2 Year Old Getting Out of Bed

This will take a few nights or more, but it works. I'm in a moms club and we've had professionals come talk to the group...this is their advice:

When your daughter gets up, don't talk to her, don't make eye contact with her, just lead her back to bed, and walk out. (No negative or positive reaction from you...nothing at all.) She's going to get upset and keep getting up. Sometimes kids continue to get up for HOURS for the first and second night. After that, they start to get up less and less b/c there is no payoff for them.

You & your husband are going to be tired and frustrated for a while. DON'T GIVE UP! One child psychologist once told our group that all people will try something 20 times to get a result to repeat. (Think about people that win a jackpot on a slot machine...they will try on that same machine 20 times without result before giving up on it.) Kids that get a toy on a shopping trip to Target after throwing a tantrum will try the tantrum thing on the next 20 visits to Target to try for the same result before giving up! When I heard that, I vowed never to give in to bad behavior without being prepared to deal with it again and again.

Good luck!

Either a baby gate or install a cheap interior door at Lowe's and cut it off above the doorknob. Sand it so there aren't any splinters, and put the lock on the outside of the door. She can see out of the door and you can open it easily, but she can't get out. My ped recommended this when my first child started getting out of bed in the middle of the night. I didn't end up having to do it - instead, I just kept walking him back to his room and didn't engage. (And do NOT lay back down with your child. You are just ASKING her to come back in every time she wakes up.)

I urge you to not allow this behavior, or none of you will get through-the-night sleep. When she figures out she is on her own, she will stop waking up.

Dawn

What worked for us, with both kids, was putting together a place for them to sleep in our room, on the floor and not right next to our bed. Have her help you set it up with whatever will make her feel comfortable. Then explain to her that you and daddy need your sleep, too and if she needs to come to you, she can lay down on her own bed in your room.

Now, at first, they woke me when they came in; I got up and tucked them in (with VERY LITTLE engagement - no talking, just a kiss on the forehead and a tuck in). After awhile, you need to transition her to being able to go back to sleep without you.

After awhile, the novelty wore off for both the kids and they figured out that they weren't getting anything "extra" and it was much easier to put themselves back to sleep in their own bed, not having to make the trip down the hall to our room.

Good luck!

That's why "they" say--crib til 3!

Gate the entrance to her room.

Thank you all so much for all the helpful advice. We are going to try this out and see how it goes. I also ordered a Good Night Lite so we will see how that works as well.

You might want to borrow a copy of 1-2-3 Magic from the library and check out the chapter on sleeping. I think the baby gate is also a good idea to try or you could also use a sticker chart to encourage her to stay in bed. Have you tired taking her to the potty when she does this (regardless of whether she has to go or not) and then putting her back to bed? The more you talk and make it a big production the more she will want to get up. Be matter of fact by putting her on the potty and then back into bed. No water, no song, no story, no chit chat just a peck and then out with you. Say as little as possible in the bathroom as well.

baby gate her in her room. our 3 yr old is just now starting to stay in her bed without the gate,