Bed Time - Glen Saint Mary,FL

OK. i am all for cosleeping. did it with my own son myself. BUT there comes a time when the little one needs to move into their own bed. Your dd is old enough to understand bedtimes and sleeping alone. this is what i suggest. and what i do with my own son, who BTW now sleeps in his own crib all night (well mostly, he just got over being sick so now he is getting up a few times a night again, but hopefully that will end soon) . You need to set up a bedtime routine and let her help. this is my son's routine.

9pm bath
9:15 massage, naked time, brush teeth.
9:30 pj's on, sit in bed while i clean the living room
9:35 bottle (now of course your dd won't get a bottle, but you may want to offer her a cup of water by her bedside, and go potty one last time before going to bed)
Story time, cuddle.
10pm lights out in his crib with his crib toys on to make music and project an image on the ceiling. (they make these for bigger kids too. the Discovery store has them)
It is the same thing every night. All leading to one place, his bed. we never deter from the routine. This way he knows what comes next and isn't suprised when it's bedtime.

you are gonna have to be firm. no getting up and getting mama or daddy. she is old enough to comfort herself. she is not an infant that doesn't know what hte heck is going on. Also, you may want to have her pack a nighttime bag (saw this on nanny 911) this bag contains what she will sleep with. a stuff toy, a blanket, a flash light. No toys mind you, nothing that makes too much noise, except for a lullibye machine or somthing like that. Also, you may want to get a white noise machine for her room. this bag goes with her to bed, and has everything she needs, and has selected herself, to go to bed with. There are no subsitutes or changes. what's in teh bag is what she goes to bed with. After a couple of nights in her own bed, she will become comfortable to sleep in there all night. Let her know that hte only reason she is to get up, is for bad dreams or to use the potty. nothing more. She may sit on her bed and play with her chosen bedtime bag contents, but she is not to leave the bed. (this is what my father did for me when i was younger).
hth
B.

Our daughter is 6 and still sleeps in our room. But, she sleeps in the floor. Some friends of ours went through this and did gradually moved their son out of their room. He was in the floor and every few nights, they moved his sleeping bag further away from their bed. He was eventually sleeping in the hallway, lol. Finally, he took it upon himself and moved all the way into his own bed.

Even though I am a new mother, I had losts of experissce with children. The best advice I can give that she is old enough to award good behavior and good choices. Reward when she sleeps in her own room. Such as a coloring book from the dollar store or maybe her favorite meal. Something small and simple.

I haven't had this problem yet, but a friend has. She solved it with bribery, basically. She told her son that he could have a wanted toy if he stayed in his room for a solid week. They charted his progress on a calendar together. He didn't get the toy until he did so for a week and then it was taken away until he could do a solid week again. It worked. Good luck.

Hello D.,

I have 3 children...14 yr old girl, 7 yr old boy, and 4 yr old girl. I allowed my children to sleep in my bed too, for similar reasons. My husband and I always worked opposite shifts so that my children wouldn't have to spend a majority of their day in daycare. (and to cut down on that daycare expense). I worked the FT 2nd shift so it seemed like the only time I could spend with my babies was cuddling with them while they were asleep. I am one that believes that it is healthy and nurturing to allow the kids to climb in mom and dads bed and sleep. If it were up to me, I'd get two king sized beds and put them together and let them sleep with me as long as they wanted to. LOL (my husband on the other hand, well... lets just say he's allowed the kids to sleep in our room under protest).

But, the bed is only so big, and when I had my now 4 year old, my now 7 year old eventually had to get the boot. (yes, there was a long period of time when I had 2 kids in the bed with me. Lots of nights my husband ended up on the couch) It was really difficult at first transitioning him to his own bed. There were a lot of nights we insisted he stay in his bed, but find him sleeping at the foot or edge of our bed in the middle of the night or in the morning. :o( I'd say it took a good 2 months or so before he was sleeping in his own bed with no issues. Recently, I've transition my 4 yr old to her own bed as well. Went through the exact same thing with her. One thing seems to work for me though...when I tuck her in at night, I ask her, do you PROMISE you'll come in my room in the morning and give me a hug and wake me up? She gets all excited and tells me yes and goes to sleep, as if she cant wait until the morning to come do that! We usually have to cuddle for a few minutes before we get ready for our day.

All of that to say if you and your hubby are ok with her being in your bed, then I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with her being there. I know that popular opinion in our culture would tell you otherwise, but I am living proof that it is harmless and in fact, beneficial! In any case, I'm sure soon she will get to the point that she will want to sleep in her own bed, because she knows that others her age do. I know my now 14 yr old got to that point around 8.

Hi D.,
My daughter who is now 6; started coming in our bed only when there were "big" changes in her routine. To us the parents there were any "big" changes but to her it was.
We just told her to go back to bed before she would even make it to the bed. She would try and sneak back in and we were just very consistant with this.
Now, if my husband goes out of town- it is a treat if she wants, she come lay in the bed with me- but my rule is she has to lay on daddy's side of the bed. She can not be too close because I don't want her to become attached to having to be too close to somebody while sleeping. So far this has worked.

Just be consistant with what ever method you chose to go with & I wish you the best of luck. With our daughters being so close in age if you have any other questions or thoughts that might help me just send me a message. God Bless :) L.