Me and my Fiance are in the process of building a house! we are staying at his family's summer camp. My son is 18 months old and has never slept with us.Sense we have been staying down here he wakes up several times in the night and wants to come in bed with us! His crib is in the bedroom with us because it is a small camp! I know its a big change and way outta his comfort zone! I am pregnant again and I need my space when I sleep! I dont mind once in a while but I dont want this to be a habit for him! especially when the new baby comes! and I know its gonna happen again when we are finally in our new home! he's gonna be out of his comfort zone and wanna sleep with us! Please help! any other moms had to go through this when they moved? Any suggestions?
You can either comfort him in the crib or move the crib to another room. I know it's cramped quarters, but could the crib be in another room?
If you allow it once-in-a-while you are (inadvertently) using the STRONGEST form of reinforcement there is! It has to be consistent- either he's allowed in the bed or he's not. If he's not, then he needs to stay in his crib.
You say he's out of his comfort zone, so why not comfort him during this transitional period! There's nothing wrong with allowing your son to cozy up with you. It's not a habit, it's temporary! He's only 18 months! Next thing you know he'll be 8, then 18. You'll never get this moment back with your son.
gage how upset he is... if he's just whining or kind of crying... LET HIM BE. don't even pay any attention, he will give up and go back to sleep, he sees you, he sees you're sleeping... ignore him, don't look at him just "sleep". if it's full blown hysterical screaming, by all means get up and comfort him... DO NOT pick him up no matter what. calm him down... then say "bed time" and go back to sleep. if he wants to scream then, you might just have to leave the room and let him cry it out... as long as it's his "angry not getting what he wants" cry and hot his "frightened" cry... he'll be all right and so will you ;) kids like to push boundaries.. don't give him any hope, such as getting one of those co sleeping cribs that you can put by your bed. because it's not going to work, and you will eventually have to resort to letting him cry the more hope he has the more he'll put up a fight. the longer you will have to listen to the crying, the less sleep you will have.. be firm mamma!
Just comfort him in his crib and then go back to sleep. You are the one putting him in your bed, just stop doing that. You may have a week or two of no sleep but once he isn't getting what he wants out of it the behavior will stop. Personally I would take a week or two of hell than a new habit.
I say take him into bed w/you until he falls asleep.
He's very young and he needs comforting especially in this strange, new
environment.
When he falls back asleep, try to put him back into his crib gently so as
not to wake him.
You can break this habit later.
He needs a little comfort. He's young and his surroundings have changed.
Good luck and hang in there. ;)
You can put a small cot next to your bed and he can be closer but get used to sleeping there and not disrupt your much needed sleep. Some people use twin mattress's or just a sleeping bag, depends on how much room you have and what works I guess ;-) I know you mentioned his crib is in your room, but it may be further from you and out of his comfort zone when he wants to snuggle. Other then that, you will just have to be consistant and put him back to his bed with no talking until he can learn to sooth himself back to sleep when he wakes up in the midde of the night. Does he have a lovey? Make sure he has that to comfort him too when he sleeps...my youngest DD likes to sleep with an extra blanket.
Your Fiance/his Dad... can comfort him too.
And sleep with him.
I don't know why, it always has to be the woman/Mom that does this.
they do understand at this age, my son transitioned from the crib to a toddler bed at this age. I explained to him that in the big boy bed he was expected to stay in bed and not get up just because he could. I told him that if he kept getting up at night I would have to put him back in the crib (he climbed out of the crib at this age so I had to transition him so he would not get hurt) he did not get up at night because he knew I would put him back in the crib & he didn't like it there. you need to be firm and reinforce the behavior you want from him.
Once you allow a child into your bed on a regular basis, it's extremely difficult to get them out.
We have friends who had this problem, although their son was almost 3 at the tme. When they moved into their new home, their son moved into his own room and his new bed.
Hi G.,
Maybe it is just too quiet and he hears you and Dad while he is sleeping. Can you add a fan or noise machine? Maybe that would help.
Best Wishes!
