My son is 23 months old and we converted his crib into a toddler bed. He wakes up every night between 2-4 and crawls into bed with me. My question is did we convert his bed too early?
Unfortunately I am usually so tired when he comes in that I just let him snuggle up next to me. I know I need to be putting him back in his bed, but even when I do he will wake up an hour or so later and come right back. I need to get some good sleep, and so does he. Should we put the crib railing back up for a few months? He never climbed out, but I hear stories about kid breaking their arms doing that so I wanted to prevent it.
Well it has been a week and he has still been waking up. I have been consistent in putting him back in his bed. Last night he was coming in every 15 minutes for an hour, so the last time I put him back in bed I closed the door all the way. I heard him try to open it and then nothing. When I went in to check on him this morning he was in is bed. I think I will have to start shutting the door after the first time I take him back. We are going out of town next week and when we get back I am going to invest in the baby gate. Thank you for all the great suggestions. I love this site!!!
Unfortunately, you'll have to spend a couple of nights awake to keep him in his room. I found if I let my son have a sippy cup of water and a small toy, like a matchbox car, he would put himself back to sleep. It may take a while but it's just a phase. He'll grow out of it.
I had both of my children (now 5 and 3) in toddler bed by about 18 months, I ALWAYS put the baby gate in front of their door way when I put them to bed. If they would wake in the night I would usually wait a few minutes before going in there. Some times they snuggled in front of the gate after cryiing for a few minutes or I had to go back in there and put them back in bed if they didnt stop after a bit. I've never let my children sleep in my bed. That is My personel area for me. They have their bed and they need to sleep in their's. It'll be harder down the road to get them out of your bed if you dont start early on. They stopped having a problem after a few weeks of this. They knew they couldn't come out and it was bed time. I always made sure they had a night light and they were o.k with staying in there eventually. Good luck!
Hi there!
We converted our daughter to a toddler bed about a month ago, when she was 19 months. We went through her getting up every night at about 4:00. She would then bang on the door and eventually sleep on the floor behind the door the rest of the night! We went through putting her back in and in, and in, and in, and sleeping on the floor many of nights, but now, finally, she stays in all night. One thing I did was change her sheet to a really comfy, flannel sheet. This seemed to help. If you don't have one, you can just put a really soft blanket around the mattress.
Is there anyway you can shut his door or could he still get out? My brother had to put a child safety thing on their daughters doorknob so she couldn't get out!! (There is a small element of danger to that, though). I think the biggest thing is routine. If he gets in the routine of sleeping with you, that is going to be the norm. That is what he will think is right. It is sometimes nice to cuddle with them, (especially when they go a million miles an hour during the day), but you have got to put your foot down and get up and put him back in his own bed. This may take a couple of nights of endless putting him back and lack of sleep for you, but it will be worth it.
Anyways, no I don't think you did it too early. If you put the railing back on he will still have the idea that he can get out, therefore he may TRY and climb out now, since he could get out of the bed. And like you said, that could be dangerous.
Good luck!
R.
I agree with Katie those really are your only options, and if you don't mind him coming in your room at night for some extra snuggle time, then I would let him, if you prefer him in his own bed then start the puttng him back in bed on the days you have off first so that by the time you go to work you have already prepared him for what is coming.
My two older children were in 'big kid' beds by the time they were 18 months old. We dealt with the same thing, but what I had to do was keep putting them back in their bed no matter how tired I was. Each time I was pregnant with the next child, so getting up was really tiring and annoying, but they both stay in their room until I'm ready to get up. Another thing we did when we first moved our 2nd to her toddler bed, was put a baby gate up in their doorway so she couldn't leave her room. When we went to bed, then we'd move the gate to the top of the stairs. Before you know it, the night visits will be a distant memory! :)
My kids climbed in and out of their cribs just fine with no broken arms. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but your son has probably just as much of a chance tripping down the stairs and breaking his arm as he does breaking it when he falls out of the crib. Both of my sisters also let all of their kids climb in and out of their cribs when they were at that point (We all put a stool next to the crib to make it safer). I guess I am saying, why not put the rail back up and see what happens. When he starts to climb out, then change it back to a toddler bed if you want.
Also, my 5 year olds come in my room in the middle of the night often. I do have a pillow and blanket for them near our bed and they sleep on the floor.
This is probably not the Dr. Spock approved answer, but when my daughter was 2-3, she also would come into my room every night. As a full-time working mother, it was exhausting to wake up several times a night to take her back to her bed. Someone suggesting putting a sleeping bag and pillow on the floor next to my side of the bed for her. It worked for us. I would settle her into her 'bed' when she came in during the night and after awhile, she would come in and just go straight to her bed without waking me up. She did do this for quite a while, however, she was never a good sleeper until she was 5. She is 12 now and can sleep (in her own bed) as long any other pre-teen. Good luck!
I think you have three options: 1)put the bed rails back on until he is actually climbing out 2) get used to him coming to sleep with you or 3) return him to his bed each and every time he gets out. If you keep returning him to his room, he'll learn that he'll just end up there again, so he'll stop coming to you. It may take a week or more, but in the long run, you'll both finally get some decent sleep.
I switched our daughter over when she finally started climbing out of her bed and had the same fears that she'd hurt herself. She was scared to sleep in the toddler bed because she thought she'd fall out (and she did, but it wasn't a long fall). We finally let her sleep in a big bed and she did just fine (which makes no sense, because that's a much bigger fall, but she felt better about it) and started sleeping better. You could also try a twin bed and attach a railing so he won't fall out of it.
Hi,
I am wondering if you live in McCall, Idaho.
I live there!
Kathy
My son slept in a pack and play until I bought him a toddler bed just after his 2nd birthday. He had a hard time staying in his bed alone so I tried laying down with him until he fell asleep, but I swear he slept with one eye open cause he would wake and follow me as soon as I got up to leave. I tried putting a child safety lock on the door, which had a pull down handle. He broke the lock! I got frustrated and brought the pack and play back in and put him in it. He managed to climb out of the pack and play and he did break his arm!
After that I gave up and decided it wasn't worth the fight. I was a single mother by then so my bed wasn't all that sacred so I put up with being kicked in the face in our sleep, etc. :P
He is 5 now and has finally learned to sleep in his own bed though he would rather sleep in mine if I let him.
I wish I had the answer back then that would have saved me some heart ache. The gate sounds like a good answer. I have never used one but is seems like they could learn to climb over that too. Hopefully they get the hint before they are able to do that.
Put a gate in his door, when he gets up and cries try to ignor him, assuming nothing is wrong w/ him. (when in doubt go check)It will be a long couple days, just stock up on coffee, or a wake up drink of your choice.
My 2.5 year old asks for the gate to be put up...lol! but we can't shut the door...most nights.
B.,
I am not sure if you will ever know for sure if you switched him early, but I have a almost 7 year old that did that from the time we switched him until about 6 months ago. It started every night and then would work to every once in a while. We even tried lying down with him, giving him rewards, but he was very stubborn. Knock on wood, I think he finally out grew it. Good luck to you, hopefully you will not have a long track record.
I would put/try him back in the crib. See what happens.
I recently purchased a "Crib tent" for my 19 month old. It is a mesh tent that covers the whole crib so she can't climb out. My husband was VERY concerned about her falling out of the crib, even though she has never climbed out. I think it's to stressful for all of us right now to make the change, so this tent is great. It puts my mind at ease until I am ready to "bed train."
Hi B.,
If he wasn't crawling out then you probably switched them to early. I kept my 4 year old in his crib until he climbed out at 2 1/2 and my almost 2 year old will stay in his crib until he climbs out (hopefully not for awile). As long as his crib isn't next to anything he probably won't hurt himself if he climbs over the rail. I'm sure there have been kids that have been injured but they are probably few and far between. Most kids put their leg over the rail first and if anything they fall on their bottom. That's what my son did. He got really good at it and thought it was funny. Anyway, good luck.
Chris
Britney,
I have a 5 year old that does the same thing each night and always has. We wish very much that we had stopped it early. If you get any good advise I would love to hear it.
I am not sure i woudl know what a full night of sleep is like anymore!
S.
