Desperately Seeking Experienced Mommies Advice

We use a baby gate. She can see out and you in but it keeps her from wondering. I have 3, 5, 3 and 1 and I know that at that age they also like to put things in the crib with the baby. I would sometimes find my middle daughter sleeping in the crib with the baby. Gates are good!!

You make it sound like locking her in her room would be cruel - the ultimate horror. I have two very active little girls (now 3 and 4) who moved into toddler beds at 2 and 3. There are 2 doors out of their room - one to the hall and one to our bedroom. If they are unlocked, they sneak into the bathroom or our bedroom before they go to sleep. Locked they either go right to sleep or play with each other for a little while and get to sleep without getting into anything dangerous. It is NOT a fire hazzard like some people will tell you since at 2 yrs old you are going to get her anyway no matter where you are in the house. My 3 and 4 yr old can tell you to "stop-drop-roll," call 911, and meet outside at the big tree, but I certainly wouldn't expect them to get out on their own.

S.

Hi

My daughter did the exact same thing night after night , turns out that she had gotten to big for the toddler bed , she rolls around alot and there just wasn't enough room in the bed. We put her in a regular twin and she sleeps all night with no waking her getting into our bed. If you are concerned with her falling out then get bed guards either side so that she cannot fall or put the mattress from the toddler bed on the floor so she has a soft landing.

Hope this is some help

K.

without talking take her by the hand and take her back to her room and tuck her in bed. if anything say goodnight or its time for bed as your tucking her in nothing else. then leave. do this everytime she comes out and soon se will get the idea.

My son did that too. I just put a babygate up in his doorway so he couldnt come out but he wasnt really locked in. That was the only thing that worked for us

How long has she been doing this?
We got a normal bed for my daughter right before she turned two. She went through a phase for about two weeks (maybe more?) where she would do the same thing - sometimes so silently that I'd wake to find her tucked under my arm. Then she stopped. Occasionally she'll come into my room in the wee hours and ask to snuggle, or I'll find her asleep in my bed when I am headed there at night. Sometimes we take her back to her room - and she's fine - sometimes we let her stay. In any case, it wasn't a permanent thing and she's very well adjusted even with the occasional climb into our bed again. I'd say don't sweat it unless it's been going on for a very long time without stopping.

We had the same issue with our daughter, we used a baby gate at her door. It worked, we tried it for our 2 nd baby but she was monkey and would climb over it. Good luck

I don't think your friends advice to lock her in her room was neccessarily wrong. You don't do it to be mean you do it for her own safety. Think about it this way - what types of danger can a 2 year old get into at night on her own in the house?? If shes comming into your room, where else can she go. Are you positive she can't get into anything that might hurt her - even lotion could be dangerous if she decided to eat it? That being said we close our childrens door and have a babygate outside so they can open the door and see or yell out. I have also used the door knob covers. I'd prefer not to reverse the door locks, but I'd do it to keep them in thier safe zone while I am sleeping.

Well first off you might think your being mean by locking the door. But as it is she's not safe. Like i told a lady i did childcare for she's coming to your room now but she will soon notice there isn't anyone awake she is waking you and will choose not to. Just as i was saying that a night or two later they found their daughter down stairs i utility closet with the hot water heater and playing in a gal. of paint. So you need to stop her. Weather it's figure how her reg. time of getting up and waking up before hand, locking her door so she can't get out, putting a baby monitor and listening in on her. Putting a baby gate (if she can't get through it) in her room way. But at some point she will realize she is waking you and with out you she can get into things she can't with you. She will start doing that. Good luck.

This happened to us around 20 months. and quite frankly it was exhausting. but here is what we did. we got up the first time and tucked her back in, kissed goodnight and said sweet dreams etc. the 2nd, 3rd, 4th...100th we said NOTHING. only took her hand led her to bed. tucked her in and walked out. after a while she got the idea and HATED us not interacting with her! and it was HARD! be strong! 3-4 nights later...no more walking round! every once in a while something will wake her and we try to get her back to bed with as little interaction as possible. quick diaper check / dry sheet check and in ya go!
best of luck!

My 2-year-old would do the same thing, so we are keeping her in a crib for a long time, well, until at least 3. If that is not an option, I have heard that walking her back to her room EACH time she comes to yours, is ideal. This could take many, many walks! But eventually it should stick.

We had this same problem with my daughter when we moved her into a toddler bed. (For us we did not want to take the chance she would fall from her crib and definitely didn't want to use a crib tent from a few horror stories we had heard.)

Anyways, we introduced a star chart and explained to her that if she stayed in her bed all night she would get a star in the morning. She got to choose the color star every morning. We also chose a present that she really wanted and told her that once she got three stars she would get the present. (Once she got three stars and a present, she then needed to get 5 stars for a present, then ten, and so on. Eventually just getting the star was motivation enough.)