Bed Time - Lanham, MD

Are these toddler beds or twin beds? My son went through that stage at 2- when he got a big boy bed (twin)> I just comforted him...let him fall asleep..in my bed and then went to his bed and slept - very soundly all by myself! No husband hogging the covers, no little one kicking...what a treat!
He outgrew the waking up stage in a few months.

Hi K., I just joined moms group and I am so excited. I had this same problem with my three year old when she was 2 and moved into a bed from the crib. She would just show up or scream until we came to get her. It was tough in the beginning because she was so young but now that she is three she is understanding more. First everything that I do is routine every night just about to the minute which is tough with a little one but you can get her involved also.( I did this with my now 6 year old around the same age when my youngest was one. She was not as tough to get to go to bed but it is something I did anyway) We start with PJs, then teeth, than story, than into bed, prayers and kisses. I had a chart and in the morning if she made it through the night with only coming in 2 times, she was rewarded and at the end of the week earned a prize. This went on for a week. The next week we went down to one time and then no times. If they did not stay in their bed they lost their story for the next night and for my girls that is a big deal. Of course there are some nights that are tough for my 3 year old to go to bed (tonight is one of them) but I gave her one of my special pigs (i collect stuffed pigs) to sleep with. If she gets up or cries for me I get it back. If you dont have stuffed animals that are your own try a t-shirt that smells like you. Sometimes they just need that extra mommy thing. On occasion she gets up in the middle of the night and comes in which is fine because she is only 3 and i will go lay in bed with her. But after ten minutes I make up a reason for me to leave (have to use the bathroom, blow my nose, get a drink, etc something to get me out of bed) I tell her that I need to leave and she needs to stay here until Mommy comes back. Usually by the time I get back she is sound asleep. (I wait about 5 minutes after I leave to go back.)Unfortunatly sleep is one of the toughest things to master. Fortunatly we as women are designed to "function" on little sleep. If worse comes to worse they may need to cry it out. If your two share a room which mine do that may be why one is up and than the other. I hope this helps. I still use the reward chart and one of the "items" is Follows bedtime routine without a fight and it is still working. It is habit and that is what little ones need. I will be praying for you as you master this and that you can get one good night of sleep.
M.

Sorry, I had to chuckle a little bit. I bought the Little Tykes race car bed for my son when he was 3( He's 12 now). He refused to sleep in it. He was scared of it. I now have another boy. I set up the same bed for him when he was two.(He's 3 now) He was afraid of it also!!! We never said anything to him abut his big brither being afraid of it. They both were so excited to get the bed but once it was set up... FORGET IT!!! I love Little Tykes!! The bed was in storage for 9 years almost new looking and sold at a garage sale for $100.00
As far as staying in their room, we turned the lock backwards on my 3yo's bedroom door. We went through 5 nights of him getting upset that the door was locked and he couldn't crawl in bed with us. Now he knows we will lock it if he gets out of bed so he stays in his bed 90% of the time. It might sound kinda harsh but now I get my much needed 7 hours of sleep and I am a better mom for it.

Hi K.,
My son is 3 and doesn't stay in his bed either but we also have a 3 month old who's bassinet is in our room. My 3 year old thinks he can stay in our bed b/c our 3 month old is in our room. I'll have a huge transition when my youngest goes in the crib. Because they're both going in the room at the same time. When we first approached our 3 year old we put a TV in his room but that doesn't matter to him. I would go in his room with him, we'd watch tv, he'd fall asleep but I was the one up worrying about him in there alone. I'd fall asleep eventually just when he woke and realized he was all alone. So, when I try this again, I'll be camping out in their room until we all feel comfortable about the situation. So, that's my answer...camp out in their room.

try staying in the room with them at bed time read a store and than say ok it time for bed, you have a big bed all to your selfs. and that is your bed to sleep in. you have to keep putting them in the bed as soon as the get out, so when they come in your room turn them back around and put them back in the bed again it may take a few nites but they will get it . good luck

hi K.,

i had the same situation with my son. it sounds like your daughter's love to be in your bed and not there own. the best advice that i can give you is find something that you don't use and let them sleep with it. they are still babies and they are not used to being alone in a room with out mom. i hope you and your husband can resolve this problem.

R.

We tried the night light first and didn't work for us either. We have no outlets in our hall, so if she had to go to the bathroom, it was dark so we leave the hall light on.

Depending on what you want to do. What's your main goal? Getting them out of your bed, them staying in their beds, them just staying out of your room, ect.... You can:

1)escort them back to their beds EVERY time they get up and eventaully the will get the clue that they are not getting into your bed.

2)tell them that they are allowed to come in to you, but not allowed in your bed. If they must be near you they are to sleep on the floor.

3)turn the lock backwards so they can't get out of their room at all. (You'll end up a couple times with some crying and a couple times with a child sleeping on the floor in front of the door!) But again they'll figure out that sleeping in the beds is much more comfortable!

4)baby gate their doorway. Same effects as the above option, just some kids deal better if they can see what is (or isn't) going on on the other side of the doorway.

5)Tell them they can't sleep with you, but feel free to climb in bed with the other sister!! That will really get them!!

IF they do share a room I could see how some of these might not work. And if that's the case and I were you then I would just go with 1,2, and/or maybe 5. No matter what you decide to do the key is CONSISTENCY!! But that's just me and that's my opinion.

You do what works for your family! That's what parenting is all about, doing what you think is best for yours! If not anything else they will eventually decide that sleeping with you isn't "cool" anymore!! Lol

Once we moved into a new apartment my daughter wouldn't sleep unless she was beside me holding my hand. To stop this and finally get some sleep I had to buy a "Guard Bear". Both her and my son had "Guard Bears" that I told them watched over them while they slept. ( I looked for the softest and cutest bear in the store) That with the night light helped. I don't know if you tried the bear or doll but it might help along with the night light.

Hi Kim,

Do you know what they are scared of? I have a four year old and eight year old little girls. What I did when they were scared was make "monster spray". They were scared of monsters but you can do this with what ever it is your kids are scared off.

I went to the dollar store and got a spray bottle and stickers. I got home and put the stickers on the bottle and wrote MONSTER SPRAY AWAY on the bottle with the word monster having the cirlce with a line through it. I then out in some body splash of mine for scent and a little color.

At night my girls and I would spray the room in all the areas monsters might hide like closets, under beds, around the window frames, etc so the mosnters couls not get in past our magic spray.

It worked for me after about two nights of this. I had to remind them when they came in the room about our magic spray and they remembered and went back to bed.

Good luck

M.

when you fiqure out what works will you let meknow my daughter is two shell fall asleep in my bed with me ill move her in hers 1hr 2 hrs later she is in my bed with me and my husband. arm , leg in stomah its the pits and i barely get sleep my self so i know how you feel...

Hello.....I agree with Anne, I think they are scared of them too.Sorry, I had to laugh too, I would put gates stacked up on top eachother to keep them in there rooms.

hi this might sound weird but worked for me when my kids were little put a 8x10 framed picture of your husband by the bed tell them they are big girls and need to sleep in there own beds that mommy and daddy have to sleep in there own bed too.
that your picture is you by them all threw the night.
hope it works!
N. from stafford va

Get a double mattress and springs and put it in their room. Lay down with them in their new bed till they fall asleep then leave. Every time they come in lead them back to their bed and lay in there until they are asleep. Eventually they will have longer sleep periods and will spend the whole night sleeping in their bed. This worked for me for several reasons. Firstly, the bed was big enough for me and big enough for them to flop around when I wasn't there.My son was a big flopper and would hang over or flop out of the toddler bed, waking up and coming to find his most favorite person in the whole world which leads me to the second reason.The pillow I would use in there eventually smelled like me and they always wanted to cuddle it as they drifted off to sleep making it easier for me to leave. I did try all the rational things that everyone else is suggesting but my kids would just have none of it. Needless to say I was very frustrated and tired. My grandmother gave me the above advise and also said to consider it a compliment on how good a mom I was that my kids wanted to be with me.
Good Luck.