We switched our 2 and 1/2 year old son to his toddler bed 4 weeks ago, and to say that it is not going well is a major understatement!! He did great the 1st 3 nights, and suddenly decided he would torture us! :) In all seriousness, we have tried EVERYTHING, and we are exhausted!! We have tried the sweet method, giving him books and toys in bed, super nanny technique for 3 straight hours 3 nights in a row, shutting the door, putting a gate up....He is a wonderful, smart little boy, but the most strong willed child you will ever meet!! I'm really considering putting the crib back together, but I'm afraid that he will really try to climb out now! The ONLY way he will go to sleep is for us to lay on the floor beside his bed until he goes to sleep. Then, he gets up at least 2 x through the night and we have to start all over! We do not want to keep doing this as it creates a terrible habit! Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!
I haven't gone back to the crib after changing over, but I think I would try it! My 2 year old is still in her crib and I'm not seeing a lot of "needs a big girl bed" signs, so I'm not even going there yet! Give it a shot, see what happens. So sorry, good luck and get some rest!
Was he climbing out? If not--put the crib back up.
yep, tried at 15 months , it did not go well at all. Put our son back in the crib with the crib tent, he stayed in it till he was almost 3 1/2. He loved it, we loved it......... worked great:)
I'm in the middle of this as well. Both of our kids started climbing out of their cribs as soon as they could walk. 2 ideas-what has been working for us is not to lay next to his bed, but to sit at the end of the bed until he's really relaxed, he's let me leave the room some nights, but not other nights. Now, I'm sitting on the floor. Tomorrow night I'll sit in the doorway....we'll see how it goes. My oldest had the same problem...but completely different kid! For him, he wanted to sleep in the bed, but it was just too exciting for him to relax. Every night we'd start in the bed and when he got up too many times, we put him in his playpen (the gates that connect together-much lower to the ground than the crib) He could climb out of it, but didn't. He just needed the comfort of the confinement to fall asleep. Then I'd move him to his bed when we went to bed. He eventually started falling asleep in his bed and we didn't have to use the playpen...It took a while, but it worked for him and for us.
So some people might not agree with this and I really didn't want to do this but like you said I was at my wits end. Just like your son, my daughter did well for a while. Then just one night she decided she wasn't going to stay in the bed after I read her books, turned on her sound blocker(shes always used it) and gave her any stuffed animals or books she wanted to have in her bed. I even put a little pink crate next to her bed with books inside of it and on top so that she can get whatever book she wants. We tried the super nanny thing. I thought about putting the gate up at her bedroom door but she can open it so it wouldn't have helped. What we have ended up doing is putting her in bed and after the second time of her getting up I explain to her that since she cannot stay in her room like a big girl then I will have to shut the door. I shut the door and she cries and knocks at the door. I started leaving her in there for 1 minute. Then I go in and ask her if she can stay in her bed this time. Generally that works but occasionally I have to do it again. The second time I leave the door closed for about 2 minutes. She has never got back up again after that. I know it certainly doesn't sound like something they would tell you to do in one of those parenting books but this is all that I have found that works for us, so this is what we do for now. Hopefully this phase will pass quickly. Do whatever you find that works for you and your child, even if it takes ALOT of experimenting.
We tried the toddler bed at around 2, but went back to the crib. Our son was very happy with his crib as he could get in and out on his own. We JUST put him in a twin bed right around his 4th birthday LOL, and we sold the crib to "another baby who needed it". Do what is best for your little one, and for your sanity ;)
I have a crib tent for sale....???
Good luck!!
Put a mattress on the floor so if he falls out he won't get hurt and put a baby gate on his door but only shut his door halfway. Both my kids have slept like that since they were 14 mos and 18 mos. they would not stay in their crib! It worked! Good luck!
We switched our son to a big boy bed around 2 1/2 and he did wonderful until around the time he turned 3. We tried what we thought was everything and were at our wits end. So, at his 3 year appointment I begged the doctor for advice and she said BRIBE him. I was extremely skeptical and carried on with our misery for a few more weeks before breaking down and bribing him. So, here is what we did. I took construction paper and made a 5 block "coupon book". Every night that he stayed in the bed he would get a stamp on his coupon book. The first night he got up around 5 times, but he got a stamp anyway just to get him started. Once he got 5 stamps, he got some sort of cheap little prize. The first prize he got really quickly because I wanted to get him used to it. After that, I gradually decreased the number of times he could get up to 0-1. We did this for a couple of months and he retrained himself to stay in bed. He stopped asking for the stamps and I stopped offering. It was like miracle work in our house and I'm so glad I wasn't too stubborn to resort to bribery. Good luck!
My co-worker went back to the crib for 9 months after they initially went to the toddler bed. I too have a strong willed child, but my issue is he climbs out of his crib.
good luck
He sounds just like my 4-year old. we got in the bad habit of lyign down w/him every night until he falls asleep, thank goodness for the trundle bed. then we sneak out and he then wakes up every night and comes running to our bed to sleep with us. around 3 am. the doctor says it is night terrors and completely normal. we used to get up and bring him back to his own bed, but we eventually gave up adn let hiim finish the night with us. it won;t last forever, he won't be running into our room when he is older. you have to do what works for you and FORGET the standard rules I have grown to think. we will wish for these days when they are older and want no part of us, at least i try to tell myself that! good luck. you may also think about gating the door of the room, he'll cry but hopefully go back to sleep when no one comes.
My daughter was the same way. We had put her in a toddler bed when she was a little over 1 and she would not sleep in it ... the floor was her bed. So we bought a single bed, put her in it and she slept soundly after that. Not sure why some children do not like the toddler bed - maybe it is still too much like the crib and not a true "big boy/girl bed". Good luck and don't give up ... He will eventually figure it out !!!
we switched back and fourth for a few months. and finally stay with the toddler bed about a month ago b/c he tried to climb out of the crib. during the day i have it faced to he can climb in and out with ease. and at night i turn it towards the wall and if he wants he can push it away from the wall and climb out. but he is comforted by still seeming like he is in a crib. so i say keep trying. or face it toward the wall it might help. switching back wont be bad as long as he is not trying to climb out yet.
