Sleep - Springfield, OR

I dont know if this helps, but with my son we just took off one side of his crib and with the mattress at the lowest setting it is a good toddler bed. That way it wasnt a big change but he could get in and out. He still gets up sometimes but not too often. good luck! Jen

Hey, I don't have this problem yet, but I'm sure I will. I have this amazing book called "you just don't duct tape a baby" the title is based on one of the stories inside. One of the suggestions that's in this book (which is just a funny, calming, book full of information on how kids work) is that, if you can, get a 1/2 door. You know, one that splits in half. That way, the kid is literally confined when you lock the bottom half, but you don't have to feel like a psycho who locks up her kids. It's just a physical boundary, and the rest is up to the kid. Like, you put her down, she's tired, and you let her cry it out. I don't know if you've ever seen Super Nanny, but bedtime routines WORK. Just be consistent, and don't let her control your actions. If you really can't stand letting her cry, then be prepared to not sleep too well.
It usually just takes a couple days, some kids can take longer, up to a week or two...but it's worth it!
Hope this helps,
A.

I saw the same super nanny show. Just so you know it took 3 hours for that mom to keep putting her boys in bed. So don't give up. Stick to your guns girl.

Have you tried staying in her room until she falls asleep? I saw this episode of Supernanny and this one couple had two boys whose beds were in the living room.(I don't know if you watch supernanny but, she has a lot of good ideas.) The Supernanny suggested to get them to sleep in their beds to have one parent stay up and keep putting them in their beds until they fall asleep. Eventually they'll understand that when it's time to go to bed they sleep in their beds and nobody elses. You have to keep putting them back to bed though and you can't look her in the eyes, you just keep putting her back in her bed. But you have to sit still too, you can't move until she gets out of bed. Try it for a little while and see what happens, it couldn't hurt anything. The longer you try it the easier it will be to get her to go to bed in her big bed. I hope this helps.

I don't know how many respones you've gotten yet but when my husband and I moved our son to his big boy bed he wouldn't stay in it. I would get so frustrated and would go into his room multiple times to tell him to go to bed. Finially, I just let him play until he fell asleep on the floor. I'd then go and put him in bed. A couple of nights later he was falling asleep in his bed all by himself. He still gets up to play sometimes and we have to go remind him to get in bed but he does just fine in it. I think it helped that my husband let him help put the bed together and we made such a big deal about what a big boy he was and how he didn't need the "baby" crib anymore.
Hope you figure something out,
C.

Hi C.,

I've not been in this situation but I saw something that may work for you on "Super Nanny." On the show a mother was having the same problem with her 3 year old son. Here is what the Nanny told the mother to do and it worked. Put the child to bed after the usual routine. When she gets out of the bed put her right back without saying anything to her (no words or eye contact). If she hops right back out position yourself near the bed (sitting if you like) but don't look at her or talk to her. When she gets out put her right back and go back to your place. She will probably cry, but you have to ignore it. And the idea is that eventually she will get the message that getting out of bed will not get her attention, cuddles, etc. I hope you find this helpful, it's something I would try if my son were older and doing that to me.

I would agree that simply putting her back in bed with no fuss or cuddles or anything is the thing to do. I am about to put my son in a big boy bed. My doctor told me when she was first putting her daughter in a big girl bed that her daughter kept getting up, so she sat outside the door and every time her daughter got up, the just went right back to bed. I can't imagine trying anything else that won't have long term reprocussions...such as if you stay in sight and talk to her or hold her hand, etc. until she falls asleep, you may find yourself doing that for YEARS to come. Good luck!

GO with her to bed and read to her. Try some baby einstien cd's and put a cd player in her room. I have twins and I let them fall a sleep with me sometimes then put them in bed. It is just trial and error. Put her down early and stay outside her room and just keep putting her back in. SOmetimes it is just repitition and it gets old but it will work.

Dear C.
Just stay with her until she falls asleep when you can. Remember to be consistant by putting her back in bed every time she gets out. Sometimes kids just need the assurance that we are still there and they will settle down. This is a very common problem so just keep in mind that you are not a failure, you are a normal parent with a normal child! Hang in there. B.

When we moved our daughter, she too would hop out of bed a lot. I spent an entire nap and bedtime outside her door waiting. Whenever she'd get down (I could see her feet under the door), I'd walk in and pick her up, put her back into bed and walk out, without getting mad, saying anything or showing her any expression on my face. This went on for a while the first day, 3 times the second day, and then after that she's stayed in her bed. Once in a while if she gets out, I will say if she gets out again she will not be able to watch her favorite TV show, or listen to her favorite music for that day. That always works...

With my kids I let them start by sleeping next to my bed on the floor then each night slowly moved them farther away from my bed in to our little short hall, in to there room on the floor then evently they started climbing in to there beds at night. It takes a little time but I didnt have the crying problem. Good luck!!