I Cant Get My Two Year Old to Sleep in Her Own Bed Please Help

Small children will always choose sleeping with Momma over sleeping alone in their own dark, isolated and scary rooms. Children crave and need skin to skin and cuddling to make them feel confident and safe - and there is nothing wrong with that.

I've bed shared since my daughter's birth... she will be 5.5 years next month is is excited to be getting her own bed and room now. She is ready, no crying, no problems of transition... this is something we were waiting for her to attain and now that she has, I'm happy for her.

Not directed at you per say, but I really wish more parents would but their children's basic needs above their own. America is notorious for pushing inferior nutrition, pushing forced early independence, force wean if they breastfeed, and don't like to give in to the basic biology that rules the human race.

Let her sleep in her pack and play.
In her own room.
She's not regressing really, she just likes to sleep in it.
Just my opinion.

I'll never forget when I was little, my mom was making my twin bed and the wooden slats that held the mattress flat slipped. My mattresses were totally crooked and I wanted it left that way. Weird I know, and it's hard to explain, but the way the side slats were I couldn't roll off and I slept happy as a clam like that. For about a week. It didn't damage me. Looking back, I think it's pretty cool my mom let me do that.
She was and still is a perfectionist, but she also let me and my sister make forts and sleep under our beds.
I guess we were strange little kids, but we slept.
Both of my children liked sleeping with their heads at the foot of the bed. Don't ask me why. I just let them.
Let her have her pack and play. Make her a "nest".
She will get ready for a regular "bed" in due time.

Best wishes.

I would let her sleep in the pack n play until she's too big and she realizes she needs more space. I suggest that she feels secure in the pack and play because she's closed in and that the big girl bed is too open and scary for some reason.

Does she show signs of insecurity in other ways? Such as being clingy during the day.

I suggest that if you stop trying to push her into doing something she doesn't want to do and tell her that you'll let her decide when she goes back to her big girl bed she'll make the decision when on her own.

Do continue make the beg girl bed attractive as you've done already. It might help to push it against the wall on two sides and use a rail on the outside. You could put a piece of furniture next to the bed so that it is more or less closed in on 3 sides. Do this on the qt so that she doesn't feel pressured.

This could be a power struggle in which case not insisting would also be the way to end the struggle. Tell her it's OK to sleep in the pack and play. She can use the other bed whenever she wants to do so. Then wait and see.

I agree with Shane, this could just be a matter of preference. My grandchildren, every once in awhile like something "just because." At 2 she's becoming more aware of her own independent wishes.

Maybe you could just put her pack n pay in her room? Then it could mysteriously 'break' so she can't use it any more... because she is such a big girl now! OH NO! Well, we better go and get some brand-new big girl sheets for your big girl bed. Come on, Lucy! you can pick them out all by yourself! lol. Maybe she is scared of something... maybe a new night light... Or if the toddler bed doesn't have rails maybe you could put some on so it has 'bars' like a crib, but she is still in the bed. then eventually you can lose the rails...

If you can afford it, you might try getting a regular sized pack n play for her to sleep in for awhile, if the travel one is really too tiny. Otherwise, just let her stay sleeping in the pack n play she has. Is it in her bedroom?

Perhaps she decided that she likes the comfort of the enclosed space. It's cozier... something she might now have been aware of when she transitioned out of her crib to start with back at one year old. I'd let her stay in what you've got, push it up against the wall in her bedroom, and when she finally just won't fit anymore, put her toddler bed (or a twin?) shoved up against the wall with toddler rails added to it. It will have a cozier feel up against the walls in the corner of a room than it does out in the middle with floor space on 3 sides. The toddler rails will add another level of "coziness" that she might like as well.

I would agree with the others that I would just let her sleep in the pack-n-play for now and not worry about it - eventually she will grow out of it, hopefully before she has to leave for college.

My DD is almost 3 and 1/2 and still in her crib. She LOVES her crib. Yes, she can can climb in and out of it, but fortunately she has never gotten hurt (she never attempted to climb out until she was almost 3, maybe because she wanted to be sure she could get down without falling). She has blankets draped over the top, making sort of a fort. I think it just helps her feel safe and secure and maybe the pack-and-play does the same thing for your daughter. Point is, she is sleeping in her own room, not in yours, and you are getting a good night's sleep too (I hope!).

A few times now, DD has come into our room and woken me up in the middle of the night because she's scared about something, claims she had a bad dream, etc. She does not want to cuddle in bed with us, but wants me to walk her back to her room. Then, she does not want to go back to sleep in her crib, but curls up in her bean bag chair. With just the one teddy bear, instead of the plethora of stuffed toys and blankets she requires in her crib. And she will sleep there until morning, then be back in the crib again the next time. DH thinks it's strange, but I say, whatever. She's sleeping in her own room, she's not keeping me up, and she is safe. Whatever works.

my 2 yr old did this too. he wont sleep in his crib but has graduated from sleeping in his crib to sleeping in bubbas bed and bubba sleeps on the floor :) he stays in bubbas bed and doesnt try to get out and sleeps all night in there. I think he just wanted to be a big boy :) I tried everything before that nothing worked but I am keeping with this. I have to buy bubba a new bed now :)

We recently went through this with my 3 year old. I figured as long as she is sleeping- who cares. We would make her go to sleep in her room, but if she woke up scared in the middle of the night she could come into our room and craw into the pack n play. She did this for a few months, but now mostly just sleeps in her bed. I figure they are only little once, is this really that big of an issue?

Nothing wrong with her sleeping in the Pack N Play as long as it is in her room. It won't take long until her bed is more desirable. Don't worry about her crying til she vomits. It will stop if she finds out it doesn't work to get her way. She will try whatever will work to make you cater to her wishes if she has that strong will personality. It's hard being a parent but you cannot teach her that she can have her way as long as she finds the right method to break you. It will only get worse as she gets older if she learns that she can demand long enough and loud enough. Also, do not try and reason with a 2-year-old. What makes sense to you does not always make sense to her. State the reason that she cannot have the crib and repeat word-for-word every time. Do not keep trying to come up with what she will understand. Just repeat the same answer over and over again. It's another game that strong-willed children learn. The best solution is to always give the same answer over and over. Trust me, as they get older - they will get tired of hearing the same answer. Remember this when she is older. It became a game for me to just wait for the same question or comment so that I could give the same answer that would make them cringe.

I would try to find a movie that has a little girl in it that shows "where" big girls sleep and being independent. Explain to her that babies sleep in cribs and she is no longer a baby. With my son I made the Biggest mistake and allowed him to sleep with me - and guess what - he did so till he was 12! Ways that we got him to start sleeping in his was watching a movie in his room, while we layed together in his bed - till he fell asleep (however, I do know studies show brain activity increases with tv before bedtime and can actually make child stay awake - I did not have this problem, mine always fell asleep exactly when the credits would roll). I also slept in the bed till he would fall asleep - that isn't always a good thing.would then begin her wind-down bedtime, soothing rituals(storytelling, reading to her) in her new bedroom. Take a good 30 minutes for this transition ritual. Tell her you'll be in the next room, leave the door ajar if she prefers, with the nightlight, and leave. If she can't handle falling asleep alone stay with her until she falls asleep. If she wakes up crying or comes into your room, bring her back to her room. Comfort her and reassure her of the wonderful sleep and happy dreams she's going to have that little girls can only have in their big bed. Stay with her again until she falls asleep. You will know how to wean her of your presence until she feels consistently secure.

http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/sleep.htm
http://www.parenting.com/article/Toddler/Development/How-...
http://www.drgreene.com/tip/tips-helping-children-sleep-t...
http://www.mcall.com/features/family/all-###-###-####sep1...
http://www.supernanny.com/Advice/-/Your-child/-/Child-car...

good luck - I know it is not easy.. I know I would try something different than what I did a lot earlier than I did! Hindsite is an amazing thing!