How do i get my son to sleep in his own bed all night?

Question

My son will be three in may. Recently he has developed a habit of creeping into our (his dad & I) bed at night. This is happning more and more frequently. He says he is scared of monsters. He has always had a good bedtime routine and his own bedroom since he was 9 months old. I know its just a phase im just not sure how best to get him back to sleeping through in his own bed. We have given him a childrens torch to shine if he gets scared and explained that there are no monsters and that mummy and daddy will always keep him safe. He says he doesnt like his bedroom, only ours! we dont mind him cuddling up in our bed with us once in a while but not every night, Its making him tired and preventing me from sleeping also!
Any advice??

Answer 1

They all go through this stage!! It is going to take you a couple of nights!! Each time he comes into your room, get up and take him back to his bed! Reassure him, and be persistant. You could perhaps talk to him about a reward system ... if he stays in bed all night, you will put a star on the chart and when he has three stars he can get a treat!. It does take time and effort, but he will soon cotton on. I made the mistake with my son, thinking he would grow out of it .... he didn't and at the age of five we were having a major battle!! My two year old has started this now, and I just firmly take her back to bed. Last night she only made one attempt!! Good luck

Answer 2

Yes, this is a problem for you, your husband, and your son. It could be a lot of things, usually kids learn to sleep by themselves before school starts and on occasion, they get scared so they might want to sleep with their parents. It could be some thing such as school that can trigger this. It sounds like he might need some reassurance, maybe there is something that is bothering him and he might not express it so eloquently. Talking about it can help, if you don't know how to start this conversation or don't know how to ask him, approuch him by like saying this " you know that its ok to feel scared some times, some times I get scare"(give an example) and then ask him to give you and example that way you might have a better understanding why he has this anxiety . Re-assuring him that you guys will always be there for him and leave your door open as a way to show him that he can come in but also explain to him that he needs to sleep in his own bed too. Some times kids, don't know how to express them selves, so they might draw things, or act out their fears while role playing, watch out for these things, it can help. Every now and then my son gets scare of the night so I sign to him his favorite song, I've been doing this since the day he was born and it not only re-assures him but gives him comfort too. He associates this with love, warmth, and he knows that I'll be there for him. All of my kids have a song that I sign to them and it builds a strong bond with them. Hope this was helpful. Good luck.

Answer 3

Don't ever take the sleeping pills route!!

1. They will damage your liver big time and you can get into serious health problems.

2. You will get hooked up on them and you won't be able to have a normal life any more if you don't take your pills everyday.

The sleeping pills industry is damaging our health by capitalizing on our ignorance, and by distracting people from effective and natural ways to deal with this problem. I had been taking prescription sleep medications [Ambien] for over 5 years. It stopped working and I simply took more. Still did not work. Nights were very difficult - medication put me to sleep but I would wake up after 2–3 hours with a strong sympathetic response (fast pulse, pounding heartbeat, wide awake alert). It was a very difficult cycle to break. I was really in bad shape due to lack of sleep.

After years of struggling I was able to cure my insomnia naturally and pretty fast. I followed the Sleep Tracks sleep optimization program, here is their official web -site if you want to take a look: http://www.insomniacure.net

Ohhh..and Good Luck!

Answer 4

If you want to put your baby to sleep in 20 seconds you must get the "Instant Baby Sleep" MP3 sound track. Here is their official web-site: http://www.instantbabysleep.net

The sound track gently produces energy over the full human hearing spectrum with an embedded pulse that gently eases the brain to the Alpha state well known for drowsiness and sleep induction.

Answer 5

Hi there! Getting children to sleep in their own bed all night can be a tough thing to do. Sometimes all it takes is one bad night or one scare and next thing you know all they want is you and your bed. But in all honesty it really only takes a bit of consistency and putting your foot. There will be a lot of crying etc, but if every time your child gets out of bet you take him directly back, every single time.... don't give in even once because then it will take the whole progression much longer. Then in no time at all your child will sleep in his own bed. Just make sure you are comitted to a week or two of consistently putting him back, no matter what. And he will be over it. Hope this helps

Answer 6

I used to get in my parents bed and sleep until i was about 11. I was petrified to sleep alone although I was sharing a room with my 2 sisters.Mum called in a sleep expert and they suggested she made a reward chart and every full night we slept we got a funky sticker by our name, I was lagging behind quite badly! eventually it worked and I started to sleep all night, up the reward if the sticker doesn't work, say 20p in a special pot that your son can have at the end of the week to spend or a toy or a day out at the weekend. Don't get angry or frustrated with him, it makes the issue bigger. He's insecure, if he spends a lot of time with you during the day he'll wake up and wonder why you aren't beside him. Good luck!

Answer 7

I had this problem with my daughter. I told her she was getting too big to sleep with mommy and daddy and if she needed to be by us then she could sleep on the floor beside our bed. I put a pillow and sleeping bag on the floor each night for her. After a few weeks of sleeping on the floor she decided by herself that it was better in her nice comfy bed. It saved me from getting woken up every night and got our bed back!

Answer 8

hoover up the monsters/ghosts/goblins before he goes to bed check under the bed the wardrobe etc and tell him you have emptied the bag into a big tank that is taken away each night. I have "monster proofing" in my walls so nothing can penetrate into the house even with magic monster powers could be worth a mention? I must say this works with my children but once the monster problem is solved i bet they will think of another reason they must get in your bed which is when the chart on the wall, supernanny techniques must come into play. Be firm dont give in etc etc

Answer 9

i'm a mom of a toddler too, but haven't come across this problem yet, but i do remember what my mom used to do when i, myself went through this phase:

she filled a spray bottle with "monster repelant" (water and a tiny bit of green food coloring) and would spray my room really good before i went to bed....and she stayed in my room at night "keeping guard" until i fell asleep...i just called her and asker her how many times she did that, she said only about 3 or 4 nights...then she told me that the "monster repelant" was doing it's job and she idn't need to keep guard anymore.

maybe this will work for you!

Answer 10

Give him a night light, and reward him at the end of the week - for example.....if he sleeps in his room all week then go to the cinema or something at the weekend.

When he comes into your room at night, get up and take him back to his bed - make a point of looking around the room and checking for monsters then tuck him in - do this everytime he comes in, but don't give in!! You know that it's completely safe, you're not endangering him.

Hope it helps.

Answer 11

how about if one of you sleeps in his room with him for a few nights then when he is a bit more settled again go back to your own bed after he has gone to sleep, or when he comes into your room say he cant sleep in there with you but you will come into his bedroom with him, maybe he will get used to the fact that you dont mind sleeping in his room so it cant be bad. when i was little i was affraid of monsters and i used to take a toy with me at bed time to protect me!