My daughter is 2 years & 3 months. We recently transitioned her from a crib to a toddler bed. She's doing pretty good so far. She will let you walk her in her room, climb in bed & take a nap. She will also do that same at bedtime. The tricky part is getting her to sleep through the night in her toddler bed. She wakes up frequently. What is the best way to handle this? Do I let her cry it out, keep putting her back in bed, sit in her room until she falls asleep? I know every child is different so what worked for other moms may not work for me. However, I am open to suggestions.
Try Super Nanny style. Just quietly put her in bed, over and over and over until she gets the point..... kids can be stubborn. I watched one episode where a mom put her kid in bed over 50 times before the kid stayed there!!
I received a piece of advice when I had my first baby, "start as you mean to continue." In other words, don't introduce a system or habit that you don't want to be using a few weeks, months or years from now. So, if you want to lay down with her until she falls asleep, then by all means do so, but know that it may (or may not, kids are tricky!) mean you need to do it for the long run.
We switched our daughter to a bed at 18 months so we could use the crib for the new baby that would be arriving the following month. She is now 2 years and 4 months old, and for the most part all is fine.
We use the Supernanny approach for when she gets out of bed, and just lead her back into bed. Sometimes it takes 30 times but most of the time it's just once or twice. We also put a gate on her door. If she doesn't go to sleep for a nap, then she'll quietly play in her room for an hour and it means we don't get woken up by her tickling our noses at 3am.
Personally I don't consider crying at night to be CIO at this age. If my daughter is upset or ill, then I absolutely go comfort her. There's a distinct difference between crying because something is genuinely wrong and that is immediately tended to, and crying because she is frustrated by having to go to/stay in bed. Those tears are ignored, much like I'd ignore a tantrum over not purchasing every piece of candy or doll at Target. Simply say, "it's time for sleep, I love you, good night." The end. If she learns that the tears get attention, then they'll continue.
Anyway, that's what works for us. It's far from perfect but so are we and she!
If she is getting up and walking around in the middle of the night, I would suggest sleeping on her floor for a week ( air mattress, 20$ at Target) and when she gets out just put her back in. other than that I would let her cry it out.
Here are some things we did with ours. We bought them a new stuffed animal to sleep wtih and my mom made them a quilt. They stopped taking naps, and were more tired at bedtime. And we compromised. If they didn't want to be in bed, they could sleep in a sleeping bag. It was fun, and it kept them in their room. Other then that, just keep putting her back without any fuss or attention.
Toddler beds = all night party! I would go into my kid's room, put them back in the bed, and sit in the chair for a couple minutes to let them know I'm there but they're not going to get out of that bed. I would have to repeat this a couple times a night at first, but after a couple of weeks of this, they got the point. Good luck to you!
The transition to a toddler bed was easy for us. We got our son cars themed bedding--he loves it. At naptime/bedtime we read him a few books and then turn out the lights. I sit by his bed until he falls asleep. Have you tried keeping a cup with some water in her room just incase she is thirsty? We also have a video monitor in my son's room. If he wakes up, I watch him on the monitor to see if he gets out of bed. If he stays in bed, he will go back to sleep but if he gets up, I get up to put him back to bed. We also have an old computer in his closet and speakers mounted on his walls to play lullibies all night since he is a very light sleeper and our upstairs neighbors can be very noisy.
I was never able to handle letting my son cry it out--I would end up very mad and in tears myself.
Mine used to get out of bed at night too and I let her cry it out and did not continually go into her room. if you're coming up there everytime she gets out of bed and cries...she recognizes this and the behavior will continue. My daughter typically cried for about 10 minutes and then just gave up. Her pediatrician said let it go on for 30 min maximum or if she seemed genuinely upset to go in...but other than that...let her cry a little. She'll eventually start staying in her bed. Good luck!
Try skipping the nap and see if it helps with the night time sleep. Some children just don't require naps. Also, does she have a night light in her room. That always seems to help.
We also just started our 2 year old daughter in the toddler bed. She naps in it fine, and will fall asleep at night in it, bu when I go get her in the AM, she is asleep on the floor with her pillow and blanket. So, I have no idea what it is. lol Sorry I am not much help.
