How do I keep my 22 mnth son in bed??

Question

Hi, The first of January we moved our 22 month old son into his new "big boy" bedroom, which included moving him from a crib to a toddler bed. He did great. The first couple nights he woke up scared but after that we had no problems. Now all of the sudden he is waking up at like 1,3,4,6am and coming into our room to play. We put him back in his bed do the normal good night routine and head back to bed...this goes on for about an hour of up and down's untill he finally falls back asleep. Do you have any sugestions on getting him to sleep through the night again? I can't just let him roam because there are a few dangers he might get into if unsupervised. Help please. Thank you

Can I please have some REAL answers??? real advise is needed.

We do not allow our son to sleep with us. Not because of any other reason except I feel he needs to be in his own room, and not attached to mommy 24/7. So besides sick nights my son has always slept alone.

Answer 1

hi my son was the same way. we took him out of his crib because he was crawling out and fell and hurt himself. so in came the big boy bed. he did the same thing at night, we put a gate up in front of his door and put his bed closer to the door. it doesnt work 100% of the time, but most of the time it does. that way he can play until hes tired, and my other children are not being disturbed by him. his room is child proofed, therefore he cant hurt himself and we can hear him if he needs us, or sneak up and check on him. also cutting back on his nap seemed to help, for a while he was sleeping 3-5 hours for nap time and i felt so guilty waking him. but now i wake him after 2 hours, and he seems to be more tired at night. also we practice the same bedtime routine every night. i think he was discovering so many new things, and just didnt want to miss anything. now hes 2 1/2 and sleeps in his room,(not always in bed) but in his room with no gate, and if he gets up in the middle of the night, which happens here and there, he crawls in bed with us until he falls asleep. then he gets put back in his bed. my middle daughter was the same way, when she was 3 she started sleeping in her own bed and has since. just another stage to go thru. good luck with whatever u do

Answer 2

My daughter did the same thing when she first got her "big girl" bed. We would wake up and she would be sitting at the foot of our bed. Alot of it I think was just the excitement of the freedom of being able to get up as she pleased. Another was the just the strangeness of being in a new bed. It is like the hotel syndrome...the bed make be super comfortable...but you know it is not your own and may wake up periodically in the night. And did you change anything else in the room? A total make over can be even more strange for a child. All the things they were familiar with are different now...so waking up in the night..whereas they used to just go back to sleep...they are not as comforted by the new surroundings as they were with the old. And now...they can get up! I would just give it time...I know it is frustrating...but I think you are doing the best thing you can...just continue putting him back in bed (that's what we did)..if you were to let him sleep with you...I think it would just make the situation worse. Do you leave his door open at night? If so..then perhaps if you are very concerned about safety issues...you could just keep a child gate on his door...so even though he may get up...he can't leave the room...do you still have a moniter in his room so you will know if he is up? My daughter settled down after after a few weeks...her night wandering trickling off until she was back to sleeping through the night.Good luck!

Answer 3

I have a 22 month old too so I'll give you my input!

My daughter is still in her crib simply because she would do the same thing your son is doing.

We both know we can explain to our toddlers til we run out of breath but that doesn't mean he's going to understand. But try telling him that when its night time, he needs to sleep and stay in bed. Put a gate up at the door so he doesn't feel shut off from the house and can still see out. Remind him that he's not coming out and if wakes up in the middle of the night crying for you, let him cry, it'll only last about 5 minutes (it'll seem like forever though) then he'll fall back asleep.

My daughter randomly does this in her crib (cries for me to come get her) but I just let her cry it out and before you know it she's sleeping again.

But make sure he has a bottle of milk or water so if he gets thirsty he can have a drink. Even give him a stuffed animal as his sleeping buddy.

Answer 4

My daughter did this and it is not a funny matter because she soon stopped coming to our room and would go and get into things. One time I got up and out of luck caught her with a stool at the front door. I immediately made my husband put the crib back. I suggest you do the same for your child's safety, put the crib in his room and let him sleep there for a while then after he turns 3 or so reintroduce the toddle bed. My doctor told me a lot of horror stories about parents putting their kids in toddle beds to early. Wait till he is 3, he can sleep in the toddler bed a couple years before you get a big kid bed.

By the way we too tried the toddler bed because she was climbing out of it. Put up those gates and she climbed those too. Lower the crib to the lowest possible point and get rid of the baby bumper. No toys or anything for leverage in the crib. I feel that is your best bet!

Answer 5

My son did the same thing after he had been in his bed for awhile. What time do you put him to bed? I found that moving his bed time back a little helped alot. I was putting him to bed at 800 or 830. And now i let him stay up until about 900 or so. I'd keep his nap time. He is still young and needs that break in the day. And you of course need your sanity! lol And I started giving him a small snack right before bed. Just some string cheese or a few crackers. And one small drink. This seems to help him relax and holds him over through out the night. He's still kinda young to understand what he's doing, so you of course can't punish him, and even rewarding him for staying in bed all night is a little over his head. I hope I was able to help a little but. hang in there. And just remember to be consistant!! I know its hard to keep putting him back to bed over and over again in the middle of the night, but it will eventually sink in. I know alot of parents that have gotten tired and put their children back in the crib. I think its better to be consistant now and ride it out. Good luck.

Answer 6

When he gets out of bed I would not give him anything. No drink or anything he would see as a reward. The only thing you can really do is keep putting him back in his bed with no eye contact or talking. Maybe you could reward him the next morning if he stayed in his bed at night. it may just be too early for him to be in a toddler bed. My daughter is 21mos and she is far from ready. She climbs out of her crib, so we have to zip her in a crib tent. It may be a long time before she can handle being in a big girl bed. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 7

You need to be more firm with him. I suppose so far you've been laying him down and telling him "good night"..right? That's the problem. When he gets up you need to walk him in his room, lay him down, and tell him "do NOT get up..if you get up again, you will be in big trouble". If you're going to say "good night" to him, you might as well be telling him "see you at 3 am".

Let him know this isn't a game, and that he will be in trouble if does not stay in his bed. He will learn quickly that he is not to get up, or there will be consequences to pay.

Answer 8

I handled that very problem with my kids by making their bedroom childproof, putting a DIM nightlight in their bedroom, along with a few toys, and put a gate on their door. If they got up in the night, they could play with their toys, but they couldn't get out of the room.
Once the rules ALLOWED them to do it, and it was NOT all that much fun to get up in the dark and play by themselves, they went back to bed pretty quickly.
I tell them, "You don't HAVE to go to sleep. I don't care if you stay up ALL night, as long as you aren't keeping anyone else up."
The light wasn't bright enough to really create a playful atmosphere, and the door to the bedroom door is still open, so that you can hear if they cry or really need you.

Answer 9

ok what u have to do is put a safety gate on his bedroom door that way he cant get in to your room and it will keep him in his own room.if he wakes up then he is in his own room and that will tell him he has to stay in there.if he crys give him a bottle but dont go in because he will have won.tell him bed and walk away.eventualy he will no that he cant have his own way. after a few days of this he will play then get in his bed and sleep with out a problem.i no it sounds harsh but it works.dont go to him if he crys when you have given him his bottle leave him as he nos what he is doin.But because you have had him in your room for a long time it might take a bit longer.

Answer 10

Just let him sleep with you. Why do adults sleep together but put little children in rooms all alone? My daughter has always slept in the same room and she is the happiest most outgoing kid. She amazes people at how friendly she is because she feels so secure. Even the Amish keep their children very close at all times, many cultures do. I just don't get this thing with putting kids alone in a room at night.

I know I will get thumbs down, but sometimes people need to think outside the box.