Toddler sleep question

[kookie3631]

DD is 3 and we are having trouble with her staying in her bed after bedtime. We're talking getting out of bed no less than 8-10 times per night. We've tried taking away her stuffed animals, rewards the next morning, explaining the consequences of getting out of bed and nothing is working. Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep a strong willed child in bed at night? I'm at my wits end with this and really don't want this to continue once the new baby gets here.

[leo91]

No advice cause I'm in the same boat, My DD will be 3 next month. She's currently in my bed because I am too tired to fight 😩

[robot]

I know some people on my BMB have had success with an okay to wake clock that changes colors when they're allowed to get up. Or locking/gating their room so they can't leave, haha.

[Deleted]

I have no clue if this is helpful or not, but we always closed DS’s door when he went to bed. He would get up and sit by the door to hear what was going on. Huge case of fomo.

We told him he could sleep with his door open, but he couldn’t get out of bed. It worked. He’s a super literal kid, so it can be a pain in the ass some nights. He might drop a sock or something and then yell “Mommmmmmy, my sock fell!”

So yeah. That worked for him. He thought he was getting to do something special and in turn he doesn’t get up without calling for us.

[Madymoiselle]

This was us a few months ago when we removed her crib rail. The only thing we found was to put the rail back, so that will not help you we did buy a night light and we are leaving her door slightly open so that she sees light.
I read people use the chair method (?), where they sit on a chair for 10-15min and push the chair closer to the door every night.
Good luck !

[sammichcat]

We calmly walk him back to his room over and over. He is allowed to play quietly in his room because he is not always tired enough to sleep. As long as he stays in his room and is quiet we don't care if he goes to bed right away.

Recently, we were having trouble with another behavior and announcing that he could only have chocolate milk (a big boy thing his brother can't have, yet, and something he already had the privilege of so it's both a punishment and reward he already had) when he behaved like a big boy.

Regardless, getting mad never ever helps with our kid. We just state things matter of fact and stress the logic of why we're asking this of him and why he's getting the response he is getting. And we keep trying different logical approaches until one works.

[kookie3631]

Nov 13, 2017 20:22:44 GMT -6 robot said:

I know some people on my BMB have had success with an okay to wake clock that changes colors when they're allowed to get up. Or locking/gating their room so they can't leave, haha.

we have the ok to wake clock and that worked for a few days. We typically used it on Saturdays since that's the one day we don't have to get up for anything and DD would come in our room 5 min before her clock was going to turn green and said her clock was broken. 😂

[kookie3631]

Nov 13, 2017 20:11:08 GMT -6 leo91 said:

No advice cause I'm in the same boat, My DD will be 3 next month. She's currently in my bed because I am too tired to fight 😩

If DD would actually fall asleep in my bed I wouldn't have a problem with moving her the nights I'm just done, but when she's up, she wants to play ALWAYS! She's exhausting!

[kookie3631]

Nov 13, 2017 20:54:08 GMT -6 Madymoiselle said:

This was us a few months ago when we removed her crib rail. The only thing we found was to put the rail back, so that will not help you we did buy a night light and we are leaving her door slightly open so that she sees light.
I read people use the chair method (?), where they sit on a chair for 10-15min and push the chair closer to the door every night.
Good luck !

I might have to try this chair method. Thanks!

[kookie3631]

Nov 13, 2017 21:59:26 GMT -6 sammichcat said:

We calmly walk him back to his room over and over. He is allowed to play quietly in his room because he is not always tired enough to sleep. As long as he stays in his room and is quiet we don't care if he goes to bed right away.

Recently, we were having trouble with another behavior and announcing that he could only have chocolate milk (a big boy thing his brother can't have, yet, and something he already had the privilege of so it's both a punishment and reward he already had) when he behaved like a big boy.

Regardless, getting mad never ever helps with our kid. We just state things matter of fact and stress the logic of why we're asking this of him and why he's getting the response he is getting. And we keep trying different logical approaches until one works.

Yeah, getting mad at her never works either. And she knows she's not supposed to get out of bed because if I hear her and get up, she runs back to her room crying that she wants to keep her friends (stuffed animals).

[tincupchalice]

I just childproof the room 100% and lock them in.

[kookie3631]

Nov 14, 2017 14:08:15 GMT -6 tincupchalice said:

I just childproof the room 100% and lock them in.

LOL...this is where I am with her, but DH won't let me

[Lord Disick]

Nov 13, 2017 20:22:44 GMT -6 robot said:

I know some people on my BMB have had success with an okay to wake clock that changes colors when they're allowed to get up. Or locking/gating their room so they can't leave, haha.

We do both of these things and it works great.

[squints]

We have a child proof door thing on the inside of the door. We didn’t need it for very long and she doesn’t try and get out now. What about a baby gate so the door could be left open?

[kookie3631]

Nov 14, 2017 15:46:56 GMT -6 squints said:

We have a child proof door thing on the inside of the door. We didn’t need it for very long and she doesn’t try and get out now. What about a baby gate so the door could be left open?

We've done the child proof door thing on the inside of her door and it worked until she figured out how to get it off her doorknob. I was so tempted last night to put a baby gate up in front of her door, but I'm worried that that would only cause an accident at night (she's fully potty trained-even at night-and that's the one thing I'm not willing to risk).

[budders]

I️ have no advice because I️ need to figure this out too. V has forever been the worst sleeper, and the fact that I lay with him to go to bed and he ends up in my bed at some point during the night are sadly huge improvements from where we’ve been in the past. But I️ need it to get better before there’s a newborn in the mix.

We had decided we’re going to start trying the chair next to the bed and moving toward the door over our December break (when we can function without a good night’s rest). I️ think if I️ can get him putting himself to sleep at the beginning of the night, he can hopefully figure it out better in the middle of the night.

And I’ll continue praying to the sleep gods that this next baby is a champion sleeper.

[tincupchalice]

Nov 14, 2017 17:28:49 GMT -6 kookie3631 said:

Nov 14, 2017 15:46:56 GMT -6 squints said:

We have a child proof door thing on the inside of the door. We didn’t need it for very long and she doesn’t try and get out now. What about a baby gate so the door could be left open?

We've done the child proof door thing on the inside of her door and it worked until she figured out how to get it off her doorknob. I was so tempted last night to put a baby gate up in front of her door, but I'm worried that that would only cause an accident at night (she's fully potty trained-even at night-and that's the one thing I'm not willing to risk).

Door monkey?

Keep a potty in the room for her?

[sammichcat]

Nov 14, 2017 17:28:49 GMT -6 kookie3631 said:

Nov 14, 2017 15:46:56 GMT -6 squints said:

We have a child proof door thing on the inside of the door. We didn’t need it for very long and she doesn’t try and get out now. What about a baby gate so the door could be left open?

We've done the child proof door thing on the inside of her door and it worked until she figured out how to get it off her doorknob. I was so tempted last night to put a baby gate up in front of her door, but I'm worried that that would only cause an accident at night (she's fully potty trained-even at night-and that's the one thing I'm not willing to risk).

I worry about accidents too, which is why we are more lax and went at a more roundabout way. We tell him he has to be in his room or going to the bathroom. There are several unnecessary trips to the bathroom every night, but I can't bring myself to care. It's far better than the alternative.


Also, I know we have an easy kid when it comes to discipline and earlier I hope I didn't come off as if I had all this figured out.

[Pizzaslut]

Nov 14, 2017 14:08:15 GMT -6 tincupchalice said:

I just childproof the room 100% and lock them in.

Oh hi me. DS ditched his crib at 21 months. No one was prepared for the insanity and sleep deprivation that ensued. Now, we can mostly get him to stay in his room but he has to have the door open to fall asleep. It's like he doesn't want to be left alone. He went down and slept like a champ before he climbed out of the crib.