Sharing a Bed

We just made a pallet on the floor every night and told both of my kids they could come get on the pallet, but not to wake up Mommy & Daddy. That seemed to work. Good luck!

My situation is a little different. I am a single mom that of a 4 1/2 year old Autistic son which we share a room and he has been climbing in my bed since he was transitioned to a toddler bed at about a year ago or so. He was an extremely sick baby with acid reflux, numerous of ear infection, rsv, croup, and now malabsorption which causes him to have chronic diarreah and vomit which makes it even harder.I don't have a man in my life and we live with my parents and right now it's the best situation for us is to share a room plus there is no more room in the house. I know the more kids this age go through this and hopefully with consistancy this will get better. Good luck and just know that your not alone.

you need to be consistant about putting her back in bed. Let her know you love her, but she sleeps in her own bed. Put her back with a hug and a cuddle as many times as is necessary, and after a week or so she should be back to sleeping in her own bed.

One thing that helped our DD was putting a digital clock on her dresser, and above it the time she's allowed to get up, in the same format as the clock, so when they match, she's allowed to come wake me up if i'm not already up.

What are her nightmares about? You may want to get to the root of the issue. Sounds like you have moved around a bit, is she confused or insecure about her bedroom?

I also think solving the (original) issue and consistency is the answer. Our kids only get in our bed on Saturday and Sunday mornings for tickle time and cartoons! That is Mommy and Daddy’s space and they respect that.

Good Luck!
E.

simply return her to her own bed EVERY time without talking to her. It will be a lot of work at first but it should resolve in a few days. If you speak to her, you are engaging, which you don't really want to do in the middle of the night.

my daughter has been doing this for a while now also the past week she has done better at sleeping longer in her bed but she brings in her pillow and blanket and lays next to my side of the bed. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll grow out of it she was a great sleeper up until then but they say night terrors start at this age.

My 3 yr old is went through this last month. Every night at about 1:30am he would wander through the house carrying his Spiderman Pillow and his bedclothes with him, wake us up by pounding on one of us and say "I want you" and crawl up in bed with us. He stopped on his own and hasn't been doing it for about a week. The 6 yr. old went through it in December during Christmas break. Once they are back asleep, if we are awake we put them back intheir bed.

They all go through it, they like us, what can we do.

I agree very strongly with the mom who wrote "bring her back to bed, and do NOT engage in any conversation with her (after all - that is rewarding her for this behavior). So many people forget (which is very easy to do at 3:00AM) that sleep is VERY important to a child's development, and good sleep habits are crucial throughout life (yes, we've all been around those cranky kids who present with behavior issues, when in fact they are just overtired/exhausted). Remember, there are many ways a child can show her love for you, keeping the family up at nights is not one of them -- that is really her manipulating everyone for what she feels is her own benefit. During the day you might want to remind her (slip into conversation - maybe during pretend play with dolls) how important sleep is to help her grow . Of course, there will be times when you do need to stay with her (illness, a true nightmare, etc.) but for the most part, let her know that waking you up is not an option. It will be tough, but it is worth one week of difficulty, for the long term payott!

I am a single mom and my daughter is adopted. We make Friday nights our "slumber party" night. Only on Fridays can she sleep in my bed. If she crawls into my bed at another other time, then she has lost her special slumber party with me for that week. She looks forward to Fridays so much now.

Pick a weekend that it won't matter you won't get enough sleep and take her back everytime without talking to her. She will eventually get the clue. I know one parent that ended up putting a lock on the childs door, so they couldn't get out. It took a couple of days, but the child finally learned that she was supposed to stay in her bed. A nightlight and a stuffed animal for comfort should make the transition easier. Talk to your child about it first, so it won't be a surprise. You have to make staying in her bed the new norm....

You have had some good suggestions. I would also recommend the book How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems. It is in paperback and has a red cover. It has good suggestions for your kids through all their ages. I always felt better equipped after reading it, and it also explains how both you AND your child need a good night's sleep in order to have a favorable relationship the next day. That helped give me the courage to be tougher in the night. - Other suggestions....put in the digital clock and say that the 1st number has to be a 6 (or whatever you decide...7?). You can even cover up the other numbers so that she can watch only the first number. You could use the other poster's suggestion of a fun activity, if she stays in bed until there is a 6. -- We also slipped a folded sleeping bag under our bed. If someone came down in the middle of the night we pulled out the sleeping bag for them on the floor. That way our sleep was less distrubed by kicks and punches, and the positive reinforcement of coming to our room was lessened. If they wanted a nice soft bed, then they needed to stay in theirs. -- Good luck!

Hi. I have had this same problem with my daughter and I have tried a couple things and they have worked. After reading her stories at bedtime I tell her if she sleeps in her bed a long time the next day we will do something special the next day. It usually is doing puzzles, a walk and whatever simple thing I can think of which basically is just giving her some special one on one time with just me and no interruptions. The thing she likes the most is when I let her decide what the special thing will be. If she does come into my room I tell her its no long enough and I tell her to back to her bed. I let her do this by herself.
I hope this helps.