I am having trouble getting my 4 year old out of our bed at night. He goes to sleep fine on his own in his own bed but he ends up coming into our bed in the middle of the night, sometimes without us even knowing until the morning. We have tried charts with prizes if he succeeds, discipline, everything. I need some more ideas!
If it isn't disturbing your sleep, why does it matter? It won't last for ever. My 5 yo sometimes ends up in our bed because he just needs more time to snuggle or he gets scared or lonely. It really doesn't seem to be hurting anyone.
If it is really bothering you, then try the sleeping bag on the floor next to your bed.
try putting a sleeping bag on your bedroom floor and tell him if he comes in to sleep in your room he can only sleep in the sleeping bag. Maybe once he gets that step down start moving the sleeping bag further towards the door and then to the hallway then to the floor in his room and hopefully he will eventally stay in his bed.
S.,
Check for underlying issues....Does your son snore? Our daughter did this constantly and I mean EVERY NIGHT unless she was super tired almost from the day we moved her to a big girl bed. We thought she was just a "light sleeper". We had noticed she was a snore-er and thought nothing of it. It wasn't until the school said she failed 2 hearing tests and suggested we see and ENT, did we find out that she had large adenoids and tonsils, too large for her frame, but not large enough to merit immediate removal. The ENT asked if she snored at all. Turns out the adenoid and tonsils were obstructing her breathing at night and whenever she caught a cold or got strep, her ears filled with fluid and it not only endangered her breathing, but also affected her hearing. This also caused her to not get into REM sleep and she was living in a world of sleep deprivation. Which in turn affected her ability to concentrate at school and LEARN. 3 months after the initial consultwith the ENT her adenoids and tonsils had gronw even larger and she had surgery. Had we known at 4 what we learned at 6, we would have medically intervined earlier so that she could have developed a real sleep pattern and thus better learning habits during the foundation years at school. Please make sure your son is not dealing with sleep apnea or other issues that could be causing him to wake at night and not get a full nights rests.
Good Luck!
L.
could you make him his own bed in your room? like, a pile of blankets or something - he is to lay there if he needs to and not with you...
try www.askdrsears.com
Have you asked him why he is getting into your bed during the night? My son used to do that because he was "scared" and didn't want to be alone in his room. Getting a fish tank that has a light and a couple of gold fish helped us out. The fish tank is now his night light and he loves to help take care of them.
