My son is going through a "sleeping on the floor" phase. Whats up?

Question

My son is 3. For the past couple of nights, he does not want to sleep in his bed.

Usually, if he does not want to sleep in his bed, he wants to sleep in mine-- but that's not the case either..

He wants to sleep on the floor next to his bed....

When he falls asleep, I move him into his bed, and in the morning, he wakes up and goes back on the floor to 'finish sleeping'.

I dont think there is anything wrong with him, and I dont think that there is anything wrong with his bed.

Is this just a phase? Should I be worried for any reason??

I think that he's pretending he's a puppy, actually, because at the dinner table, he pretends he is a dog and/or cat when he is eating....

Also, how can I convince him to sleep in his own bed and not the floor?

Oh, I'm letting it be--- He has never been such a good sleeper-- I just want to know if this is something I should worry about, and I would like to get to the bottom of why he is sleeping on the floor-- thats all.

Answer 1

just a phase we bought bunk beds for my 4 year old and the top has a good railing for obvious reasons and all he ever wanted to do was sleep on the top now the past week he says he likes the bottom better. Kids are just odd. Next week you might find him sleeping under his bed.

Answer 2

My son, now 5, did this when he was about a year and a half...he insisted on sleeping on his pillow on the floor.

I'd say it's a phase. After a few months he went back to his toddler bed. Then there was the phase when he wanted to sleep with me and my husband...and after that, back to his own bed.

I just made sure my son had a blanket handy.

Answer 3

My daughter is 2 and does the same thing! Kids do some odd things! He may be afraid of falling out of the bed if hes recently started sleeping in his big boy bed. Or like you said he could be pretending he is a puppy! LOL! Life would be so boring if we didn't have children! I wouldn't worry or make a big fuss about it because that might reinforce the behavior!
Good Luck!

Answer 4

My son is almost 3 and he's doing something similar - he either makes a nest of his pillows on the floor or he wants his little futon instead of his bed. He claims the bed is 'scary' but he's been in there for nearly a year.

I'm not worried about it as long as he's sleeping. I'm going to mention it to his doctor at his next checkup, but as long as he's safe and getting sleep I'll assume it's just a phase that he'll grow out of eventually.

Answer 5

It's just a phase, my 3 year old daughter doesn't sleep in her bed either. I think it has to do with where the feel comfortable. I have a 8 year that use to fall asleep unside down, i have to move him while he's sleep. They just grow out of it.

Answer 6

My daughter did that too. It started after she moved to a big kid bed (age 2) and lasted several months. A lot of times she'd curl up on the heat vent, I felt so bad after the first night we used the AC and she slept on the COLD vent.

Just keep offering the bed but don't pressure him.

Answer 7

My son is doing the same thing, except he wants to sleep on the floor in the living room. I haven't really worried about it. As long as he is sleeping well I wouldn't worry.

Answer 8

Let him sleep on the floor, it won't hurt him. Maybe put a small carpet of a folded quilt as a "dog bed".

Many cultures sleep on very thin pads on floors. I do when my back is bad.

Answer 9

just let it be

when i was maybe 4 i did that... i refused to sleep in my bed, i'd take all my blankets and open my door and sleep 1/2 in my bedroom and 1/2 in the hallway... i didnt do that for too long so its prolly nothing to worry about, just move him back to the bed after he's sleeping, thats what my parents did and i got over it

Answer 10

I think it will pass, my daughter was going through something similar - she would sleep on the floor in her closet .... Don't know why, she stopped all of a sudden after doing it for about two weeks (she was almost three then).