Getting a 2 Yr Old to Sleep in His Bed

Ive always kept my boys in a crib with a crib tent until they are mature enough to stay in there own bed, I never allowed my 3 boys to sleep in my bed because once you do that it is sooo hard to change it. If they are sick or scared I will go into there room but your room is yours. many other countries have the familial bed and that is fine if you can handle sharing your bed but I think I am a much more productive mom and wife because I sleep with my husband and not the entire family.

I have seen the nanny shows where the parents keep putting the kids back into there cribs when they climb out and I just yell at the tv. "get a crib tent".

I really like the crib tent it keeps them safely in the crib. My first son fell out of the crib becuase he pulled up and stood at 6 months and I did not realize he could do that yet and the crib was set to high and he fell out. he was fine but I have always had crib tents on the cribs since that day.

Good luck- aj

There is a process that you can go through to "wean" them off depending on you to fall asleep. Many of the baby sleep books talk about this method; seen it used on "Supernanny" TV show - it works!: Tell him when you're getting him ready for bed what's coming up.....tell him that he's a big boy now..and he gets to sleep in his own big boy bed. [i would also tell my son that "so-and-so" sleeps in his own big boy bed all by himself. these were older boys he knew and he looked up to (cousins and friends).]
The method is basically sitting by their crib/bed...when you put them to bed...with a blankie, pacifier..whatever you use. Establish a new bedtime routine of putting on soothing classical music (softly) or white noise (fan or cool mist humidifier)...and sit in the dark with your child in bed. He'll cry and want to sit in your lap, but keep laying him back down, patting his back, telling him to go to sleep. "close your eyes and go night-night." as the time goes on...scoot a little bit farther away from his bed. If he gets out, put him back in and start back at his bedside. Keep doing this, until he falls asleep. Slowly scoot closer and closer to the door until finally you are at the door (sitting on the floor), slightly opened but they can still see you.
usually by the 3rd night or maybe sooner, you can start the bedtime process at the door and they'll fall asleep with you there. And then soon enough, there's no need to sit at the door. They feel confident enough to sleep in their own bed.

If he gets up in the middle of the night and tries to get in your bed, immediately walk him back to his own bed and say that "No, no. It's not time to wake up yet. When there's light in the window, then it's time to wake up. Back to [your son's name]'s big boy bed to go night-night.]
He may be crying when you do this....let him cry and hug him and reassure him that it's OK. say "I know you feel sad. Do you feel sad? That's OK...but momma is in the next room. And you're a big boy now and you need to sleep in your own big boy bed."
It's good to validate their feelings and let them know that you know they are upset but it's going to be Ok.
anyway...it's a major transition, but keep it up and don't give up! It's so worth having your bed back...and your freedom to sleep with your husband alone!
And eventually, he'll get better sleep sleeping in his own bed, too!

yes, it sounds tiring, but this situation isn't going to fix itself in 1 minute. If you're lucky, you'll only have to do this for 3 nights or so.

We dealt with the same thing with our daughter and finally had to bite the bullet and fix it. Last year our son was born and we used the opportunity to move her to the bigger room and made the room a really "special big girl room". We took her shopping and let her pick out special things for the room and help decorate it. So maybe consider adding a few new things to the room to make it really special for him and start referring to the room as his "Big Boy Room" or "Big Boy Bed". When adding these things maybe consider a really cool night lite or something to help add a little light to the room so that darkness is not the main issue. And then you just have to bite the bullet. Talk to him in advance about how important it is that everyone sleep in their beds and then be prepared to take him back to his room each time he comes to your room (this may take several weeks so hang in there). When we first started taking our daughter back we would stay with her for a few minutes and get her all tucked back in. Also be prepared that there will probably be some crying and a lot of him getting back up but they eventually get the picture. My daughter now knows that unless she is not feeling good Mommy and Daddy's bed is off limits. Thats not to say that I don't find her some mornings on the couch or on the floor next to our bed, but at least my husband and I are not getting kicked in the back all night long. Good luck.

Everyone's suggestions to this point are great...we just went through this. My son truly believed that sleeping was something other people did! We finally had to decide that no matter how long it took we were going to continue to put him back into his own bed. We sat down and had a talk about he is a big boy now and it was time for him to stay in his bed all night. Then when he came in during the night, we just picked him up and took him back to his room telling him he needed to stay there. We also told his lamb that it had to stay in bed also. The first and second nights were rough, then for the next couple of nights it was only once a night and finally he is pretty much staying in his bed. He got sick and that set us back a little, but we kept preservering and finally it seems to have stuck. I think he realized that we were serious and just gave up. We do have "family nap time" on the weekends where the kids and one parent take a nap and they both seem to appreciate that. It was a tough week or so, but in the end it has paid off.
Good luck! A.

Amy M really knows what she's talking about. It's tiring and it takes alot of patience, alot of time, frustration, but it works!

I don't know if it's a good idea or not, but I would think that offering something special in the morning might have some impact. Also, a friend of mine has one of those little tents in her child's room.

Maybe you could try transitioning him to him own bed, but still keep it in your room. This is what we have done with both kids and it has worked pretty well. Once he is okay with that, then you could try moving him to his own room. I would say that what ever arrangement that gets you and your kids the most sleep is okay. He won't want to sleep with you forever. (It just feels like forever!)

I could have written this post myself!!! M

y son is going to be 5 in Jan & he just getting back to his bed. We tried different things that worked for a short fix from time to time.

We let him have a tv in his room to watch & help fall asleep. He would sleep in the couch, we did this one for about 3 months; and the latest is a pallet at the foot of my bed. But at 2, some of these may not work.

Another thought that might seem 'mean' is to put up the baby gates in his door so he is not able to get out of his room. This will take last of self resistance on evryone not to run a get him so he stops crying, but he will eventually give up. I only tried this a couple of times, mine was older and gaged himself so he threw-up. Good luck! Breaking them from being close to us, and us having them that close it really hard.

I can only laugh as I typically find myself sandwiched between my 3 year old and our 20 lb cat. :-) My husband is there somewhere - but far off on the other side of bed land.

We have had several periods in which our daughter will sleep in her own room (all night, or at least until 5/6 a.m.). The only reason this hasn't remained a permanent transition is that we have moved a lot (4 times in my daughter's short 3 years).

What I have found that works best for us - since we're typically far too tired to work out the sitting and watching or repeatedly putting her back in bed routine - is to actually lay down with her until she falls asleep. Of course the other preparations are important too - explaning about being a big girl and having her help with setting up a comfortable space and bedtime routine. Obviously this works better with a full sized bed, but can be modified to what works for your situation.

We made certain choices that have worked for our family that included more sleep and peace for all. In the end, it may not be what the books recommend, but we're the ones who have had to live with our busy schedule, very active daughter, and many life transitions.