Maybe someone will have some new advice. My 3 yo will not stay in bed and hasn't for a looong time. I have a 20 mo who shares a room w/ him. I am also pregnant, so throwing him back in bed over and over is not working at all. DH has no patience and won't do it. We have a very consistant bedtime routine, and same bedtime every night (7:30), but as soon as we leave the room they start screaming and laughing together. Have tried moving 3 yo to our bed (while waiting for little bro to sleep), but he just plays and destroys our room, so that doesn't work. There's not really any other place we can put him to seperate them. What can I do, I am going CRAZY here? (He refuses to sleep at bedtime or naptime for me, but will sleep just fine at the sitter's. I have NO trouble disciplining him, but I must be going at it the wrong way.) Thanks.
2007-02-02 05:49:17 · 8 answers · asked by Crazy Parent 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
Thanks for your answers. He sleeps *through* the night just fine. The problem is that he won't go to sleep initially until 10:00+ at night. I can't do the supernanny thing because of my belly (pregnancy), I have tried it and my back just will not hold out. Staying in their room doesn't work because they really don't care, they just start yelling and laughing at me. When I spank them it lasts for about 2 minutes before the laughing and yelling starts again. Any other ideas?
2007-02-02 06:02:48 · update #1
this is rough, Im going through this with my 2year old son.
I would put the 20month old to bed first. at say )7:15. pm, then once he falls asleep, hopefully by 07:45 wisk the 3 yr old off to bed. At first stay in the room but dont maintain eye contact however variate the 911 Nanni procedure by telling him to get in bed if he tries to get out. stand up over him and tell him it is night time, the stars are out the birds are sleeping and you should be too. Make him get in his bed instead of you puttiing him there. wait for him to quiet and calm down, and leave when you think he is ready to sleep.
You may want to look at what time the babysitter is putting the 3 hr olddown for a nap? Maybe the 3 yr old can skip a nap ( unless he really needs it).
He sounds strong and stubborn, just stick to your guns. Maybe while the 30mos. old is sleeping have some quality quient time reading a book with the 3yr old. He may want attention and it may be a good thing to do especially before this baby comes.
Get the support of DH in some way or another. Get him to come in there and give verbal support and say to the kids, nIght time! Cant wake up in the morning unless you go to sleep!!! anything, just so the kids know/think you guys are working together.......
2007-02-03 18:34:01 · answer #1 · answered by **twin** 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This may sound wrong, but we force our son to either stay awake bored, or go to sleep. He would always get out of bed and turn on his light to play, or just open the door and come out.
We place him in bed, read him a story and give him his water and crackers for a midnight snack if need be. After the hugs and kisses, we close his door and turn off the breaker to his room. Thus, no lights. Also, we lock the door from the outside. We keep an ear out and wait to see he's asleep. Then we unlock the door and turn the breaker on. This way, if there is a problem later on, he is free to come out. But this helps with the initial sleep issue.
Again, do NOT leave the door locked, that could be a hazard later. I'm sure others will call us bad parents, but it's a controlled environment and we closely moniter the situation and it forces him to go to sleep. This may not help with two children. If you can, put the 20 month into your room and wait until 3 year old falls asleep.
2007-02-02 14:23:57 · answer #2 · answered by Cath 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
How does the sitter do it?
Maybe you are sending them to bed too early.
All I know to tell you is keep putting him back in bed. The way the Super Nanny does it is, she gets the parent to go into the room, the parent doesn't speak, just picks the kid up & puts it back in the bed. On one episode I watched, the poor mom had to do this for hours. But the kid finally slept. I guess it won't be an instant win thing for you-it's a lot of little battles, but if you keep on fighting then you will eventually win the war.
You already know that if yo don't get a grip on this now, when the new baby comes, it's just going to get harder.
2007-02-02 13:57:13 · answer #3 · answered by kelly24592 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This suggestion may work:
Put a small mattress in your room on the floor, a crib mattress works fine. Or even a sleeping bag with another blanket underneath. Tell your son that he can come into mommy and daddy's room in the night but he has to sleep in his little bed. He can not wake mommy and daddy up or they will be grumpy the next day.
You can also try a reward system at first I would just reward him for not waking you up, no matter where he sleeps. This is the most important thing for your sanity, right? Then after he is not waking you up you can gently encourage him to stay in your room.
Also talk to the sitter about what she does.
Good luck!
2007-02-02 13:56:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hi! that must be so hard! i don't think i can help coz it sounds like you've tried about everything! but my son doesn't go to sleep well either, we have to put him in bed late about 8.30-9.30 and he doesn't have a nap during the day, he was getting way too bored at home too being awake for so long (he wakes in the morning around 7) so we took him to playgroups and now daycare from 9-3 monday to friday. sometimes i wonder if he's hyper lol, but sometimes they're just not tired enough even though us parents certainly are!! anyways good luck with it all and i hope you find some peace soon!
2007-02-02 14:37:01 · answer #5 · answered by jarellsmom 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i say, sit in the room with them until they both sleep. Just put them in there, and if they make a noise, stand up as if they are going to get in trouble. I do that all the time when I babysit more than one kid overnight. The lights are off and they are in bed..but if they giggle, i make a little noise to let them know I'm still there and they better hush up and sleep. After an hour, they fall asleep...but it will be hard doing this night after night. But try it out.
2007-02-02 13:54:54 · answer #6 · answered by Laurellamags 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Ask the sitter what she does to get them to go to sleep. And if they laugh or w/e just let them until they fall asleep as long as they stay in their beds.
2007-02-02 17:22:48 · answer #7 · answered by firstlove021 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We had the same issue with our 3 year old after we let them sleep in our bed .Now granted our 2 children each have their own room but to get our 3 year old back to her own room we just put her in and let her cry it out. Its hard to deal with but eventually they'll give in.
2007-02-02 13:55:18 · answer #8 · answered by klacan 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋