Helping 2 Year Old Sleep in His Own Bed!

My son who is now 10 did that til he was 4. I just decided he must have needed to be with me and I knew he would not do it forever. They are only little for so long, now I miss that closeness that we had. Enjoy it, it will not last. Good luck!

I have a 2 year old as well, and he has been going through that on and off, since we moved him to a big boy bed. He will do good for a while, then all of the sudden he wakes up at the same time every night and comes into our room. I try try try to bring him back to his bed, and he usually does ok. He lately has started talking about monster's in his room. He'll come running out of his room "Mommy I'm scary there's monster's." He says he's scary instead of scared. I leave his closet door open all the time, just out of habit, it is a long closet with sliding doors. He has started asking me to close the doors on it, when it's bed time. It's probably just a phase. I think consistency with them is key right now with anything you do. They are learning so much.

Good Luck.

also build a bear you can put a "voice recording" inside of it...so mabe if you recorded your voice that might help.
also have you tried whn he gets up in the night to take him back to his bed and sit on the floor beside him til he gets back to sleep?...and gradually move further from him ut still be there? you may miss some sleep for a little while but it worked on supernanny...lol

At 2 they start having very real dreams. He could be waking up because of those. My sons had dreams like that and the only place they wanted to be was with us. They stopped sleeping with us mostly on their own. But I did stuff to encourage them to also.

Does he have a night light?
Maybe get him a special Bear (that the 2 of you make at build a bear) that scares the monsters away. And the he has to keep safe in his bed.
We have also rewarded our staying in his bed all night with a super special breakfast, or a toy they have wanted for a while.

Good luck

Give him a shirt or gown that you have slept in to sleep with. Even at age 2, he will be comforted by the scent of mom.

I hope this helps.

Blessings,
P. <><

Great suggestions so far...my addition is to stress how much you love cuddle time too. You would love for him to come for cuddles in your bed in the morning when the sun is up. That makes it win/win.

My daughter turned 2 in April, and so far she has loved her big girl bed. Although, she does wake up more than she did in her crib (at least cry out for me anyway). I found what is called a Tyke Light made by Mobi (you can get them at any Target, I bought ours through an ebay store for only $18.88). It is a safe night light that she can hold and sleep with. I have only had it a week, but in that time she has not hollered for me to come in her room once, so I consider it a good thing! She will hold on to it, or put it in the corner of her toddler bed if she wakes up and go back to sleep on her own. This is great news for us because she has never had a security blanket of any sort.

Also, I have always kept her bedroom door closed while she is sleeping even though she can open it herself. I remember being a little kid with a wild imagination, and having my door closed so nothing scary could get in helped me.

I personally feel 2 is to young to put in a bed alone. My 3.5 year old just started sleeping in his big boy bed last week... he is a little scared but more mature to deal with it. Until last week he was in a crib with a crib tent, then we made a big deal of getting a big boy bed just for him and he got to help pick it out... just like we did 2 years ago with our now 5.5 year old.

Hope that helps...
A. J

Would he rather be in his crib? My daughter was completely capable of climbing out of her crib for MONTHS before we actually moved her to a toddler bed. We told her that, when she was ready, we'd move her and the transition has gone well, but she was just shy of 3 years old and was 37" tall when it happened.

We also told her that the first time she decided to climb out of her crib we would be moving her to a bed for her own safety, so she chose not to do what she was capable of in the interest of staying in the crib she loved.

Does your son have a special blanket or plush toy or doll or anything that he sleeps with? Our daughter has used Comfort Silkies her whole life and that has been awesome! She also has LOTS of her "Friends" (babies; plush animals) in bed with her and a stack of books next to her bed. Plus she always goes to sleep either to stories or music.

I say persist in returning him to bed and be aware of any monsters that may require removal from the room...

try to see if the 2 yr. old will sleep with the 9 yr. old

My advice would be back to the crib, 2 is a little young to expect him to stay in a bed that is easy to get out of.

No problem they all do this- Try investing in a real big new stuff animal and maybe pop one of your t shirts with your scent on it-
You are smart to get out of it now- But dont worry- when they are big lugs at 15- they still love to cuddle with mom when they dont feel good- they'll always need you-
Pop in an episode of Super Nanny and hang in there- just keep putting him back in without having conversation.
Have a great summer
D.
www.partyangelsus.com

My daughter goes through the same thing off and on and will be three in September. She has always slept very well in her room when she had a crib. I would have sent her to college in the crib :) if she would not have started crawling out. For her I think sleeping fears are part age, part real fears because they are maturing mentally and it becomes part a test to see what they can get away with...don't underestimate a child's mind! I think my daughter sees how concerned I am and pays off of that at times. It is just knowing your kiddo and helping him learn to sleep alone and helping him learn to manage fear.

We put a gate on her door (after much debate) because she would get up and wander down to our room several times a night (she never slept with us before going to a big girl bed). It is CRAZY how much SHE loves the gate and it solved the getting out of her room issues. I think it really makes her feel secure. We never made the gate a punitive thing...more something for added security. There have been a few times that she cuddles up in front of the gate to sleep and then we just put her back to bed. As far as yelling once the gate is up....she knows if she is quiet her door gets to remain cracked open (this is a big deal) but if she carries on, we will have to close the door because she will wake baby sister.

Now, many times she will remind me to put her gate on her door. Other things we do include talking about her "special room" during the day (so that we can recall those chats at night), she has two night lights, she gets to pick a few books to put in her bed and two small other things out of her room (toy wise). In the evening we always make it a priority to spend at least 15 minutes reading and singing in her room before bed. Once she gets into bed, we let her listen through a music CD as we leave....this allows her time to relax and settle in.

Good Luck! You are doing great and this time will pass before you know it! I know it is tough!

Does he share a room with his brother? Does he complain about "monsters" or whatever? Get an empty aersol can, type on a piece of construction paper that fits the aersol can "monsters be gone". Then before he goes to sleep, spray the room with "monsters be gone". I knew someone that did that with their children 20 something years ago... it worked.