I have a difficult time getting my daughter to go to sleep in her bed. I have tried putting her in her bed when she gets sleepy, but it just does not seem to work. I usually let her cry for about 15 minutes and go get her and rock her to sleep. She usually stays up for another hour after that. I was wondering of anyone had any tips to help me get her to sleep easier.
Try putting her in there to play, not just sleep. This may help her get comfortable with her bed and the environment of her room. You may find her asleep in her bed after leaving her alone to play.
I had the same problem with my daughter when we moved her to her own room. I would go sit beside her bed and pat her butt till she fell asleep on all we have to do is go start her movie and she goes to bed good and stay's in bed all night.
I wouldn't pick her up after letting her cry for 15 min.
Go in and comfort her, give her a blanket, rub her back and then leave again. YOu can even try this at 5min, then 10, then 15, then 20 (minutes between each visit). She has learned that if she cries long enough you will come get her and the only way to break it is to not go get her. Good luck.
Hi T., when my daughter was that age, she wanted me to lay with her till she went to sleep, so I put her in her bed and of course she cried, but I would go in there every few minutes and tell her that I love her and that she had to go to sleep in her bed and that she didn't need me to be there. She still cried, but eventually she went to sleep. After 2 to 4 nights she didn't cry anymore. You can let her cry a little, then let her know that you are near and that you love her, but walk out of the room and in a few minutes, if she is still crying, then do it again. She eventually will realize that her crying isn't going to get her what she wants and she will go to sleep. It may take her a few nights, but she will learn to go to sleep.
I know it will be hard to let her cry, but for me it was the only way. Good luck.
V.
Eads, TN
My son started changing his sleeping habits around this age also. I just let him lead the way. Some nights he would stay up really late but I found that it was less stress on him and me and after a little while he went right back to his regular time.
Hi Terri, I have a 5 year old that was having this problem. What I did was told him big boys sleep in their bed and I layed in the bed with him until he went to sleep. In the morning when he got up I told him what a big boy he was for sleeping in his bed.
I don't know if this will help you or not but both of my boys (ages 2 and 4) go to bed at night and watch a movie in their room. My 2 year old has been doing it since he was 1 years old. He laid in there and watched the pretty colors on the t.v. and the sound sooths them. Of course, my youngest had his brother in the room with him, but otherwise, it worked really well. We just have a small t.v. with a built in vcr in there and have always used it. I put them to bed sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 and they love movie time. Plus they want to go to bed more when they get to "pick out" which movie they want to watch. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thanks,
K.
