to sleep on the floor if it is too early, then after 5 or 6 i allow her to come in the bed for a snuggle. I still let my 6 year old sleep in our room occasionally during storms or if she is sick.

I would say for right now, it will give the kids comfort to be with you. You dont have to let them sleep in the bed, but i would guess they would be okay with the floor too just as long as they get to be close to you. Have it ready for them and tell them not to wake you.

I agree with Kellie. The kids may be feeling insecure because Dad is gone now and have a stronger need to be with you, especially at night, when they are in bed thinking about stuff.

I would sit them down and explain how you need your sleep so you can work. Tell them that from now on, if they come into your room, they can not wake you up unless something is wrong. I would also make a "bed" on the floor or in the closet and tell the kids that they are welcome to come in and sleep on the "bed" during the night as long as they don't wake you up.

You may reach a point where you are no longer single and having kids come into your room in the middle of the night will be a bad thing. Hopefully by that time, the kids will feel more secure and will be sleeping in their own rooms.

Is it an actual problem with them sleeping in your bed, or have you been told this is a BAD thing to do by your fiends?

If they are not actually distrubing your sleep if they sleep in your bed, why fight the closeness they receive being that close to you? When they are older...they are not going to be as near to you, becaues of their own ambitions in life through the growing process.

If they are disturbing you sleep, could you leave them in the bed, go to the sofa, and sleep where ther is only room for one (YOU). They will relize you ar not in bed, seek you out, find no room in the inn, and end up in their bed. They also have the optin to sleep on the floor by the sofa, jsut remember not to step on them.

Maybe being close isnt as bad as some people think. We eventually end up farther apart than we want to be when they grow up and move away. How soon do you wan that seperation in your own home.

look at how you feel about it, then how it can work uniquely in your home. Love is not a bad thing, neither is closeness.

Pressure of society is going to pull hem a way from you as they mature anyway. How far or fast that seperation occurs in your home is up to you.

I tried the bed on the floor to keep my 2-year-old out of our bed, but he started calling that HIS bed and wanted to sleep there all the time. I put an end to that. No more bed on the floor. He gets taken back to his bed for a diaper change and a drink if he wants one. That's it. Sometimes I have to give him milk, but I try to be consistent and let him know he needs to stay in his REAL bed.
I know it's not creative, but you can't reason with a tired 2-year-old.
For my oldest, we had a bedtime chart. If he completed the chart and STAYED IN BED, he got to turn the dial. When he stayed in bed 7 nights IN A ROW, he got $1. If he got out of bed for any reason other than to go to the bathroom or because he was sick, the dial would get turned back to zero and he'd have to start all over. It worked pretty well. He's 6 now and never asks to crawl in bed with us at night.

Hi MG i feel your pain!!!! Sounds like you maybe tried this before but what we did was rewarded them after 5 days of not coming into my bed and going to bed after I tucked them in on their own. I went to the pharmacy down the street and loaded up on fun (inexpensive) things and put them in two separate bags. My kids were 6 and 3 at the time. Our youngest was still in her crib sleeping well. We did a chart with stickers or whatever and after 5 days they got a prize out of their bags. I never let them see what was in their bags so they could look forward to it. If they did get up, i still would take them back to their rooms and remind them about their rewards. It worked pretty well. We did it for several weeks. Occasionally they come in still but i have tried really hard to not let them stay (unless some one had an accident and i don't want to change sheets) and i take them back to their rooms. Good Luck!

PS. my friend just started a similiar thing with magnets on the fridge. they are rewarded after so many magnets on the fridge. Each kids has their own magnet shage - letters, numbers, flowers, etc...

i'm not sure of all of your story but maybe the kids are afraid that you might leave them too now. i love having my son sleep with me. he is six. maybe not letting all the kids sleep with you every night but why not try monday one child, tuesday another and wednesday the last child and the other night they have to sleep in their own beds!!!

I read somewhere about using money as a reward. In this particular case the kids would fight going to sleep and get out of bed many times for various reasons (potty, water, etc). So they has pennies outside the door and everytime they left the room or made the parents go into the room they lost a penny. In the morning the kids could have whatever was left on the floor.

You could do something similar. If you stay in bed and not wake me up you get a quarter (or whatever).

I do like the idea of having the sleeping bag on the floor in your room. But if they still wake you up try the money thing, hopefully it will work.

Good Luck.

My 5 year old has been doing this alot more lately as well. I've found laying down in her bed, or laying on the floor next to her bed until she is either to sleepy to notice or is asleep. This way she gets the comfort of "mom" at bedtime, but mom gets the comfort of her own bed at her bedtime! :)