My two year old has never had a problem sleeping in her own room until recently. Sometimes she will fall asleep in her room only to wake up in my room. I never went through this with my son (now age nine), but the baby will not stay in her bed. Does anyone have any suggestions about getting her to stay in bed all night. She is not in a crib, she has been in a bed for over a year now.
Installing a baby gate wouldn't work, especially since she can climb over it. It has been a few days now and I just carry her back to bed when she gets out. If she sneaks in and I don't here her, when I get up I put her in her bed before she wakes up. Hopefully, a few more weeks of this and we will be done! Thank you everyone for your suggestions!
I noticed that my two year old also began waking up at night. I'm no psychologist, but I think he had begun to have bad dreams. If you don't already have one, try placing a character nightlight that she can see from bed, like her favorite Disney Princess or Dora the Explorer.
When my daughter was doing this at 3 yo, my pediatrician suggested we put a mat or rolled-up bedding next to our bed in our room and let her sleep there if she wanted to come in. She did it for a while, and actually slept later into the morning! Now she's fine in her room (she's 4.5 y.o.) and doesn't wake up in the middle of the night. Occasionally she comes in when she has a bad dream, but for the most part she's in her own space. She does also have a night light in her room. This definite helped us all get what we needed--my husband and I got sleep and she got to be close to us when she was scared.
I've not been in your situation but several of my friends have and they say that special treats like stickers, little toys and especially some alone time with mommy all work. Of course she only gets these treats when she stays in her bed all night. Some of them used a chart and every night the child stayed in bed, she got a sticker, stamp..whatever floats her boat.
I don't know how conversant she is, but if you think she can communicate it to you, you should ask her why she feels like she needs to come into bed with you. Maybe it'll be a quick fix like the night light!
Has she mentioned if she is dreaming? Sometimes young children don't know what to make of dreams (good or bad) and it can make them a bit insecure.
If there is something that she really loves and seems to make her comfortable, try to incorporate it into her bedroom (stuffed animal, new pillow, etc.). You might also try a reward chart where she can earn special priveledges or something special for staying in her room.
Best of luck to you and your family.
I'd give her a sleeping bag for your floor so if she's scared she can still be near you but if it's a habit, it won't be something that prevents you from sleeping. She may need to be put back into bed several nights in a row and let her be upset but let her know you are right down the hall (or whatever) and she is safe in her bed.
She needs to know her bed is where she sleeps and where she wakes up.
My girl went through this too. I am a single mom and don't mind her in my bed in the am...its our snuggle time. But I don't like going to bed with her already there. I offered her a treat(cartoons in the am or chocolate milk, etc) if she went to bed the way I wanted her to. Maybe this idea will help you...treat if she stays in bed.
My husband and I had the same problem with our daughter...we put a child safety door knob cover on the inside of her door so that she could not get up in the middle of the night and come into our room. She can still knock on the door if she needs us, but we go to her and that keeps her in her room to sleep. We don't close the door all the time, just when she gets into one of her phases where she is waking up a lot and coming to our room! hope this helps! C.
I have the same problem with my son. Although he is 8 now. I will wake to find him on the floor beside my bed, or on the floor in his sister's room.
Let me know if you find something that works!
Our 2 year old is in her own room in a bed too. We put a gate up in her doorway. We did it on the outside of the door jam so we could still close the door when she went to bed. She can open the door in the morning and holler over the gate. At least we know she isn't wandering around the house at night. As for sleeping...all I can tell you is that I've had to be consistent. If she gets up before morning, I tell her it is still sleepy time and put her back in her bed. In the beginning I would have to do this over and over until she got the idea. But if you make it a policy it does pay off. Good luck! :)
I have a 2-yr old who comes into our room at least once per night/early morning. What I do (my husband usually sleeps through it) when he quietly wanders in (and either lies down next to the bed or stands and fidgets until I notice him) is carry him back into his bed and lay down with him until he falls asleep, which is usually within a couple minutes. As I was searching online for answers, I suddenly recalled that I used to do this until I was around TEN years old! (Not nightly but, still...wow! I hope it doesn't last that long.) We moved around a lot, and my dad travelled frequently for work so, maybe that's why my mom was pretty sympathetic to my sleep needs at the time. I have 3 younger siblings and they never had such a hard time sleeping. I also have a 4-month old and am nursing so, sleep is rare and precious but, I can't bear to get upset with my 2-yr old and just hope that he will start to feel secure enough to go back to sleep. I know that getting upset with him over it can only make things worse so, I try hard not to get frazzled. Trust me, sometimes I just want to scream! But then I put myself in his tiny little shoes. I can't tell if it is bad dreams or just habit but, I know that when he's a teenager and won't talk to me, I may miss these needy days. Just got him back to bed for the night. Sigh...
I have a Dora night light for my daughter because she is afraid of the dark on occassions we put a radio on soft music. she over stimulates her mind so at night it runs wild like in the day.good luck
I had that problem with all three of my children so my husband and I took turns getting up in the middle of the night to put them back in their bed. Yes you will be very tired for about one week, which is how long it took us to break out children out of this habit. Believe me in the end it will be well worth it. Like is said this will require you to be very persistent and once they see that everytime I get in mommies bed she always put me back then it will stop.
At two, she really isn't a baby anymore, if you don't want her to sleep with you then you have to put her in her bed EVERYTIME she comes in to be with you. Tell her "I'm sorry, but you are a big girl and big girls sleep in their own beds", then put her back in her bed. You might have to do this for a few nights but you have to be consistant in order for it to work. I know there are alot of moms on here that believe its okay for your kids to sleep with them, but that wasn't for my husband and I, I cannot sleep with a child in bed with me and in order for eveyone to get quality sleep, we had to sleep in our own beds. Good luck.
