Sleeping in His Own Bed....

All three of my kids slept with me and I have found that each kid is different and will eventually leave on thier own accord. My son, stopped sleeping with us when he was about 18 mos, my middle daughter stopped when she was 1 - 2. But my youngest is now 4, almost 5 and still sleeps with me a couple of days a week! But she is very clingy all around and though it sometimes tries my patience, I try to enjoy it because I know it won't last forever. I do one thing though...I have a small tent in my room that she sleeps in when I need my space, or am sick or something. I took her to the store, let her pick it out, etc.

I think you are doing the right thing. The key is consistency. A friend of mine had the same problem and it took over 2 weeks of constantly returning her son to his bed before he finally gave up and just stayed in his own bed. It was 2 miserable sleep-deprived weeks, but in the end, she said it was worth it.

This can be a hard time. I would say take a weekend and try putting up a baby gate in his door way. When he wakes up then simply go and put him back in bed. Remind him that he gets to sleep in his bed and then lay him down. He probably will stand at the gate and scream, but you just have to give him the five minute rule before getting up and putting him back to bed. The thing here is to be consistance. just keep putting him back to bed. You most likely will not get a lot sleep the first few nights.

My only recommendation would be to wake him up when you are transitioning him to a new location. For some children it is a stressful shock to wake up in a different location from where they fell asleep. This may cause a bit of anxiety.

My youngest daughter had a difficult time with seperation. I would find her snuggled on the foot of our bed in the middle of the night especially if her older sister was spending the night at a friends house (they share a room). We allowed her use of the floor next to our bed. It didn't take long and she was sleeping alone in her room. Some children need more reassurance than others. Now she is extremely independent.

Maybe his room is too far away for the first time. Try putting him on the floor of your room, or even in his own bed but still in your room, and then work on getting him to his own room. Each night that he does well move him a little further from your bed until he is finally in his own bed. Our children (I have 6) have never slept with us for more than an hour or so. We allow them to come in and lay with us to calm them down and then when they settle down and are almost asleep we move them back to their own room.

My son would not sleep in a toddler bed so we purchased a full size bed for him. We started laying down with him before bed until he went to sleep. Gradually we just went to reading books and saying prayers with him and reassuring him that we were close by and he now sleeps on his own and if he wakes in the night he asks us to bring him back to his bed. It's all about feeling secure and kids find comfort in routine. Good luck to you!

Mkae a pallet on your bedroom floor for him to sleep on this will get him used to not needing the feel of you right next to him, the same rules apply, if he tries to climb into bed just remind him he has his "special" spot know and lay him down, over time you can slowly move the pallet away from the bed and start putting him in his own bed, remember you created the situation over 2 years it will not happen over night or the next 2 weeks but it will happen, most kids by the age of 3 or 4 transition to thier own beds fine. I am a co-sleepr w/ almost all of my 7, not the teenagers anymore, just the recent little one, 16 months, and on occasion the 6 and 3 year old will snuggle up next to me, and thats ok, in a few years they will have outgrown me and I will be wishing for the little years again, although my 15 year old dd is a mommas girl still, she would never admit it but she has to know where I am and what I am doing all the time cause she "worries". I got a little off track, sorry. So be patient his time will come and so will yours just enjoy the fact that he still enjoys your company.

I know it is not the cultural "norm" in the US, but it is in other countries. What is the problem you are having with him sleeping with you? You can place a crib with one of the sides taken down pushed against your bed if you need more room. My kids are 4 & 2 & still co-sleep. My 4 yr old is slowing transitioning to her own room. She will start out in her own bed & some nights she will sleep the whole night there & others she will come back into our room & cuddle up with us. It's such a short time anyways, it will not be long before they do not want anything to do with us. It does not make them more independent to sleep in their own bed, my daughter is very independent for her age especially compared to kids her own age. You can make co-sleeping whatever you want it to be, you can gradually move his bed away from yours into his own room. Just make sure it is a slow process & it should be easier since it is just you.
Brekka

Maybe you could make weekends special and let him sleep with you then or pick another day. But that way he knows he needs to begin to transition into his own bed. If you make it special he won't feel like he is missing out and he will feel like he has the weekend to look forward to. If he gets out of bed tell him he can sleep in your room but only on the floor in a sleeping bag. This is how I broke my toddler of wanting to sleep in my bed. He will still sleep in our room on the floor about 1x a week but never in our bed.Hope this helps! good luck.