Getting 3 Year Old to Sleep Through Night

Doesn't anyone out there watch "Supernanny" on Friday night? This is a very common problem with so many parents.They keep "giving in" to the child so the child, confused about who's the athority figure is, continues to cry out. You can't gine in to him or these little things become bigger. They show kids slapping and kicking the parents while throwing their tantrums. It's shocking to me watching the show. Horrified with parents that can't follow thru and children that run the household...little children. Stop enabling him now mom and dad before it gets out of hand. Good luck.

My son went through a similar phase around the same age. My advice is to stick with it, keep putting him back in his own bed and do it with minimal talking. tuck him in, kiss him and tell him to stay in his bed. He will grow weary of this and sleep through again. Be firm before you get stuck with a new baby and a tired defiant boy. When he risks waking his sibling it will be harder, let him learn now with less risk!
We are finally taking the hard line with out 22 month old and letting him cry when he wakes in the night (very late, we know, I've been a sucker for this kid), bu the has gotten the hint very very quickly with minimal drama. Surprised us both! Good luck with new baby, your big boy will be fine very soon!

I have the saem problem with my 3 yo son. Its been going on for 6 months. I tried the putting him back in bed 100 times and he still gets out, or he will fall asleep and then get up at midnight and come in our bed. I havent found a solution and i cant have him yelling all night because i have a 1 year old also. I wish i could help and hope you find a solution. Ive tried everything and still trying!!!!!!!

R.,

I have to aggree with the other mom. Just kiss him and tuck him back in bed. I actually wouldn't even talk to my dtr at night (when she went through this phase). I would just put her back in bed and go back to my room with out a word. The most important thing is to be consistent. It can be hard at first to hear him cry ect. but you will get faster results and it will be less confusing for him. Best of luck.

You're on the right track. stay firm on the bedtime routine, perhaps let him negotiate the number of minutes you will stay. Giving him the "power" to decide may help him feel in control. As for the middle of the night stuff. Our rule was, we went back to the room with the child, addressed the issue (comfort for nightmare, bathroom trip if needed, sip of water if thirsty. etc.) then they had mom or dad for no more than 5 minutes. If there is no excuse for waking, then strait back to bed. The key is to make no big production over it. If he wakes at ta certain time each night and you are desparate, try putting a clock in the room. tell him you will come to check on him at "11:30" (about 15 minute before the ususal wake up time). Do so. give a kiss and leave. When he wakes, you were just there. send him back, no production again.
One other thought, sleep issues in our house always erupted during my 3rd trimester of the next pregnancy. We resolved that it was a way for the soon to be displaced youngest, to be reassured that we would tend to him/her too. With my son, who was 3 during my pregnancy, I appealed to his chivalrous nature. He began to take ME to bed, tuck me in to get rest, then he went peacefully to bed on his own.

Good luck and blessings.

Hi R.,

The only thing that worked with my son was a reward chart for staying in bed. He is a little bit older (5 soon) but we had done this when he was about 3 1/2. He was old enough to understand the payoff if he did what we asked, which was to stay in his bed. We started with a really easy goal, just a few nights and kept upping the number of nights to get his reward. Hope you find something that works.