I have a 22 month old daughter who was climbing out of her crib, so we decided to buy her a toddler bed. She used to go to sleep by herself without any problems in her crib. Now that she is in the bed, she cries and will not stay in her bed when bedtime or naptime rolls around. The only way we can get her to go to sleep is to sit in the room while she falls asleep (both for naps and bedtime). I really do not want her to get in the habit of only being able to go to sleep unless I am in the room. Help, how do I get her to go to sleep in her room alone?? Thanks for any suggestions!
Thanks for all of your advice. Every time my daughter gets out of bed, we have been picking her up and putting her right back in bed. It took about 40 minutes the first night, 25 the second and only about 10 tonight. It beats sitting her room every night while she tries to fall asleep.
Don't know if it will help but with my daughter who was the same age we made a big deal about if she stayed in bed all by herself and slept all night we could go to Target and she could pick any toy to sleep with. She thought she was so big and was showing everyone her Pony and why she got it. Everybody is different so I don't know if it will help but sticker charts work with her too!
D.
I had the same problem. We tried to move my daughter to a big girl bed when she was around 2 1/2. It was like Houdini. We would time how long it took her to cry, get out of bed, open her door, and stand at the gate by her door and cry....like 3 minutes flat. Basically, she wasn't ready. No, ifs, ands or buts. So, then we gave it up and tried a few months later when I had to move her out because I was expecting. Based upon the advice of others, I did the "supernanny" thing. First, we put up side rails on her bed. Then during a nap, I put her in her bed and closed her door. I sat on the other side of the door and talked to her (but she couldn't see me, only hear me). She cried, but I tried to talk her through it. Finally, after about 15 minutes, she settled down. Our talking got less and less (on purpose, I would only interject every few minutes just to let her know that I was there). After about 20+ minutes it was quiet and I crawled away. After that, there was no going back to the crib. It's like potty training. Once you start, you have to continue. Well, that evening, we did the same thing and it only took about 10 minutes. Ever since then, she's been fine. Good luck to you. I hope this helps.
I have 23 month old twins that also climbed out of their cribs a couple months ago. I decided to try crib tents and am so happy that I did. They LOVE them too and it also keeps them from throwing their blankies, binkies, etc overboard when they want out. My daughter actually cries if we forget to zip it up. We waited until my oldest was almost 3 before moving him to a big boy bed and the transition was seemless. I'm hoping that will be the same with the twins! I don't know if it's too late to go back to the crib with your daughter and try the tent, but it might be worth a shot.
Good luck!
Dear K.,
I know how you feel. My daughter just turned two this month. At first I would lay with her to get her to go to sleep then I would slowly sit closer to the door. Each night I would sit closer to the door, making sure I didn't say anything to her. If she got out of bed I would just put her back in and go sit back down. Now i can tell her to go to bed and most nights she does. Some nights she gets up a couple of times to see what I am doing. I don't say anything and just walk her back to bed and lay her down. Make sure not to look into the eyes. This process took longer than it did for my son. My son was sleeping in a toddler bed at nine months old. I don't have problems with him. Good Luck!
B.
I haven't read all the replies. So, sorry if this is a duplicate suggestion. We are still using the AngelCare crib sound and movement monitor even after we removed the rail on his crib at 18 months old. At 32 months old, he successfully stayed in his own queen bed (surrounded by pillows and WITHOUT the monitor) in a separate room during a recent hotel visit. So, we plan to buy him a twin this month.
The Angelcare sound and movement alarm is originally intended to ensure a newborn is still breathing while sleeping. When there is no movement at all in the bed, an alarm will sound. The first few times he did climb out of the crib were only at nap time and never at bed time. At which point, I would explain that maybe he was not ready and I could put the rail back on. Maintaining independence seemed to be enough to keep him in bed.
Good Luck!
Try getting her a study pillow (we used to call ours our "big chair for books" and a little reading light. Let her take books to bed and tell her she can stay up and look at them as long as she wants, but she can't get out of bed. I guarantee you, she'll be asleep within 30 minutes. The first few days she will play with the light but that novelty will wear off quickly. I don't know why we think that kids should be able to instantly fall asleep when we put them to bed... after all, I like to read until I get sleepy too.
I had the same problem with my son at 3. We tried sitting with him but it seemed to distract him because he tried to get out attention. We ended up getting an extra tall gate at Babies R Us that is very sturdy and put a wedge in the door so it could not shut all the way. We left a night light on and took out all toys just left his book shelf and dresser. We would do our bedtime routine - read books, talk about the day, sing quite songs then I would tuck him in and give him a kiss and leave the room. For the first few weeks he would sit by the gate and cry (hard when we had another baby asleep in the house) but we would go to the gate (but never in the room) and assure him he was ok and to go back in his bed. It took about two weeks of some good & bad nights but after that it has worked fine. I find being consistant is the key. For your daughter you may want to start bedtime earlier and have a routine of conforting songs in the bed so gets somtime with you being with her.
Good Luck
Hi There,
I had a similar dilemma with my soon to be 3 year old. I still lay with my two year old for naps just because if I want her to nap....I have to be sure she is sleeping. But when she goes to daycare...noone sits next to her and she goes out herself. Now at night, in the beginning, I was laying with her, but my hubby and I have since ceased doing that. We read my daughter a couple of books, turn out the light, and close the door. She definitely doesn't go to sleep right away. She will get up, read a book, but she ALWAYS puts the book away and goes back into her bed and sleeps.
Give it a try. At night, let her try to put herself to sleep. Let her cry or read....( try to have the toys in her room closed up).
Hope that helps!
My 3 yo started giving me issues about going to bed and one day I was feeling quirky and hit upon something that worked for her. We pretend to be other animals or things and I get her to go to bed that way. For example, we pretended she was a baby bird and I was momma bird and we "flew" (walked while flapping our arms) to her bed and I made a "nest" out of her blanket (I laid her in fetal position on her bed and wrapped it all around her in a circular fashion). Then I, the momma bird, chirped goodnight and pecked her (kissed her) goodnight. Some nights she's an airplane going in for a landing and I carry her through the air flying like a plane and land her on the bed. I've played horsie to her cowgirl, let her ride on my back a bit and then bucked her off my back into bed. If she gets up, I remind her that birds need to sleep so they have strength to fly tomorrow or whatever theme we're working on for the night. My husband thought I was nuts the first time I did this, now he comes up with ideas too. We also leave a light on and have white noise on to help cover household noises that may be scary. Hope it helps!
