Bedtime Help - Salem,OH

When my daughter was about 2-3, I gave her "special bear" ........... It was my teddy bear when I was a child. I told her he would protect her and keep her bad dreams away. She's 10 now and sometimes she'll still cuddle with him at night. I don't know if he is scared? ....... Maybe put a baby gate in his door so the door can stay open but he can't come out? Or, think of an award system for the nights he can fall asleep in his own bed (whatever he really likes) ........ Just throwing out ideas :-)

If he's afraid to be alone, consider a large stuffed animal or something. Make it a big deal for him to have this toy at night. I leave my DD's "big light" on - it stays on til we go to bed.

Well it is going to be difficult to just break the habit. There might be crying, but if you really want to have him do it on his own you'll have to bear with it! My daughter was 22 months when we moved her to a bed and I have to be honest...it was a nightmare. It took months to get her to stay in bed, but we stayed consistent and it finally worked. I'm not into co-sleeping so that wasn't an option for me. I would make sure you do the same basic thing every night like bath, story, bed. Read the stories in his room on his bed so he gets used to it. Maybe even pick out some new stories or go to the library and check out some together.

I like the idea of letting him pick out a new animal to sleep with. Also, we have the Dream Lites and they are awesome! Both my kids love them and maybe this would help him feel at ease in his own room. Regular Pillow Pets are pretty adorable too and might do the trick as well.