How Can I Get My Toddler to Sleep Alone?

put a mattress or futon on the floor IN your room.
Have them sleep there. By himself.
That would be a practical transition, for him.
that is what we did with our kids... and for any time our children were sick or had normal developmental night time 'fears' and could not sleep at night.

I do not 'battle' about sleep with our kids.
I don't pick this fight.
My kids sleep fine.
I was a co-sleeper when my kids were younger.
It was fine.
They are fine.
They sleep in their own rooms too.
The floor futon in our room, is for times of illness or night mares, or 'camp outs' in our room, etc.

all the best,
Susan

I reiterate Susan, put a mattress or toddler bed in your room first. Transition to that bed, then move it to his own room when he is ready. You might want something somewhat comfortable for you if you want to start out with him and then move to your bed.

Also, if you are potty training, you might want to wait a bit to transition the sleeping arrangements.. These are both big steps to being a big boy and the potty training might relapse.

We have done something similar to Susan; our son coslept with us until a bit before his third birthday. Because our room is up a steep set of stairs, transitioning him to his own room isn't an immediate option. We have a king-sized 'big bed' for my husband and I and a full-sized futon on the floor for my son, which we call the "little bed". Kiddo goes to sleep with snuggles on the little bed, we adults sleep in the big bed, and if he needs company at night, one of us goes down to him. It's important that he not return to the big bed at night (and we don't do any storytime/nighttime routine on the big bed, either.). He will sometimes rest on our bed in the afternoon, but I think the boundaries at this point are very clear. All this to say, if you are going to help your son to sleep on his own, if he has trouble at night, you go to him and do not bring him back into bed with you---it just confuses things.

Routines take a while. Be patient and know that if you are ready, he is at an age where this sort of separation is okay. He might put up a fuss initially-- kids do like their routines, so be consistent in forming this new one. If he has any 'buddies' (soft animals or dolls), one could become a snuggle buddy for him, too. Best wishes.

Mine didn't sleep with me, but was having a really hard time staying in bed and going to sleep. A few weeks ago I started telling him if he stayed in bed and went to sleep I would give him chocolate milk in the morning (he loves chocolate milk), and it has been working really well most nights! At this age kids usually respond well to rewards for good behavior. As they start doing what you want regularly you can back off on the rewards and start rewarding them for something else you want them to learn. Good luck!

you didn't say why you want to transition him to sleeping on his own. don't you still want to have that special time with him? of course i hope you have time with him while you're both awake too. are people telling you he should sleep alone? i would ignore them, or politely explain to them that you are doing just fine. if for some reason you really don't want him to sleep in the same bed with you all night, it would be very simple to have 2 mattresses on the floor, so it's easy to roll back and forth and comfort him during the night and cuddle in the morning. i think especially since you are working so much that it's important to be with him at night.