Transitioning a Co-sleeping Toddler...

My sister did the bottles of water. They would wet bed and get cold. She was at wits end. She did what you suggest - she had husband handle it. Just like that, (one night) and they were fine.
I did same with soothers. My kids had their own comfort item (soothers) and could put in their mouths. Same deal though - it's their comfort. The only difference is they could do themselves and didn't wake me. But we got rid of soothers around age 2, and it wasn't a big deal. I thought it would be a huge ordeal but nope - they were cool with it first day. I simply said they had broken.
I would do what you want to be the new routine all in one go and hope for best. In room with older siblings, and dad to tend to him the first night (and however many it takes).
It's not a developmental milestone at this point. This is just him waking and wanting his comfort item(s). If you want you can replace it with something else you're ok with - a new stuffy, etc. if it helps. But something that will be easy for him to find in night :) Good luck. Let us know how it goes

Ugh - there's no point in going back to the "should have" - you understand how you got here.

Bottom line(s) - you are sleep deprived for 2 years. Your 2 year old is sleep deprived for 2 years. The water bottle backfired, your 2 year old cannot self-soothe. So you have to teach him.

You take away water at night. You research the Ferber method and be sure that you and your husband are 100% on the same page, no caving in because you can't stand the whining/crying at 3 AM. You bite the bullet and you prep yourselves for 3 nights of hell. Pick a 3 day weekend - if not this one, then MLK weekend. No one will sleep well including the other 2 kids, but they will get through it better than the 2 year old will fare if he is continually sleep deprived. These are critical brain-development years and you must get on top of it.

So it's tough, but the parents take turns and just get it down. No reaching down your shirt, no picking up, no food/drink, just a back pat and a few soothing words. Don't come back for 10 minutes the first time, then 20, then 30. Yes, it sucks. But it works. You aren't letting him cry it out with no response - so there's no emotional damage. You are teaching him skills that he desperately needs.

Get this done now so that you have 2 months to sleep before the new baby comes. This will not get easier than it is now.

Good luck.

Lol. Sorry. I have a two year old that wakes for water every night. Sleep through the night? Lol. We made the water mistake too.

Taking it away won't stop night waking. Their sleep radically changes around 3.until then, all of my kids have woken for a variety of reasons. My 6 year old still wakes to pee-to be fair, he only has one kidney and it only functions at about 60%.

I wish I had some real advise. If it was me, I'd just put him in a toddler bed, skip the crib, and then send hubby in, offer a sip of water, and rub his back when he protests. I'd stop giving him a bottle full stop- my kids always went straight to cups at 12 months. I'd play up that he's a big boy now, ask if he wants to move into the other kids room, and buy him a giant stuffed friend of his choice. My third was super excited to move into her toddler bed in the big kids room. Play that card, start doing it at nap time, and then after a few day he should pick to sleep there at night-fingers crossed.

Bless your heart. Four kids and this. I have a friend whose 2 and 6 year old sleeps in his bed, the mother goes and sleeps in their bed, and he is stuck with 2 kids in his bed instead of being able to sleep with his wife. Miserable.

If I had a dollar for every parent who has come here on Mamasource/Mamapedia who has asked how to get their child out of their bed, how to get rid of a bottle or nursing umpteen times a night, and get their child to sleep through the night, I could buy that pair of $200 Ugg boots from the other poster's question. (Kind of a joke, and not that I want $200 Ugg boots, but you get the point.)

If you really want your child to sleep through the night, you're going to have to do tough love stuff. No more bottles. Box them up and put them in your garage so that you won't grab one out of desperation. Take that mattress out of your room. Put him in his own room and sit in a chair in the middle of it until he goes to sleep. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, walk him back into his room and sit in a chair. If he gets out of bed, walk him back to the bed and go sit back in the chair. Over and over. Don't let him climb on you. Don't talk to him. It will be misery for you. But you have to be 100% on board with this and 100% consistent. No matter what he does, you stick to the plan. He will finally get used to no bottle and you not touching him. He will finally stop waking up so much. You won't have to spend as much time in that chair in his room. It may take as long as 2 weeks. But it will be worth it. (I should add either you or your husband. Maybe you have a sweet husband who will do this and really stick to the plan?)

Just do it. Do it now. When the baby comes, don't co-sleep. Put the baby in a cradle or bassinet beside your bed. Have a receiving blanket under the baby in the cradle. When it's time to nurse baby in the middle of the night, pick up the baby along with that receiving blanket and nurse, but get back up and put baby BACK in the cradle! No more co-sleeping! The warm receiving blanket will help her not be cold going back into the cradle. DON'T pick her back up if she cries. Pat her on the tummy and let her work it out. Lay back down and leave her alone. When she's 6 weeks to 8 weeks old, put her in a crib. Don't ever co-sleep. Let her fuss some - she will not need to nurse all night once she's over 12 pounds. Ask your ped - he or she will tell you something very close to that. At the point that your baby is over 12 pounds, it's not about necessity. It's about comfort and habit.

I hope you can manage this. It will be so hard, with you pregnant and sleep deprived. But it will be so worth it. Best of luck.

I think you just tell the two year old he is now a big boy and must sleep in his own room. Then you move him in there and are very black and white with walking him back to his room every time he gets up. I think water at night and sleeping by you is causing him to wake up more. I think the bottle is a crutch much like a pacifier and it is time to break the habit. Yes, time to get rid of the bottle too! Yes it will suck. Big time. It seems like many people say it took 3 days for their child to break the habit. It took us 3 weeks with our youngest! She just could not go back to sleep without her crutch. She had no ability to soothe herself. But finally she got it. We were just calm, empathetic, and loving with her and also very black and white. Start now! It may take you the whole 11 weeks. Think of it like boot camp...good luck. Don't give in! It will just take longer if you do. Remember the saying that it takes an adult a month to break a bad habit...think of this when trying to help your son to learn how to sleep in his own room.

ish. there's nothing easy i can think of, with you having waited this long to address it, and not having anywhere for the toddler to go. now he either keeps you up while you transition him or your other two kids get stuck with it.
i wouldn't just cold turkey him off the water. lots of people get thirsty in the night. but it's time for a sippy cup, with just enough for him to wet his whistle. he doesn't need a full bottle.
and if he's peeing through his pjs, why on earth isn't he wearing diapers at night?
if you go your husband's route, you're going to have two kids in bed. it's unlikely that they 2 year old will magically start sleeping through the night in the next few weeks. and i don't follow his logic in that weaning him off the bottle will magically make him sleep through the night. what's the thought process there?
i guess you have to figure out what your first priority is- the kids' sleep (because it now involves all of them) or setting yourselves up for the new baby. if it's the kids' sleep, you cut back on the water and don't let him into your bed, but keep him in your room so that he slowly learns to sleep with less night disruptions, and your older two get their sleep.
if it's getting him out and into the room with his siblings, you bite the bullet and do it. having your husband cope with the protests is a good idea, at least it gets you out of the middle. but it'll be tough for all the kids (and your husband) for however long it takes. expect a grumpy family.
that's probably what i'd do. i'm not sure what YOU sleeping in another room would accomplish, unless you plan to move into another room permanently. and if you have another bedroom and you're not just talking the couch, i'd put the toddler in there instead of with the older kids.
khairete
S.

If he sleeps on a mattress on the floor in your room, rather than set up a crib in the other room, maybe put the crib mattress on the floor. That's actually what we did with both our boys. So much easier than a crib!

We did co-sleep, but around 16 months we started putting them to bed in their bed (mattress). If they came to our bed in the middle of the night we let them, but slowl, as they got more comfortable in their own bed, they stopped coming to our bed and actually stayed in their own bed for the entire night!

I absolutely would not take the bottle of water away. Maybe give him a sippy cup instead, but it is totally normal to wake up and want a drink. Many, many adults keep a glass of water by their bed at night. Just give it to him before he goes to sleep, and he can drink it when he wakes up. If wet diapers are a problem, consider buying Huggies Overnightes or something similar. That might make a huge difference.

Go by the sleep book by Dr. Ferber or check it out of the library book...that will take two days or so. While you are doing that set up the crib in the other room with the other two kids.

Start talking up being a big boy and sleeping with the big kids.

Then prepare for three nights of NO SLEEP...by night four it is done and you are in the clear. (maybe two if the child isn't strong willed).

READ the book....read it again...make notes on sleep training for your childs age group...set the timer function on your phone so you know how long five minutes or ten minutes etc actually is when your child is crying and screaming (you have no sense of time).

Put him in the crib and follow the directions in in the book to the letter.

I waited until 16 months of age to sleep train...thought it was cruel...my son was 16 months old and I was newly pregnant and I needed sleep. It worked perfectly but only because I followed the book and it wasn't cruel. And I finally got some sleep.

Good luck!!

You either set up the crib in the other room or you have two kids in your bed. Time to transition the 2 year out. He won't be alone if he is in the room with his siblings. That will give you some time to rest before the next one shows up.

Just stand your ground and move forward.

the other S.