Toddler Who Fills Bed with Toys at Naptime and Bedtime - over and Over

Well both my kids did that and do that.
No biggie.
It is not hoarding.
They are toddlers/kids.
They like 'comfy' things with them when sleeping.
I did that too, as a child as did my siblings.

I let my kids, make their bed as they wish, with their toys. Or, I put a little basket near them and IN that, they can put a few toys in it before bed.

My kids also have a lot of stuffed animals in their bed.
No biggie.
They sleep, well with that.

My daughter calls her bed, her "nest."
Every kid, has their 'routine' of getting their bed all comfy, before bed.
No biggie.

Just tell them they can have 3 or 5 or whatever amount, with them in bed, as they get ready. Instead of the entire room of toys.
Or tell him he can only take things into his bed, that are not noisy. ie: like the Xylophone.

my son slept with lots of matchbox cars for years. but he slept! Now at six he sleeps with stuffed animals. what's important is how does he sleep?

Yep, my 2yo is infamous for taking loads of items with her to nap/bedtime. She has her staples (toothbrush, blanket, sea horse, bunny, Dora book, dog) but it seems she always tries to add more things like a watering can, binoculars, blocks, random things etc... I let her know that if it's hard and I knock on it, she can't take it. She'll usually oblige and put things down but that doesn't mean she can't manipulate the babysitter, LOL!! It's a toddler thing, don't worry too much about it unless it's unsanitary, sharp or just plain too dang big.

I've recently had to make 'room' for a Happy Meal R2-D2. He needed a pillow and be told 'good night.'

Last night were "Cars 2" cars. God forbid we mix the two different movies up. I ended up sleeping on Race Team Mater and Holley Shiftwell...FUN!

He's been doing this for as long as I can remember.

Ummm... my pedi said let him do it. He said kids this age are still learning about "item permanence" and kids fear that during nap time (esp if you clean up while he sleeps) his toys will dissapear or go away all together. My son eventually grew out of it. I also let him pick 5 things and had HIM put the others away ... then down to 4,3,2 and now just his lovie. As he understood they will still be there, just put away he no longer had this need.

Wow, jumping straight to wondering if he's going to be a hoarder--? Please don't put adult issues onto a child who's just doing something totally normal for his age (and for some older ages too). He wants them for comfort and fun.

You've made it even more fun by playing a game with him, though you don't know you're doing it. When you have him put them all away, you're playing his game. Then once you're gone -- he gets to play his part of the game, which is rounding up all his friends again (and again, 2-4 times per sleeptime). He knows by now that you or dad is going to come back and play by having him remove them. You're giving it way too much attention, which is exactly why he's returning all the toys to the bed when you have him remove them. Then you come in that second or third or fourth time and he removes them again, knowing he'll get the fun of having you come in and say "They have to go" and he'll get to play all over again....Even if you think you're being firm or stern about it, believe me, he's thinking of it as a game. Unless he's putting hard or harmful things in bed or covering his face with something soft, he's fine. I'd stop the game and leave it.

Why is it so important to stop it? Because he's playing with the toys and not going right to sleep? Try what one poster suggested and maybe try to make one or two toys his special sleeptime toys. But some kids never do adopt one favorite "lovie" and no adult can choose a lovie for a child; they have to form their own attachment.

Also, he may be on the verge of giving up naps. Many kids do that between two and three. This may be his way of telling you that he's done with naps, and at bedtime, well, it's his favorite game again.

We can't force another human being to sleep, eat or use the toilet when and how we want, and if he's stopping napping all you can do is have a quiet time each day when he's in his room entertaining himself and learning to be alone happily. Sounds like he's well on the way to doing that with his toys -- which is a good thing. You say you hear him, in his room, playing with his toys, and I assume he's not calling for you or crying for you. That's the definition of a good quiet time.

My 6yo dgd still does this at times but it's dolls and stuffed animals! I just let it go and move stuff after she's asleep (and sometimes she knocks stuff off beforehand!)

we have a 2 year old who has to sleep with her blankie. curious george, and herstuffed animal cast of lady and the tramp lol....anything other than that I tell her has already gone to bed....and she asks about everything like daddy, grandma, papa, daddy to dora, backpack, boots etc yah we go thru the whole list and once she hears everyone is "SLEEPING" lol she goes to sleep....and yes the list of things is getting shorter everynight but there are a few things we have to let her sleep with....

It sounds like he's bored and probably starting to outgrow his naps. Be thankful that he's figuring out hownto entertain himself rather then repeatedly come out of his room.

He thinks naptime is playtime in bed, and you have to show him otherwise.

Be proactive and put all his toys out of his reach for now all the time. He will then have to ask for the ones he wants, and you in turn can tell him he's allowed one at naptime, which one does he want?

Yes, my 26 month old would fill his bed with toys and books, so they're out of reach. He gets his lovey, Arnold, a book if he wants, and he sleeps on a Pillow Pet. That's it, and he can't get to the others. BTW, I learned this with my first child, who thought the nightlight in his room was his light to play by at bedtime, lol!

Is he playing with them or just laying with them? If he is playing with them, maybe he isn't ready for a nap or bed? If he is playing, I would take them out of his room or somewhere else before you put him down. If he is just laying with them, maybe it is a comfort thing.

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My son did the same thing - and he used to surround me with his stuffed animals if we were taking a nap together. Too cute and funny.

I agree, just encourage him to only take the soft toys into bed. He does sound bored. Instead of nap time, maybe just institute quiet play time.

If you leave him alone with his toys - will he fall asleep? If so, just leave them there until he falls asleep, then just remove the toys with hard edges.

But, IMHO, I still think its cute.

God Bless

My 3 year old still does this. Ideally I let him choose two items (along with his staple items--sippy, baby & his ladybug nightlight thing). Last week despite my 30 minute battle he was insistent on taking these two 2x2 blanks of wood to bed with him. I finally said he could take one (compromised) and he was satisfied. he didn't play with it just laid it down by his pillow.

I know of a mom whose child HAD to sleep with a shoe. One time at grandma's he took grandpa's stinky work boot to bed. Aren't they the funniest things in the world sometimes?

I'd just choose your battles, work on limiting items, but I wouldn't worry about it too much!

Many, many children do this. They are comforted by these items, yes, they may play quietly with them and then fall asleep. As long as they are falling asleep on their own, without your help they are fine. Our daughter also called it her nest, but she always slept with her books, tons and tons of them..

I have a four year-old who has been doing this shortly after moving to a big boy bed. He usually sleeps with his hotwheels cars/trucks. Sometimes he prefers other toys. I allow him to sleep with toys but limit the number. He knows he can sleep with two or three cars regularly and if he chooses another toy, I may limit it to one. It is part of his nighttime routine...he picks out the cars, we read a book, and say our goodnights. Setting up boundaries is important. I tell him it is sleep time not play time. I usually don't have a problem with him playing with them as long as he is in bed, laying down because he falls asleep shortly after getting to bed. Sometimes kids need that extra "down time" to relax and fall asleep and I don't have a problem with him being comfortable with one of his toys. I think this is a typical behavior...some like stuffed animals, others like their cars! He used to try to get a bunch in his bed...he would "lose" the opportunity to pick out the cars he wanted and this stopped the bed full of cars.

I'd just redirect him toward soft toys. My 5 year old still likes a nest of pillows, blankets and piles of stuffed toys.

My DD fills her bed with mostly soft things, but she has this godzilla that keeps showing up in there. My mom says I did the same thing. I'd line my crib with toys and leave a tiny space in the middle for myself. I'd encourage him to use softer things and then not worry so much.

It's completely normal and nothing to be concerned about. It's part of his development. I would suggest that before nap and bed time having him limit the items he takes with him to maybe three things and they can't be things like a garbage can or area rug (although that made me laugh out loud in real life) or things that if he rolls on them they won't hurt him (ouch on wooden blocks and trucks). If there are other things that he feels he MUST have in his line of sight, reassure him that they'll be right where they are when he wakes up (other household objects). If it's toys that belong in his room anyway arrange things on a shelf or bookshelf in a way that he knows they're still there and promise him you won't move them while he sleeps.

This way you're both compromising.

I used to sleep on books, with my baby doll, and a carousel when I was little. I slept on books and stuffed animals all over my bed plus a radio straight through college. :-)

Well, the little guy knows that he is supposed to be in bed and that is a positive sign. I think my two boys also did this. I explained that the bed is for them to sleep in and not the boys but a few toys still managed to hop up in the bed. I just ignored it and as long as they were sleeping good everything would work out. My youngest son is seven and he still needs to be reminded that he is bigger now and needs more room in his bed to sleep. I only have to do this once in a while but he still likes the comforts of home..

Not to sound harsh but kids do try and push limits and want to disobey and be in charge. Parents.....we are in charge. My daughter NEEDED her sleep but did everything to not sleep. We gave her a blanket, a doll and a stuffed toy if she would sleep. At one point we did remove all other toys from her room or she wouldn't sleep. She had plenty of toys and plenty of play time but her sleep time was for sleeping.

I can't remember where I heard this, but supposedly kids are hoarders by nature. Don't worry about that aspect of it.

As far as getting him to fall asleep instead of playing with the toys, you can try to make his room a toy-free zone. I don't keep any toys in my kids rooms. My older son has some stuffed animals, but when he started playing with them at nap time rather than napping, I took them all out. That worked for us.

I think you need to let it go a little bit. I liked Kristina's idea about letting him pick a certain number and then gradually letting them go. I think it's part of the deal when you move them to the big bed, there's more freedom and some of this stuff just happens. I advise trying to refrain from going in there and dealing with it. My daughter usually plays a little while, even though when I leave her room she's lying the bed with her eyes closed, before she naps. She will usually put herself back in bed and go to sleep on her own. SOmetimes she doesn't sleep and just plays the whole time, but that's been more since she's been getting older (she's 3.5 now) and her nap may be disappearing. It's hard b/c you want them to sleep and you know they need to sleep, but you can't really control that. You can control keeping him in his room and I'd go for that.

I always had a hard and fast rule -- no hard toys in the bed~~ soft toys are okay. I was worried that they might roll over and hit their head or poke an eye with a hard edge of a toy. I think it's a security thing for them to be surrounded by their toys.