How can I get my 2 yr old to stay in his bed at night once he is already asleep?

Question

My husband and myself usually let him fall asleep wherever. Meaning, if we are watching tv, he usually falls asleep right there on the couch with us, or when we go to bed, he sleeps with us in our bed. But, for some reason during the middle of the night, between 11-3 he crawls into our bed. I try to bring him right back to his bed, but he fusses and won't go back.

Answer 1

Your problem is steming because you are letting him fall asleep with you near. So he thinks that in order to sleep, he has to be near you. My advice is to put him to bed every night with a story and lots of hugs and kisses.. tell him that he is a BIG BOY and BIG BOYS sleep in their own bed. Get a cool lamp, or one of the lamps that make scenes of shadows on the walls. Tell him that mommy and daddy are going to be a BIG mommy and BIG daddy and stay in their beds too. This may take awhile, but he will do it. You have to make a routine at night for him to follow though. Good Luck!

Answer 2

You need to establish a routine with him. As long as you let him fall asleep "wherever", he is going to sleep wherever he wants. At the age of 2, he really can't distinguish that certain places are right or wrong for sleeping. If the couch is okay anytime, and everywhere else is okay, why would he discern between getting into your bed and sleeping at bedtime and getting in and sleeping at 2am? He can't read a clock.

The best thing to do is to try to get him to start sleeping in his own room through the night. That means he will need a routine so that he can come to expect when and where he'll be sleeping. Set up a bedtime and start trying to get him down to sleep in his room. Stay with him at first if you must, and if he gets up at night, walk him back to his bed. It'll take a while to adjust to, for both of you, and will be pretty inconvenient for a while. It'll be worth it, though, when two or three years from now, you and your husband are able to have some privacy. Start now, so that you don't end up with a 5-year old still crawling in with you every night - something that is not uncommon if you let it go.

Answer 3

Make a bedtime routine and have him fall asleep in his bed. I know its a hassle (I have a 22 month old also), but I sit in his bed with him until he falls asleep. If I'm lucky it takes just 15 minutes, but sometimes can go to an hour. After some time, eventually he'll get used to his bed and start falling asleep on his own which will then teach him to fall asleep on his own when he wakes in the middle of the night. When my boy use to climb into bed with us in the middle of the night, I would walk him back as many times as it took to get him to stay in his own bed. It's a lot of sacrifice and loss of sleep on your part, but believe me...well worth it in the long run! Good luck!

Answer 4

When I made it a point to defy the beliefs of my son's father and put him to bed each night at the same time, He began sleeping through the night and staying in his own bed. On occassion if he is not feeling well, he will wake in the night. I even gave him a stop watch, which he set to 8:30 on his own (I think it was by accident). And told him that whenever he heards the alarm on the stop watch that it is time to stop and clean up then get into bed. So far, he has been able to do this consistently for 2 weeks, inspite of intermittent visits with his father. Once he is in bed, I will let him pick a book for us to read together and then it is lights out.

Sometimes he goes to sleep right away. Other nights he does not. On nights that he doesn't, he plays in his room quietly with his stuffed animals.

Answer 5

You need to set a routine for him, we did not w/ my daughter & now @ 4 she is a handfull to get to go to bed (and we started the routine at 3) Put him to bed in his bed at a decent time read to him (no tv) and for the 1st few weeks sit with him until he falls asleep. When he wakes up carry him back to bed, it is hard & can tire you out but take it from a mom that didn't start that early enough w/ my oldest if you let it go any longer you will be in h*ll for years to come. We startd early w/ my 19 month old & he now choses to go to bed on his own & earl we give him a hug & kiss read a book & he points us to the door & is out in 5 min>>>It is Great!

Answer 6

Your son needs a bed time routine, which he doesn't have. Make it a strict one.

My kids have dinner, 1/2 hour quiet time with cuddles, bath, story time and bedtime (in their bed). That is it, and I notice when it gets to dinner time they start to unwind because they know the routine.

By not giving him the routine and letting him fall asleep anywhere, he has learnt that it is ok to sleep anywhere. This is learned behaviour.

When you give him a routine you are training him where he is meant to be sleeping. Once he understand this you will find that he will not crawl into your bed.

Answer 7

Routine my dear routine.
well on this one i want to add a funny incident my brother did. he had a 2 year old Son who just wouldn't want to sleep so he recorded some very scary noises and sounds like "GO TO SLEEP LITTLE ONE" and hid the tape under his bed for some 4-5 nights saying if you get up this monster is going to attack.being scared his son used to just sleep peacefully and whenever in the middle of the night he used to get up the tape was on again believe me he learn sleeping on his own just after 1 week.
well i was telling this because with kids any weird thing would work but the best bet is a BED TIME ROUTINE.

Answer 8

It is an extremely bad habit to let them fall asleep "wherever". He's learned that his bed isn't that important and that it doesn't matter where he sleeps--which is why he comes crawling into your bed every night.

He needs to learn that his bed is where he sleeps. It's where he goes to sleep, it's where he spends the night, and it's where he wakes up every morning. You bought his bed for a reason and he needs to use it.

Start putting him in his bed every night BEFORE he falls asleep and he will learn that "this is my bed, where I sleep, and where I stay all night.." If he gets up, just put him right back in it.

Answer 9

Sounds like maybe you need to knuckle down and give some stability to his sleeping arrangements. Kids do very well under structure. Instead of letting him sleep wherever he wants, give him a bedtime, same time every night. Read him a story to help calm him down.

Now here's the kicker, hes gonna fight it for a while! But be persistent! Soon he will learn that his bed is his place to be. And he will probably be happier for it!

Good luck!

Answer 10

sleep with him in his bed until he falls asleep. Talk to him or tell him a bed time story with the lights on dim. Then he will get tired and fall asleep for the rest of the night thinking you are right next to him.