3 Year Gets Out of Bed!!

There's a great book called Healthy Baby, Healthy Sleep Habits that addresses this issue. I've had it since my child was young...maybe you could browse the sleep problem chapter because it goes by age in the book (I think it's at the back). I know my coworker has the same issue and has developed a chart. Every night her little girl stays in bed she gets a star and hence works towards a goal or a prize. It seems to be working really well for her. Good luck!!

we had the same problem at age 3. My daughter did the same as yours, couldn't find her animals... We finally did something that seems heartbreaking, but worked for us after a couple of nights. Whenever she came to our room, we just told her to go back to bed. We never got up to go tuck her back in. (she did cry and throw fits, but when she realized we weren't moving, she eventually got back in bed. We told her that she only gets tucking in once. It did help even though it was hard at first, she realized that getting up was going to get her nowhere. Good luck!

i have a 2 year old in a crib so i haven't faced this YET but here's an idea:

if it's truly just because of Mr Bear (and not just using that as an excuse to get your attention), maybe try to ensure Mr Bear won't disappear for her...can you put rails on the bed, or use fewer blankets, to make sure Mr Bear doesn't get lost, so she can easily find him on her own? i'm picturing a velcro-short-strap system you could sew onto her sheet (short enough to not be a choke hazard) that you could fasten Mr Bear into at night, sort of like a dog collar that is permanently fastened to the sheet... that might keep Mr Bear close by.

My 3 year old did the exact same thing. He thought it was a game when we would put him back into bed. We tried everything we could think of and nothing worked. Then I went to a workshop that a couple put on. Their names are Roger and Janie Peterson and Janie actually wrote a book called "The Sleep Fairy" and to our surprise it actully works. The website is www.thesleepfairy.com. Check it we were extremely skeptical that by reading this book to our 3 year old it would get him to stay in bed but it actually did. It was a godsend!!!!!