2 And a Half Year Old That Sleeps with Mom and Dad

As a mother of 5, my best advice to you is to keep him in his crib for a while longer (I'm assuming you have him in a toddler bed if he's not staying in there). And don't worry too much yet about the potty trouble. He'll get there eventually and until then there are pull-ups for overnight. I guess I've just always allowed them to develop at their own pace (with some gentle nudging from mom & dad).
Good luck!
M.

I read all of the responses, and I think I must have missed something somewhere! Every one of them comments on potty training, but I don't see that in your question. As for sleeping with you, put him in his bed, and no matter how long it takes, just keep putting him back in every time he gets up, and just let him cry. It will take a while, but it will be worth it. Take away whatever he throws with a firm " No, we don't throw things." Wait a few minutes, then give it back, as long as he quits throwing it.

As for the spitting......I'm in the minority, I know, but mine had seen his dad with chew (gross!!!) and saw his dad spit, so he thought he could too, so I am a big fan of a light mouth pop, a firm " we don't spit" and a timeout in the room for about two minutes for his age. When his time is up, go into him and ask him if he knows why you sent him to his room, reiterate that we don't spit, it isn't nice and spreads germs, and then give him a big hug with a Mommy still loves you attached! It'll take a few days/weeks, but for sure nip it in the bud now.

Sounds like you might be describing what I have been experiencing lately. My 22 month old daughter has been sleeping in her big girl bed for a couple of weeks now and she is potty trained. We had issues keeping her in bed in the beginning...she would cry and come find us. After she figured out how to open her bedroom door we reverted to the baby gate, removing it once she was asleep. In the beginning she would cry herself to sleep on the floor and we would have to put her in bed but that only lasted a couple of nights. Now she stays in bed (sometimes still crying) & we just remove the gate when we go to bed so she can get out in the morning. My biggest problem is trying to get her to take her nap. She will cry and when I don't get her she starts screaming that she has to go potty...of course I just put her on the pot 2 times before bed! She's learned to manipulate me into coming to get her. She has had a couple of accidents so I've now started to come get her and put her on the pot another time but after that I just leave her to cry herself to sleep. She can't hurt herself so I don't worry about it as much as I hate to hear her cry. She is starting to learn that it won't work anymore so she is beginning to cry less now.

If you were talking about your child showing interest in potty training, I agree that you should not push. However, I have always been told to encourage your child. If they are showing interest then it might be time. I used the 3-day potty training method with my daughter. She began showing interest at 14-months...I indulged her for a while but they don't recommend starting until they are at least 22-months. It will still work but it will take longer. We tried at 17 months for a while & then she insisted at 20 months. The method requires your undivided attention for at least 3 days in order for it to work and requires that you go straight to underpants. Since my daughter was still a little young it took 5-days and she is good even at night. If you are interested you may find her site at 3daypottytraining.com. Good luck!

i don't know about the bed thing, but my son is going to turn two in a few weeks and i'm not pushing the potty thing. to me i'd rather he be ready than force the issue and cause a fight where there doesn't need to be. good luck!

I would have to agree with the mom that said to sit in the doorway and pay no mind to him, just put him back. Tell him the first 2 times that he is to stay there and go to sleep, after you have done a routine like bath, book, prayer if you do, and lights out with a lovie of some kind. Read a magazine and stay consistant. Once he is staying in the bed, asleep or not, you should be able to sneak out.

Well, as you know from the other two boys probably they dont like to use the restroom as quickly as girls do. My first son was very interested in the potty and wasnt potty trained until 2 1/2 and I was told that is good for a boy now my 2nd son age 20 months has no interest in the potty and cries when I tell him to sit and potty. I would say do not push potty training let him deside when hes comfortable I know it sounds like a let down on that but really when they are ready they will do it. Another thing I dont know if you remember from the others it that when you change his diaper take him to the potty and say we need to be a big boy like( brother or whoever you want)and go on the potty diapers are ewwwww. If you make them work for something or think there big it helps. On the part of sleeping in his bed I am interested to see your responses. But maybe you could do like the super nanny does and just be consistant and put him back in bed when he gets up. I dont know if you watch that show but I think most moms do. Anyways, just basically hug kiss goodnight then goodnight and then after the 2nd time I think she just lays them down and shuts the door no words. I havent personally tried this yet with my youngest but that is basically what I did with my oldest and he had to sleep with me and his dad unfortunatly I didnt keep it up and for more sleep let him crawl in bed in the middle of the night. I would say consistancy is the best thing and dont give in. Good Luck and Take Care

You didn't say what type of bed he is in. If he is still in a crib and just doesn't want to sleep, he might be ready for a toddler bed. My oldest slept much better once we put her in a toddler bed. We had some issues with staying in bed once we made the transition but I think it was a comfort to her just knowing that she could get out of bed and come in with Mom and Dad if she woke up in the middle of the night. If he is in a toddler bed, be consistant with him. I usually asked if there was some reason that she came out of bed (she needed a drink or a hug or something) and took care of the need and then sent her straight back to bed. Sometimes this meant that she got tucked in several times and sometimes we had to lay down the law and not allow anymore "needs" but usually she would do pretty good. It was a learning process and some days were better then others but she figured it out and now we don't have any issues at all with bedtime.

You didn't say what kind of bed your son has but we put our girls' mattress on the floor when they were ready to transition into a toddler and big bed. We did it with their crib mattress and their twin mattress. They were more incline to sleep on the floor to get used to the bed then start off in the actual bed with the fear they'll fall out. Just a thought. Good luck and God Bless.

Luckily we didn't have any problems with the bed thing but the potty training is a whole other topic. My 31 month old is still in diapers <big gasp from the super moms on this site that have thier kids potty trained by 18 months and see no reason why everyone else doesn't>. She has shown an interest since she was probably 20ish months as long as I don't push the issue. She was doing really well so I tried to switch her to big girl panties one weekend...she refused to even enter the bathroom. After that hellish weekend I decided to chill and let her decide to do it. She is very hard headed and must do everything on her own terms. I'd say we are probalby down to 2 or 3 diapers every 24 hours but we also get a lot more quality time together instead of the constant fighting. Don't worry about potty training, it'll happen soon enough.

I think that I would definitely handle those two issues at different times. Both are very hard issues and I wouldn't want to do both together. If it were me, I'd do the bed issue first because you need to be fully rested to handle potty training - it is tiring on your nerves.

As for the bed issue, I'd just keep putting him back. Our daughter keeps wanting to come sleep with us. I take her back every time. Last night, I laid down beside her until she fell asleep and then went to my room (this was 2 am). This isn't normal behavior for her b/c she knows sleeping in our room isn't an option. I think she must have had a nightmare - hence why I stayed with her. When we were teaching her that, she used to want to play or talk to us while we helped her fall asleep. I would tell her that if she didn't close her eyes I was leaving and I did. After a while she learned and now she just needs reminding that if the sun isn't up neither are mommy or daddy.

As for potty training, I don't why it is, but MOST kids just wake up one day and decide that they will potty on the potty. don't stress yourself or your child out about it. Keep trying, but remember that he won't go to school in diapers and if he does he will soon change his tune when he sees the other kids or gets teased. Keep trying, but don't get too worked up over it - but you know that you have older boys.

Well I can say I'm not one to truly give the a lot of help in the toilet training program...LOL...my 3 almost 4 yr old JUST finally got potty trained and that was ONLY b/c I enrolled her in preschool and she got motivated b/c everyone else her age was already doing it...perhaps peer pressure would help? Seeing other kids like him is a good motivator. I also had the problem teaching my 4 yr old boy potty training but that was mostly b/c everyone else in the house was a girl and daddy was deployed...lol...sometimes male influence would help? I also used bribery...yest, bribery...With my son, every time he would go I would let him pick from a basket of toys that I had gotten from the $ store...after he'd get tired of them they'd also work their way back into the basket (LOL...a little recycling).

As for the sleeping in own bed...only thing I've ever had success with was the Common Sense Parenting way. Go in, read to them, tuck them in, turn on a night light, get a chair and sit in the doorway until they go to bed...don't look at him, don't talk to him...If he gets up, don't say anything, just pick him up and put him back in his bed. Eventually, it will work. I swear it will...may seem like it'll take forever, but it really will work.

Also, ask him why he doesn't want to sleep in his bed. You might be surprised at the answer...monsters are typical..you could always put a light under the bed, or let him sleep with a light on...a small fan in the room also works wonders with the "white noise"...sometimes with kiddos this young every little noise in the house will scare them and something as simple as a fan will block out all that extra noise and help them sleep better. Good luck!