Need Advice on How to Get My Son to Sleep in His Own Bed and About Whining

When we would go somewhere with my oldest, we would build a bed on the floor. You know, some pillows and blankets - make it a big "camp out" deal. Then there are no worries about falling off the bed, but also that is something that is special and doesn't happen EVERY night.

With my daughter, when she whines (she's 6 and will STILL whine sometimes!) I refuse to talk to her. I have told her that I can't understand her when she whines and I need her to use her big girl voice or else I can't help her. I also tried whining back at her - she didn't like it!

Good luck - the whining thing is my least fav thing about being a mom!

Hi G.,
I can relate to you on both of these issues.My son started sleeping with me when he was 4 months old after his father and I separated.It just ended up being comforting to both of us, and made night feedings much easier. When I moved in with my boyfriend, i put a mattress on the floor right next to my side of the bed. He got used to that quickly. He was still close enough to me to sleep pretty good at night( he was about 20 months at this time.)After doing that for a while, I moved him into his own room, with that same matress on the floor since he was used to that.It wasnt that hard.He did wake up a lot at night for a couplke weeks, but i just walked him right back to his room and laid down with him till he went to sleep. So basically thats what worked for me.Then he got stuck on me laying down with him in his bed to fall asleep, but now he is starting to get over that too. Ithink its best to(for me anyways) to work with them as much as you can. I dont think you should just put them on their bed and let them "cry it out" that technique has always been a huge step backwards for us.
In regards to the whining, this is that wonderful age!!My son is 2 also, and can be quite a whiner and a tantrum thrower. Lately I am really concentrating on positive reinforcement. Give him lots of kisses hugs and cuddles when he is good, try to keep a positive attitude and keep your stress at bay.When I am stressed I notice my son acts up way more...they are little mirrors.When he starts acting up or starts whining for something I give a stern no, ask him to stop whining and move on to someting else. With his dad, he probably just feels overwhelmed when his daddy gets home and is stuck in the routine of whining, negative attention is still attention. Just keep up a loving positive attitude, make it a habit, and it will rub off on your son.They will always whine about something, just work on your response. That has worked for me and made my home feel more comfortable. Sorry for such a lengthy response, but I have been dealing with these issues myself recently.....
R.

My son sleeps with me ever since he had night terrors. If he fell asleep early, he'd sleep in his own room because we put him there and we leave our door open slightly so he can get in. We have door knob covers on most of the doors including ours. I have tried doing that from the inside of his door, using a gate, to prevent him from walking out in the middle of the night, none of that helped, in fact, made it worse with his screaming. So, he has his freedom to roam around and he can turn on lights himself and such. He sleeps better feeling secure so we just let him sleep with me. Besides my husband sleeps in another room although both of them move and snore, I feel somewhat at peace, calm, and sleep better knowing where he is at all times.

SAHM means Stay at home Mom. But don't let that fool you..I'm a SAHM. But I don't stay at home. Most of us, take our kids to rec center classes, go the gym, go out to eat lunch, etc. At first my husband thought that too and was going to take away myy car just because of that term. We do get out of the house at least 5 out 7 days a week sometimes every day. You can be a wahm too...work at home mom.

When my son whines during playtime and has temper tantrums. I use to put him in his room for 5-10 minute time out but that definitely kept him away from sleeping in his room (I didn't know being a 1st time mom). And then I sat him on a chair in my room and counted to 10 and walked away and closed the door. Then he wig and then open the door, look at me to see if I was still mad at him, and then I get down to his level and he hug me to tell me he's sorry. But now, I just take away his toys and put it up high and tell him that it's going on time out. I have had to take away his Thomas the Train set/table 3x because he's ripped off the laminate off the board, going underneath to kick the board off and everything crashing on him, throwing the trains and tracks all over the living room. Thomas was in time out for 2 weeks. He learned his lesson. LOL.

We just recently started transitioning our almost three year old son into his big boy bed a week ago. So far one of us has to lie with him until he falls asleep, then he will sleep through the night until at least 3-5 a.m. After that time he usually ends up with us again, since neither of us want to fight it in the middle of the night and we are expecting a new baby in a couple weeks. I hope it all goes smoothly when the new baby arrives, especially cause our son will see him sleeping in our room in the bassinett and wonder why he has to go to his own room. Oh boy...I wish I had some good advice for you but like others mentioned do what you have to do so that everyone can get their rest, they are only little once so if it means rewarding him with one night in your bed if he sleeps through the night in his the rest of the week then do that or let him come to you in the middle of the night like ours does. I'm not sure why sleeping somewhere else changes his pattern so much, but maybe it is best not to travel too much during his transition time.
As for tantrums and whining, be firm and consistent with time-outs and discipline and I'm sure it will fade away soon enough. Sometimes just ignoring the unacceptable behavior will help. Good luck, I hope things work out, feel free to send me a message to share thoughts/experiences.

I have a two year old girl. She won't sleep anywhere but with us. I let her do it. We did the same with our first, who is now eight. She slept with us until she was five and finally wanted her own room.

My feeling is if it's not too disruptive, let him sleep with you guys. It's worth you not being fatigued and him not whining and wigging out.

With regards to whining, it is the one thing that drives me UP THE WALL! My two year old does it. I just ask her not to whine, to use her talking voice to talk to me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. With our first child, we would whine right back at her and it drove her crazy so she stopped whining.

My son just turned 2 and a few months ago discovered he can climb out of his crib. So he now has his very own little firetruck bed... which he wont sleep in. I have tried everything to get him in his own bed but he wakes up during the night and climbs into bed with me. Now when he is tired he says nite nite and go into my bed!!