Almost 3Yr Old That Won't Sleep!!!

Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. My son doesn't come get in bed with us (he will be 3 in October) but he comes in and wakes me up. We have tried everything and it just doesn't work. We finally gave up and just have a cup of milk ready for him every night before we go to bed. So he just gets up now and gets his milk and comes downstairs to the basement and watches t.v. until the rest of the house wakes up. We leave the t.v. on disney so that it will be on cartoons. He wakes up every morning (no matter what time we put him to bed) between 4:45-5:30. Sometimes he also wakes up around 1:00. So basically he is still on his newborn baby feeding schedule. Only difference is he gets nothing to eat...haha

2 year olds go through so many changes, and sometimes they need the extra security of knowing Mom and Dad are still there at night. I think you've gotten some great suggestions here. I wouldn't recommend locking him in his room at night because if he is having nightmares, the fear from being unable to get to you would be overwhelming. I think one of the most important thing in parenting babies and toddlers is teaching them to trust you...you're laying the groundwork for a lifetime of trust! Perhaps you could try a reward system with stickers for for every night that he stays in his own bed. After he gets a certain number of stickers, then he gets something he really wants... Rewards can be pretty powerful motivation for a 2 1/2 year old!

my daughter (turned 3 in august) just went through this! it was EVERY night! and i don't know what or why she started it because she has never slept in our bed but i think it had a lot to do with me being pregnant. has there been any changes in his life lately? that could explain his sleep interruption...
anyway, we started out by telling my daughter that she was not to get up until the sun comes up and that if she got out of the bed in the night that she would be promply escorted back to bed. and i have stuck to that...if she gets up in the night i take her right back to her bed. it took about 3 nights of this before she just didn't get up anymore. i think the key is the consistency...good luck!!

I had a problem getting my 3 year old to go to sleep by himself and sleep all night. He would cry for us to come in his room and stay until he went to sleep and we would give in because we also have a 9 month old daughter that we didn't want him waking up. We ended up going in there with him for a short time and sneaking out when he got interested in looking at a book. Over a few weeks, he got better. He would also want to come and get in our bed with us when he woke up at night. Finally I told him he could come in our room, but he had to sleep on a nap mat beside our bed (hoping the hard floor would deter him from getting up at night). In the beginning, he would come in our room and bring the nap mat and sleep on it. Then he eventually would want to sleep on the nap mat in his room instead of his bed. We are still working on it, but most nights he stays in his room. Sometimes in his bed and sometimes on the nap mat. We also have started leaving on a small lamp in his room (all night) and that seems to help. We have had a night light in his room since he was a baby and that didn't seem to help, but leaving the lamp on all night has seemed to help. Hope this helps some!

Hey, Im not in the position of giving advice, because I have twin 3 year olds, and not only do they BOTH not sleep all night, but I have lost my bed completely. If I am not on the couch with one of them at my side and the other between my legs then they won't sleep at all. I know its all my fault, because my 10 year old will sleep on the loveseat next to the couch, and my 7 year old will make herself a bed on the floor by the couch. So this basiclly will just let you know that you most certainly are not alone.
Sorry I really couldn't help you.
R.

Hey there, both my 3 yr.old and my 5 yr. old sleep with me because my husband works night shift most of the time. When he works days, I try to get them to sleep in their own beds, but they always get up in the middle of the night to get back in bed with me and they seem so cranky the next day. So most of the time they just end of sleeping with me and hubby sleeps on the couch (where he actually prefers it). To make a long story short, you could try a palate beside your bed and get him to sleep there instead of climbing into bed with you.

My son is four and on occasion still sneaks into our room at night. Instead of locking the door I would suggest stacking child gates. This way if something happens you will hear him better than having the door closed. Also, try rearranging his room with his "expertise" by having him tell you where to put the bed so he will sleep in it at night. Also, I know it is annoying but if he comes into your room, take him back. It took awhile but these two things worked for me.

I had the same problem with my 4 y/o son for quite a while. We eventually have reached a compromise of sorts. We will sit in his room until he goes to sleep. We started this because we live in an apartment and he would have screaming fits if we just tried to make him lay down on his own. We don't sit on his bed or within arm's reach. If it's my husband, he'll sit across the room and surf the web on his PSP. If it's me, then I sit close to the nightlight and read. There's no talking and we don't look at him. Once he dozes off we QUIETLY leave his room and shut the door.

In our room, we keep a sleeping bag, blanket and pillow rolled out on the floor next to the bed. If he wakes up and comes in our room that's where he goes. For a while we had to take him off of our bed (he liked to sleep with us) and put him on the sleeping bag and one of us would help him get back to sleep. Now he just comes in and lays down without waking us up.

We try to remind ourselves that little kids see the world differently than we do. That dinosaur toy that he loves during the day may look alot more intimidating at night. Now that he's back in school he falls asleep quickly. During the summer he didn't fall asleep as easily because he wasn't as tired. Try to make sure he stays active during the day and keep a schedule. These things have all really helped us. Good luck!!!

My 11 year old has had sleeping issue since birth.He quit taking naps at 7mths. The doctor said that some kids do not require as much sleep. He still has a hard time going to sleep. I think he was four when he finally slept through the night. I do not know if you let your child have caffeine or not, but this could affect his sleeping.
It affects some kids and does not bother others. I finally realized that my oldest is allergic to it(which many children are), and even a drop drives him nuts for days. My middle child it does not affect at all. Good Luck!