Getting Out of Bed

My son was getting up 15 times a night and now it has started agaian because we have converted his crib to a toddler bed. All we do, it takes about a week to break, is camp out in front of his door and listen. As soon as we hear him touch that floor he is picked up and dropped right back in his bed. No talking, no nothing. That is what he wants is to talk and see mommy or daddy so we don't give it to him. We also tried talking and spanking, I think it just made the two of us more angry at him that we had to do those things. But after about 15 minutes that is that. He is in his bed and he knows that if he gets up he is just going to lay right back down. Just be consistant and it will work I promise.

I have this problem occassionally when mine just gets over tired. I sit right outside his door (where he can see me) and I avoid looking at him. As soon as he gets out of bed I put him back, no talking, no eye contact. He is not getting my attention. I wait until he has calmed enough that I know he won't get out again. Good Luck.
R.

With my son, I would talk to him less each time. The first time would be the routine, the second time would be I love you but it's bed time, the third time would be I don't want you to get back up or I'm going to be extremely mad (normally this was enough for him to not get up. Fourth time and on out, I would not say a word. I let him cry it out one night with me outside his door where he could see me and the next night he was fine. BUT STILL if I give one one night or even during nap time to let him change his routin a little bit, it gets a little chaotic around here for a night or two.

S.,

We have been there! We have a 3 1/2 year old. He never had problems with getting out of bed until around 2 years old (he'd been in a twin bed since 18 months old). We would have to keep putting him back in bed time after time after time - sometimes up to 20 or more times. I guess the key was consistency. We did the Super Nanny technique of not talking to him after the third time. Just saying that it was time for bed the first time, then nite-nite, then I forget what. But, the bottom line is that we tried spanking too - and found that we had spanked/swatted him too many times because it was ineffective. Eventually, we came up with the '2 rules' that we would go over before bed each night. 1) Stay in bed 2) Be quiet. To this day, the rules are remembered and currently observed for the most part. He's gone thru phases of lapsing - but ultimately they've just been phases that we've handled the same way - each time.

Hang in there - it is SO frustrating, I know.

T.

I have worked in daycare for a couple years , and with this age, it's all about control. A 2 and a half year old will always try to control his environment, much to the dismay of his parents and caregivers. Consistency is the key in breaking this habit. Make a firm bedtime routine, such as a bath, pajamas, a story in bed, then kisses and goodnights. Whatever you do, stick to a routine so your child knows what is coming next, and after a few weeks, he will know that this is what is happening every night. Try hard not to stray from your routine. Kids this age love to know what's coming next, and routine is a way to help them control themselves.

Boy does that sound like my daughter. We tell her we will check on her in 10 minutes and that seems to usually satisfy her. Then we go check on her and if she is still awake we let her know we are checking on her and will check again. That way she knows we are still there and looking out for her.

I had the same problem and finally had to put my daughters crib back together so she and I could get some sleep. I just don't think she was ready yet. I've also had friends that swear by putting a baby gate at the door, that way if he gets up he can still see you and their son usually goes right back to sleep.

My son just started doing this- he's in the same age group as yours.

I tell my son as I tuck him in
"Good Night, sweetie. Don't get out of bed until the sun is awake. Then I want you to come downstairs and find me and we will have breakfast."

So far it works... but now he's addicted to me saying that EXACTLY the same way every night...

I've also found cutting his naps down to a one hour nap helps and no sleeping after 1:30 in the afternoon is permitted anymore.

I have also started making him seperate meals that are higher in tryptophan (think turkey, warm milk and that sleepy feeling)--- it tends to keep him asleep longer. So now, he's down at 7:30pm and gets up around 6-6:30 am instead of at 10pm, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm...etc...