2 Year Old Sleeping in Bed with Us

I read somewhere that a trick may be setting up a small cot or sleeping bag & pillow may help everyone get some more sleep! You can put it next to the bed and he can pick to sleep there or go back to his room. Easier said then done, I would assume!

I have a 2 1/2 yr old that loves to sleep with me. However, when my 5 year old started school I told the little one he had to sleep in his bed alone. We had a few nights that were bad. But one thing I learned, from my boyfriend, is consistency! Once you start putting him in his bed, you cant feel bad and let him come back. One night my boyfriend spent 3 hrs, putting my boy back to bed, I couldnt do it...it broke my heart to hear him call for me, my boy pulled everything...more drink, to pee, and that he loved me. It was torture. My 2 1/2yr old was sick, I slept in his bed with him to comfort him, to keep him out of mine. They have a TV in the room, which I said I would never do, but if he cant sleep he gets up and turns it on, then stays in bed. I hope this helps....my main point is consistency! I dont like the idea of "locking" him in, but it is hard at first to keep taking him back to bed...makes for a long night. Good Luck, M.

Read The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. She offers suggestions for just this situation. If I recall, it is something like a previous poster mentioned - putting a mattress for the child in your room. They can come in and sleep on that, but not in the bed. Eventually they get sick of coming in your room just to sleep on the floor. But her book is realy great - give it a try! Good luck!

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions, but I just wanted to let you know I feel your pain, my 2 year old does the same thing. One good thing is her older sister used to do this but has seemed to grow out of it. She is six now and stopped pretty much when she started kindergarden. I know with the older one, when she hit 2 1/2 or so we started making her sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. I will probably do the same with littl sister. I hate getting up in the middle of night, both hubby and I need our sleep, so we never really put them back in bed, just moved them to the floor until they grow out of it.

I'm working on this one now with my 4 year old! It seems she was doing this exact thing at 2, and we were responding as you are. So you know, it doesn't go away. It gets better. It gets worse.

The consistent advice is very good and I agree. Whatever you do, go for it and be consistent.

We've tried many things. The sticker chart and reward system worked very well at two. (And still kind of works now, but isn't powerful enough to overcome the nightmares my girl is having now. We just moved.)

Right now, I am sleeping in the room with my girls in order to keep them (the oldest one, though, not really the two year old) in their beds. This is what the pediatrician recommended. I've laid an airmattress on the floor and keep her coralled in her bed all night. It has NOT been easy. She does much better with my husband. She will argue with me for hours about why she should now be on the airmattress with me and not in her bed. But we have had 4 nights in a row in her bed all night. And she got a "prize" this morning. Once she feels safe in her room, I am to move further away from her. Then into the hall. Etc. I'm still early in this process, but this has been the only way we've been able to keep her in her bed since we moved 6 weeks ago.

Good luck!

I know this sounds absolutly horrible but what we had to do as a last resort was lock our 2 year old in his room....it was our pediatricians advice that I refused to follow for the longest time, but it got to a point that we were desperate. We had 3 nights of progressively less crying (not even 20 minutes at most, it was a shock!!!!) and now he is doing just fine and we dont need to lock his door any more.

My oldes thas done that often but I would not allow him make a habit sleeping with us, so I kept walking him back to his back and first potty because he was potty trained early then and I told him that I love him and he's a good boy and tucked him in and there were times I have prayed with him and he slept through the night. Now, my second one is starting it occasionally and usually cries but this morning no crying. I twalked him to potty and then tucked him in and told him that he's a good boy and that I love him and go to sleep because it's nighttime. You should do it because it would be interference with your rlationship with your husband and he knows he can sleep with you and it's best to stop now and early because do you want him to be coming into your bed when he's 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years old. the longer you wait and the older he gets the harder it will be to get him to sleep in his own bed.

Hi,

We are in the same boat and our little guy will be 2 in December. He does the same thing!! And, we have our second baby due in April so I would like to at least have one sleeping through the night by then! He never came into our bed on a regular basis until 4 months ago, when he learned how to climb out of the crib. Now, he is in a pattern of sleeping with Mommy and Daddy. We love it but also know it has to stop soon. I also welcome any suggestions, preferably those that don't include "Crying it Out". We have tried that and he just gets so hysterical that he hyperventilates and vomits and it makes me feel terrible. Thx!

Hi C.

You are not alone, my son who is 5 does this, but it's gotten better with positive changes. I bought a cheap battery operated alarm clock, set the alarm for 6 am (we get up at 7 on weekdays). He now knows that when the clock beeps, it's ok to come in to mom and dads bed and that he can't come in before it beeps. We've had to take him back to his room, tell him to wait until the clock beeps, but done consistently, it worked. Now he is a bit older than your son, but it may work, kids get excited sometimes over the simpelest thing. We get cuddle time in the morning before a hectic day and still get a good nights sleep.

Best of luck to you ~ A.

Dear C.,

Like with any parenting strategy you and your husband have to be in agreement with decisions you make regarding your child. The reason I say this is because if you decide you want him out of your bed then you have to be consistent. This means one night you can't let him because you are to tired, and other nights you refuse to let him in. Children need consistency and if you are going to do it realize that the first few nights are going to be sleepless as he transitions into his own bed. I usually make the suggestion with any sleep training that you do it on the weekends this way you can make up during the day for any lost sleep. Chances are most parents will give in when they have to get up the next morning for work. When he wakes up do not let him into your bed go to him and sit in a chair if you have to to make sure he stays there until he falls back to sleep in his bed. Do not let him fall asleep in your bed and then carry him in, because when he wakes he will be startled and not know where he is. Unfortunately with kids you only have to do something once and it becomes a habit. If you are trying to have another baby I would work on his sleeping in his own bed first, otherwise you will be up with two kids.

Dear C.,
As with any habit, once you start, it seems to escalate. When one of our kids would come into our room on a regular basis, I would go back to their bed and lay down with them. Once they fell back to sleep, I would leave and they were content. It doesn't take long before they get the idea. There were those times that I found myself still asleep with them in the a.m. But at least they learned to stay in their own bed and my husband got his sleep.
Good luck, W.