Need Help for Transfer Two and a Half Years Old from Our Bed to His Own Bed????

For us, we have a floor futon in our room. The kids can sleep there if they want or need to. Its fine with us.
My daughter was a co-sleeper, and my son was on and off.
They have their own beds, which they sleep in too... but they often like to sleep with us... on the floor futon that is.

You can make a room/bed for him..... his own. And see how he is about it all... talk to him about it, let him pick out his his own things etc.
Or use the floor mattress in your room as a just in case thing.

For us though, we do not mind if our kids are on the floor futon in our room... we know they will outgrow that in time, and they also sleep in their rooms too. One day they won't even want us around... and it is actually quite fun having them nearby.

But any transition will take time.... and talking to him about it. So allow for the time it will take. Each child adjusts differently.
Just don't make him feel like he is being 'banished' because of your pregnancy/new baby. But if you do transfer him out of your room... make sure you do it with a LOT of lead time, PRIOR to when you give birth... or it will be too much changes for him at one time... which is "stress" for a child.

The important thing, is to have a regular "routine" every night, before bed, or with his naps. Consistently. That it is not about scolding or punishment or negativity... but about it being comfy and cozy and "happy" for the child. Not saying you do scold for bedtime... some do. But for me, I was never about bed being "forced" or negative... but rather about transitioning it in a "happy" way and offering comfort and understanding about it all. Kids do evolve... and it takes time.

All the best,
Susan

Totally agree with Susan. My son was a full-time co-sleeper and has his own bed in his room that he usually falls asleep in, but for the most part he comes into my room either sleeps in his cot (little bed in my room I put out at night) or in my bed with me. But,it's only the two of us so it's no big deal to share my space with him.

I think start out with explaining to him that he has a big boy bed that he gets to sleep in, and then offer him a transition location as an option. Not your bed, but a cot or futon type space that he can use as needed. This way he knows he can still come to you at night, but you get some space for when the new baby arrives. Praise him and show him how impressed you are with this progress! Reward him with hugs and kisses, and show him how much of a big deal it is.

IF he gets anxious and protests the alternative option will be something you can use to show him that you still want him close by, but it's time to sleep in his big boy bed. Kids who are transitioning in this way really appreciate the fact that they are not being pushed away, but its just changing a little bit. Start now so you have time to get past the first few nights of aversion to change, or who knows he may be totally fine the first time out. My son didn't really take to his bed, but having the option to come get my has made it easier for him to understand that this is just a variation of what we were doing before.

Good Luck and congrats!!!

Hi! My little girl, now one, was a co-sleeper until 11 months. She wanted to nurse all night so I had to get her out of my bed. I just kept putting her in her crib and stuck with it!!! Now I nurse her and put her down and usually dodn't hear much until morning ( until she started teething). My little one is super stubborn so I really had to commit to doing it. We are trying to have a baby now and she will not nap without me so I talked to my pediatrician about it (and everyone I know with little ones with sleeping problems). I think you should just put him in his room and stick to it. You could put a mattress in there to lay with him for maybe a week if that would make you feel better. I have noticed how much worse sleeping issues get as they get older. My dr said to commit a full week to doing it. It is really hard but the more I stick to it the less she screams and the happier she is becoming. I wish you luck!!

Hi M., my son turns 4 next month & he has co-slept with me since birth. I decided that I wanted him to start sleeping in his own room by his 4th birthday. I've already started talking to him about it, but of course he's not going to be receptive as he's made that pretty clear, but I'm not stressing about it =-)
Let me know what you try with your son and if it worked.
I also co-slept with my daughter until she was 6 but the transition was a piece of cake. Probably because she was older and ready.

My kids know they can sleep in our room anytime they want but on the floor mattress. It's just a matter of transitioning my son from my bed to a different bed.

Good luck!

Hi M., My daughter is turning 3 next month, and she just transitioned into her own bed about 6 months ago. We co-slept up until then. It has turned out really well. I got a lot of good advice on this issue, so if you want to check out the responses, go ahead.

We just transitioned our 2 yo co-sleeper to his own bed over this summer because we have another on the way as well. It was actually so much easier than I expected. My advice is to get a consistant bedtime routine and talk to him about what is going on. When it was time to get into bed, we let him pick out 3-4 books and read to him. We let him know when it was the last book and after that he would have to go to sleep. After the last book, we would turn off the light and he would roll over to cuddle with one of his stuffed animals. Depending on how tired he was, sometimes we would stay with him in the dark for 5 minutes, but we would usually leave while he was still awake. A few nights, he whimppered for a few minutes after we left, but he never really cried or tried to get out of bed. (I used "we" throughout, but my husband and I took turns putting him down. He did a lot better with the 1 on 1 time.) This worked well for us, but do what works for you. Be consistant, but not rigid. Test out to see what works.