Hi!!
My son is 2 years old and refuses to stay in his bed at night. My husband and I would tuck him in, read a story, and say his prayers; but, he gets up at 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning to get into our bed. We'll then get up and put him back. The next morning, he is laid awkwardly in our bed. What to do??? We need him to sleep in his own bed.
Enjoy it while you can - it passes so quickly. When my son comes to my bed and wants to be snuggled to sleep, he says "Mommy, keep me safe." He just wants to be held and loved.
I know he will grow up in the blink of an eye, and I then I'll never again be able to hold him while he sleeps or carry him up the stairs sleeping in my arms.
go to www.pattiteel.com
One thing that worked for me was puting up a toddler safety gate on my sons door. He was still able to see out of his room, but wasn't able to sneak into bed with me! God love those little boys....they just want to be with their mommas!
Sounds like you are doing the right thing about putting him back in his bed once he's gotten in your bed. Just be persistant. My son did the same thing and I would have to keep putting him back in his bed. Sometimes I would even shut his door and let him cry and cry but as time went on, and it seemed like forever, he finally stayed in his bed all night long. Encourage your son and let him know that big boys sleep in their own beds and mommy and daddy have their own bed. This worked for me;) hope it works for you!
I don't have any great advice for this except that you can bet he won't still be doing it when he's 12! Two is still so cuddly and little. If he's not waking you up when he joins you, then what can you do? If you wake up, then put him back in bed and tell him you love him and will see him in the morning. We had this issue with our now 3 yr old, and I started telling him that mommy and daddy needed to have their own bed just like he has his. He just said okay and did not come back to our bed. But he is very verbal and understands this, so it depends on how old your 2 yr old is and how verbal. HTH
I am not able to give much advice, as I have the VERY SAME ISSUE, but I wanted to share something. My daughter is the same. She will likely be our last, and I have decided to just let it be. She also starts the night in her bed, and somewhere in the middle comes in with us. I used to take her back to bed if it was still early enough in the night, leaving her put if it was 5 or later, but changed our minds for a very big reason that caused a huge concern. My daughter, when we put her back in bed, on occasion, was getting into sharp knives, climbing on counters etc. I decided that she is young once, and it will end at some point. For us, her safety was more important than forcing her to stay in her bed. We still get "private" time, as she still starts out in her room, but I let go of the "NEED" for her to stay in her bed all night. They eventually will not want to sleep with you all night, or will get to a point where you can discuss it rationally.
Just a thought.
Hi O. -
To some degree, I am going through the exactly same thing with my almost 3 yr old daughter. Since her doorway is too small, I put the security gate in the hallway so she does not roam the house at night. I think my daughter is lonely at night. She really is a people person, loves to be around people and adores her daddy (daddy has been working lots of hrs lately). We have been doing the same as you - spending time at night reading stories, prayers, singing, and rocking. We have been using a more relaxed approach, not trying to fix it overnight. If I see her sleeping on our bed room floor or in the hallway, I just pick her up and put her back in her bed. I don't drive myself crazy trying to make sure she stays there. We try to make sure she has a special stuffed animal, doll, or a blanket to sleep with.
He also may be adjusting to your move. We notice sleep problems with her once there has been a change in her life. There has been lots of changes/upheavels in our family since December (youngest daughter spilled hot tea on her legs and was in the hospital/had surgery right before Christmas, unexpected extended visit with family because of the accident, didn't see daddy for 2 weeks because he had to go back to work, and once we finally got back home daddy's job has been demanding). She really had a hard time to adjust.
Honestly, if it is okay with your husband, co-sleeping is not bad for a period. We did co-sleep a bit with my oldest to try to help her adjust. Then she slept on the floor in our room, then she moved to her room. It was gradual. And it still is not 'fixed'. We try to support her where she is at and make adjustments. Only you and your husband can decide though if co-sleeping or any other sleeping arrangement is okay with your family. Good luck! Blessings, J.
I think this may just be a stage for him. He may also be waking up in the middle of the night and be a little scared because it's so quiet and dark, so he comes to you for reassurance. When I was three I basically got into my parent's bed every single night around 2 or 3 in the morning and then one day just stopped. You may want to talk to him about it when you're tucking him in, but I wouldn't push it that much. Ask your pediatrician for some advice.
Be persistent. You are right to put him back in his bed. Sometimess I used to let her dose off and kind of sneak her back into bed. When that wouldn't work I put a baby monitor in her room and showed her that if she needed me I could be reached by asking. Once she realized I would come if she called or cried she settled a bit. Also I started a piggy bank. If she was a big girl and stayed all night in her big girl bed she got money to put in the piggie. I also let her choose her sheets to be a part of making her big girl bed hers. The more inticed she is to her bed the more she wanted to sleep there. Also the piggy bank worked for potty training. We had no accidents with our second child she went from diapers to big girl panties because she liked to put money in her piggy bank..Go figure!
I had the same problem with my son who is now 3. He has a toddler bed that uses the crib mattress and he preferred my nice comfy mattress to his. He also uses baby blankets and a diego throw blanket and he prefers my velvet blanket that keeps you warm. I used a blanket over his sheet for him to lay on and then gave him his own warm blanket and he finally stayed in his own bed. I'm not sure if this is what really helped or if he just outgrew it. We do on occasion have him come in and ask if he can get in bed with me. I tell him no and to go back to bed and he does. I hope this helps.
My daughter is almost 2 1/2 and she's a wanderer too. You didn't say, but is he still in his crib. I left my son in his crib until 3 years old and my daughter is still in it for the same reason. If he's climbing out of his crib, there are mesh tents you can put on them. If he's in a toddler bed, why not shut the door and make sure the knob has been child proofed so he can't open it. I've found my daughter sleeps better with the door closed anyway.
Hi,
I went through this with my older son. You just have to keep putting him back in his bed. Eventually he will stay in there. You could also try putting a baby gate in his door way. You would still be able to hear him if he needed anything but he would not be able to get out of the room. He will either get back in his bed or he will fall asleep on the floor. Atleast he will be in HIS room and hopefully after a couple of nights if he does fall asleep on the floor he will realize he can't get out and maybe he won't wake up in the middle of the night anymore. Just a suggestion. Good Luck!
O.,
When we first switch our son to a toddler bed, we had the same issue. He would go to sleep fine in his bed but sometime in the middle of the night he would get up and wonder around the house looking for us. This may seem odd, but the solution we found that works is we put a gate up in his doorway because I don't like to shut his door. This way he can still see into our bedroom. At first, he would stand at the gate and yell for me, but now he stays in bed and will yell for me from bed. It worked for us so it might be worth a try. I hope this helps! Good luck!
You know we had the same problem wi our 3 yr old for 2 years he kept doing that too us. Last fall Oi had another child so once we moved in dec we put them in the same room that still didn't solve the problem .His bed was a twin. Well my youngest kept waking him up so we decided to put him in the guest room and it has a queen size bed. No more problems. His stays in bed all night every night. What I am saying is we finally found out that the problem was his bed wasn't wide enough to help him to feel safe and secure. So u might want to try a double full or queen air mattress to see if tha helps and if it does then you may want to upgrade is bed size. Hope it helps.
I don't have much advise to offer, just KEEP TRYING!!! My son will be two in a couple of weeks and every night between 2-3 he gets up and gets in our bed....if anyone out there has great advise, please share it with me.
L. T.
30 year old mom of 2 - Emiley 10 and Ethan 2 on Easter Sunday!!!
Put a gate in his doorway. Get a tall one he cant climb over I got one at Walmart for 20$ that's 32 inches tall. it will at least keep him in his room. I often find my son asleep at his door and when I do I pick him up put him back in his bed. But he does stay in his room.
