Toddler Bed Advice

Hello C., I never had this situation as a Mom, but I have watched 'The Nanny' deal with this sort of thing when children are older. It can be quite debilitating for the entire family when children control when and where Mom (and Dad) sleep.:)...She suggests you place your child back into bed, reassure him and leave the room, staying alert to (see) hear if the child goes back to sleep in a bit, and with not too much stress, I would add. If the child is struggling, then you return to the room, and repeat reassuring, while always leaving the room. If you need to return to the room, return child to the bed lovingly WITHOUT words spoken and leave the room. If you need to return again, you return child back to the bed, use no words, and sit with your back to the child in the middle of his room, remaining non-verbal, and always lovingly returning the child back to bed, returning to the center of his room as needed until the child goes to sleep. I don't know. I'll be curious to hear what others think of this one for a 17 month old. I recall my 18 month old becoming very needy when my twins arrived, needing more reassurance. Sleep was never a problem for her though...Good Luck! Be Peace. N.

With both my son and daughter, all I did was put a tension gate up in their bedroom door. As long as the room itself is babyproof, I think it's perfectly fine to let them figure out how and when to sleep by themselves. Sure, for awhile they might get up and play, and sometimes not make it back to their bed, but it's not long before they figure out that no one else is up that early to play with. Good luck.

Hi C.. In my experience, toddlers are worked with best when you can attach some form of routine to their behaviors. In other words, it seems like you may be inadvertently undoing some of the independence that was built into his former routine by letting him rely on you now to fall back off to sleep. Instead of laying your head down with your son when you would normally have let him 'work it out' in his crib, try establishing a consistent action you take with him when he wakes up. For instance, you might begin by creating an association between a particular soothing nature cd and his bedtime routine every night. Turn the music on for him to drift off to right before you leave the room. When he wakes up at night, turn the cd back on the way you would at initial bedtime, say goodnight and let him drift off with the help of the music once again. Hope this helps and good luck!

B.

Good morning! If there is nothing in his room that he can get hurt with, I would leave him to work it out by himself. Making sure he can not get to anything else or anywhere else in the house that may be harmful.