4 Year Old Sleeping Alone

For us it was following the routine...snack, brush teeth, story, bed, sing song, rub back, Mommy sits for a bit then leaves. Our oldest did have issues and kept wanting to get out of bed. We finally had to put up a gate. She hated the gate so much she would stay in bed if we wouldn't put it up. We also sit in the upstairs tv room while the kids fall asleep to help them feel more secure. Both girls also want to hear the tv going to help them fall asleep.
I think you'll get pretty general responses unless there is a specific issue. If you don't get helpful answers maybe refine your question.....Good luck!!

Hi B. Try slowly moving her out of your bed. One way to do this, when she falls asleep, put her in her own bed. She may wake up and coming running in yours bed but at least it's a start. As she gets older she'll be willing to sleep in her own bed. I know what your're going through because once you start letting them sleep with you when they are younger, they love that feel close comfort.

You might want to read the No Cry Sleep Solution. This talks about transitioning to a "big kid" bed from a family bed.

What we have done is, we put the toddler bed in our room, at the foot of our bed. He slept in there off and on, as he wanted to, from 2 1/2 on. SOmetimes he's in there, sometimes he was in our bed. Then, when he was about 3 1/2 we got him his OWN full size bed in his OWN room. It was very exciting, a very big deal, and he was really happy about it. Now sometimes he is in his own room alone, sometimes dh sleeps in there with him, and sometimes he is in his toddler bed in our room again. It really depends on his independence level on that day, how he is feeling about things, etc. We just respect his feelings and let him choose. :) Everybody is happy and everybody SLEEPS. :)

It is nice to know that there's someone out there with the same challenge. My four year old grand daughter will not sleep in her own bed either. At one time it was the entire night, now we have move to half the night. She'll come climb in my bed between 2 and 3 am. We start her with a bed routine now at 8:30 p.m. that includes bath, taking her medicine, 1 story and rubbing her back with a cream (she has excema). She is out by 9:15pm. I also noticed that when she is "full" she sleeps all night. Another thing we tried was making sure she wakes up in her own bed.

I'm in the midst of this right now. What I ended up doing was bribing him. He wanted a spiderman backpack so when we went shopping, I told him the only way for him to get it is if he fell asleep in his own room. I also got him bedspread and a comforter with Spiderman. But, before that, I also bought him some small little spiderman toys and put it in a bin (like a treasure chest). If he went 3 days, he got to pick out a toy fromt he bin. He survived. No he got his toy and he does do well. Last night, he came in our room and when I realized he was there, I got up, took him to the bathroom and returned to his room. I layed down with him until he fell asleep (and I fell asleep as well), but in the morning, I was up and out well before he woke up. So, he truly feels he sleeps on his own, even tho each night before he falls asleep, I read to him while laying in his bed until he falls asleep. Most nights, I move back in my room and he sleeps soundly in his room.

Good luck.

I hope that you might find some helpful ideas in these resources...

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/sl20.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t131500.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t110237.asp

Best wishes,
J.

Good luck. My 3 1/2 year old always wants to sleep in our bed and even though we put him to bed in his own room, he comes in our room on the middle of the night. If i wake up when he comes in, i make him sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. If not he comes in our bed and makes me crazy. Its been going on for about 9 months now. I cant fight with him in the middle of the night because he will wake up his younger brother. So if you find a solution, id love to hear it.

I haven't experienced this, but I know my daughter (who will be 4 in Sept) is obsessed with being a big girl. Maybe take her stopping for a new pillow, some new sheets some other cuddly things (my daughter loves just yards of material in her favorite characters), and if she has a favorite toy or cuddly -- but all that stuff has to stay in her room at night. She may opt to ditch all this for the comfort of your bed though.

I like what the other mom said too - when she falls asleep put her in her own bed so that's where she wakes up. Then maybe sleep with her in her own bed for a while when she goes to sleep.

Good luck!

buy here a bed of some cartoon she loves or give here a suprise everytime she tries