Toddler Bed - Fort Branch,IN

well my daughter was the same by a yr she was out of her crib and i bought and pack and play and she was in that for awhile she didnt climb out of it either but her toddler bed she wont stay in either yet if she sleeps in my big bed she is out for a good 10 hrs so i tried a big race car bed yeah its a boys but it may just be the trick since she has more room. Maybe try that also try one of the crib projectors i think they make a few to stand on dressers that may help especially if it has music or even a sound machine its like $10 at Walmart and all my kids sleep with it

Toddler proof her room. Remove most/all of the toys, books, breakable stuff, etc. Then just make sure she stays in her room. Basically the entire room becomes her 'crib'. Don't stress about keeping her in bed - you'll drive yourself nuts. Go through the bedtime routine at the same time each night, say good night, put her in bed and leave. When she leaves the room, walk her back to her bed. The first time say "it's time to sleep" but after that don't say a word. No interaction - that is what she's looking for. I've done this with all my kids (and my nephew way back when) long before Supernanny made it 'popular'. :-) It does work if you're consistent. Do the same thing in the middle of the night.

You'll probably find her sleeping on the floor by the door, or in the closet, or under the bed the first days/weeks but oh well. It's not your body sleeping on a hard surface. It won't take long before she realizes the bed is better. Once she's better at going to sleep try moving toys and other stuff back. You may want to put a gate in the hallway so she can't wander down the stairs or throughout the house in the middle of the night for safety reasons.

L.~ I was in your position about a month ago... so I feel your lack of sleep. We moved our two year old son for the same reasons. The first night we had trouble getting him to stay in there & he wanted mommy to stay with him. I tried staying for five minutes, leaving, coming back, staying three minutes, leaving, etc... it didn't work too well that night. The next night I tried laying next to his bed, pretending to sleep until I knew that he was almost out before leaving. The first time he tried talking to me I told him that "mommy loves you, but its bedtime. I'll talk to you all you want in the morning". After that I didn't answer him. He tried coming out once that night. I went back in and laid down next to his bed again laying there until his eyes were heavy. That time he stayed. He got up once in the middle of the night... I gave him a sip of water & put him back in his room. I only had to stay for a couple minutes! The next night I tried to leave a little earlier... he started crying hysterically. That ended up being a very sleepless night. The next night I decided to try a little trick. I reversed the door knob on his room. When I left his room I locked the door so he couldn't come out. When he got up and couldn't get out he was very upset, but I could hear over the monitor the ruffling of the sheets when he crawled back in bed. After listening to him whimper for about five minutes I went in gave him a kiss and explained that when its bedtime he needs to stay in his bed... that he's no longer going to be able to come out until its morning time. I gave him another kiss and left his room again locking the door. He didn't try to get back out!!! Before I went to bed I unlocked his door. He didn't come out until 8a.m.! He tried coming out for the next few nights only to find out he couldn't. I've done the same thing every night since. I lock the door when I lay him down & when I no longer hear him I go unlock his door. I am now a much happier mommy in the a.m. since I'm getting my sleep again, lol Sorry this is so long..... I hope that you find a solution for your daughter & get back to sleeping soon! Good Luck :)

My son is not in a toddler bed yet but some of my freinds have sat outside their child's room and just kept putting them back in bed the minute they got out. They did this for a few nights and it helped them understand and stayed in their bed.

Hi L.! I went through this with my daughter (who is 4 now). We put a baby gate on her door so she couldn't walk out. I told her that she had to stay in her bed. It lasted a few weeks, but then she got used to the routine. Just hang in there! Soon she will get used to her new bed and will forget all about her crib.

Thanks for posting this. I am sure I will ne going through this as well. I plan to let her sleep whereever as long as it's in her room but was concerned about her getting out. My husband suggested getting one of the handles that go over the top of the door handle that you have to have the dexterity to squeeze and turn. It's white usually. I don't know the name of it tho

My son went through 3 or 4 weeks where he'd fall asleep at the door and we'd have to go up and put him back in bed when we went to bed. Then, we put him in a twin bed and somehow that was different. But, he'd wake up and get out. Have you tried a gate at the door? Shutting the door? When those didn't work for us anymore, our nurse agreed that it was safer to lock our son in than take the chance that he gets downstairs and turns on the toaster (again). She said it was better to have him confined in a child-proofed room than wondering around the house at all hours. There are still nights we hear him awake, yelling, singing, rarely running around, but it used to happen every night!!, but most nights he sleeps through the night and we don't have to lock the door any more. I even leave it open during naps now.

We had a nightlight and a radio/CD player in their rooms. After climbing in bed, getting the story or chapter of a book read, saying prayers and getting their kiss, we turned on the CD player and the nightlight after explaining it was time to rest and go to sleep. It helped keep them in bed and we closed the door most of the way, but not shut. They also had a favorite toy they slept with and could talk to,sing to, and cuddle after we had left the room.
You might also add the, "Mommy has to go and take a bath (or get ready for bed, do dishes, whatever), I will be back in a little while to check on you. You stay here and I will be back." That is where your reward chart comes in if she stays in bed she gets a star on her chart.

We transitioned our son to a toddler bed at 18 months. He did really well the first couple months and then went through a stage where he would get up and come into our room in the middle of the night. We put a gate at his bedroom door and if he got up he would stand at the door. He cried a little but it didn't last long. The first week or so we would find him asleep on the floor by the door in the morning but that didn't last long. Once he realized that we weren't going to get him out he started staying in his bed. After a couple months we took the gate down and he is back to staying in his bed at night and not coming out until morning. Your little one is older so this may not work the same. We were lucky that he has neven gotten up to play with toys. He does know it is night time and if he gets up and realizes he can't get out he just gets back into bed. Good luck!

We used this light that played music and displayed different colored shapes on the ceiling. It played for a max of 15 minutes. Sometimes my girls would fall asleep, sometimes we'd have to go in every 15 minutes and reset the light, but it worked for us for a long time. I think it was fisher price and we likely got it at walmart.

Hi L., my son was born 11-13-06 and tonight is his first night in his big-boy bed! I am curious to see what advice you get, just in case I need it!! (So far so good!) Good luck to you- I hope you all get some sleep!

Hi Lynette, We used this book to help us:
'Solving Your Childs Sleep Problems' by Dr. Richard Ferber. You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Solve-Your-Childs-Sleep-Problems/dp..., but I got ours at the library, so I didn't even have to buy it. Hope it helps.

What is her reason for wanting you to stay? Is she scared? Is she lonely? Does she not feel comfortable yet in a new bed/surroundings? Figure out FIRST why she feels that way and then you can address it from there. Hard to find a solution when you don't know what the problem is.

CD's w/ soft music, ocean waves, wind chimes, etc. are good soothers, too. Maybe even a CD of your voice reading to her or singing or both.