Keeping My 2 Year Old in Bed

I remember reading an article that said that children typically do not develop the mental milestone of understanding imaginary boundaries which are not actually confined ("stay in bed") until closer to age 3-3.5. Hence, if your son has not yet developed an understanding that the edge of the mattress is the boundary line, then you may be setting him/yourself up for failure until he does hit that milestone. Can you put him back in his crib for several more months and then re-introduce the toddler bed?

For us it took patience and bribery. We told her if she stayed in her bed like a big girl she would get fruit snacks the next day & I layed the package on her night stand to remind her. Worked like a charm. You have to stick to it though. Make sure you remind her why she's being rewarded & if she gets out of bed more than you want, sneak them out in the middle of the night. After a couple weeks once the habit was formed I started sneaking the snacks out anyway & she didn't notice or care. She has been in a twin bed since she was 1.5 years old & has done great. :) Good luck!

get him on a routine or schedule maybe stay in his room with him until he goes to sleep. I had to do that with my daughter, that way you're there to make sure he's laying down and not playing. if needed, do a "family quiet time". make this time, mommy's time to relax and read a book or something, where you can keep an eye on him to make sure he stays laying down at least.

at that age, i used to tell my daughter, i don't care if you don't fall asleep, BUT you WILL lay down as i tell you to, and if you act up later because you are tired and didn't want to nap, you will be punished. this way you're giving them a choice, but consequenses as well he's not too young for that.

For us, it just took patience. A LOT OF PATIENCE :)

I think they enjoy feeling independent, and now that they are in control of getting in and out of bed there are so many things that are more fun! For a long time my son slept on the floor because that is where he finally crashed. I also found that when he had the "quiet time" in his room (because my son wouldn't nap either when we moved him out of his crib) that he was better for it. It still gave him time to unwind and relax, and made our afternoons and evenings more enjoyable. Eventually the thrill wore off and he started sleeping again. Good luck.

My son is two also and in a toddler bed. I don't know if this would work for you or not. I lay with my son after stories each night and wait until he falls asleep. Most nights it takes me 20-30 minutes. I enjoy it because after a long day, sometimes stressful, it's a calm way to reconnect. I also don't have to worry about whether or not he's asleep, playing, about to come out of his room, etc.
As far as naps go. We usually run errands in the morning and he falls asleep on the way home. If we stay home, I lay with him while we watch a show and he falls asleep.
Hopefully it's just a phase. Be patient and insistent that he stay in bed, no feet on the floor or you start taking what little toys he has in there away. Good luck!

My son is 4.5 and stopped napping around age 3. We occasionally make him nap if he is very overtired. Basically since he has been in a bed rather than a crib one of us has to sit by him or outside his room until he is asleep or almost asleep. It is a pain but we haven't come up with anything else that works with him--he is stubborn and very active (and hyper when overtired). Maybe someone else has another solution.

I recommend a great book called "Good Night Sleep Tight" by Kim West ( the sleep lady). I learned so much from this book that helped the whole family get better sleep. Do you have a routine with him. When I am on it I remember to turn most of the lights off in the house and have only dim lights on even an hour before bedtime, this triggers there bodies natural melatonin to kick in and they start to feel tired. Having a routine is very helpful if you do the same things in the same order before bed over time when you start the routine it triggers the brain oh it's time to go to sleep, and kids need that wind down time. He really does need naps still. Nap training can be harder than night training. You can try a shorter version of the bedtime routine for nap time. Kids have a window of opportunity when they are showing signs of getting tired, if that passes the cortisone shoots through there system aka second wind comes and it is harder to get them settled into sleep. My 3 year old has a short window of opportunity for nap when I catch it she actually gets some rest during the day. I hope this helps. Also even if you don't have much money there are second hand places you could get some kind of toy box and be able to lock that up. Good Luck.