Oh my gosh, I am completely at my wits end! I had every intention of keeping my 20 month old in her crib as long as I could. Well, we went on vacation and she climbed out of her playpen and then when we got home, she got her confidence up and climbed out of her crib! We had a twin bed already set up in her room , so we put her in it. She was fine for like a week. And she still is fine for naps. At naptime, I put her down and she goes right to sleep without a problem. The problem is nighttime. She goes down to bed at the same time as her sisters around 8pm. She watches us say goodnight to her sisters and she does too. Then starts an hour and a half of her coming out of her room and us promptly sticking her back in. Here is what we have tried: Me sleeping on her floor until she falls asleep (will not do that anymore!), having her nap earlier, having her nap be shorter, nice bedtime routine (books, prayer, songs...), starting 1/2 hour early, every 5 minutes talking about night-night and that she is going soon, giving her food before bed (thinking she might be hungry?), having hubby put her down, etc. I feel like we have tried it all. Nothing is working! I saw on SuperNanny, she just kept putting the child back in bed and it worked, but it's not working for us! Her crib is still set up in her room, but she has no interest in her crib anymore. She likes her bed. She has a favorite blankie she takes to bed and she has a sippy cup of milk before bed. She also has a night light on in her room, so it isn't dark. Like I said, she is absolutely fine for naps and has no problem going down. Please help! Hubby and I need our time back!
You mama's are awesome! You were right, consistency is key and NO TALKING! She still gets out, but only 3 times and it's down to 15 minutes total. I see the light and think maybe in another couple of weeks she will go in with no problem at all! Thanks again!
Do not make it worth it for her to get out of bed, make it very unexiting, Keep putting her back and all you have to say is "Goodnight." Seiously...enough of this and she will be over it. Good luck!!!
we bought one of those national geographic moon night lights that slowly turns off by the phases of the moon. it worked for my 20 month old (at the time) to even stay in a twin bed. he is now almost 3 and sometimes tries to get out of bed and we can use it as a threat "if you get out of your bed again we will turn the moon off." we also keep the remote by his bed so if he still awake when the moon goes off he knows to just click the remote a few times and the moon fills back up and starts over again.
I put a child safety gate at the door of the bedroom when I switched my children from the crib to the toddler bed. This way they could not leave the room and definitely could not roam around the house during the night or early morning before I knew they were awake. I would often find them sleeping on the floor at the gate and just move them to the bed for the first month or two. After the first few months, I had no problems with them sleeping in the bed. They would sometimes play in their room for a little while before going to sleep and I just acted like I did not notice.
I'd advise against the crib tent as once a child can stand and try to climb out they can become entangled and suffocate...sadly it has happened.
I learned that just like on Supernanny and according to the authors of "The Sleepeasy Solution" you just HAVE to continue putting her back in bed, no communication, no lights on, until she learns you mean business, even if that's 500 times a night, consistence is the key....that is, if you and your hubby really want your time back.
http://www.amazon.com/Sleepeasy-Solution-Exhausted-Parent...
I went through this with my son when I was 8 months pregnant with my fourth- exhausted, tried the supernanny thing, and hours later every night he was still popping out. As well as middle of the night etc. I put a crib tent on, bought some velcro from Home Depot and velcroed the heck out of the tent to the crib. He had no chance with it. Then we made a big deal about his special tent, decorated the inside of it, put a monitor back in the room, and it took one week of sleep training him to it and he went in without a peep. I would pay a thousand dollars for that thing, saved my sanity and my mental health. He transitioned to a bed great once he was a little older and could understand the rules.
Duct tape? Just kidding. :)
I echo what the other mammas say, consistancy without communication. If we do something enough times the right way (not the easy way) then it will stick with children. Just keep putting her back without talking or communicating with her. She will get back on track.
Also, if she is climbing out of the crib its really time to transition to a big girl bed. I would suggest you do it now while you are already dealing with the escape artist phase, it will save you stress of having to transition later...plus she could get hurt.
Take the crib out--since she's climbing out of it.
Just keep doing the Supernanny thing...and remember NOT to talk or engage her in any way while you're doing it.
Good luck!
Kids this age and this young, do not have, fully developed Impulse-Control... nor at-will control.
Put a mattress on the floor.
Its safer.
Short of locking her in there, you need to assist her.
And it will be repetitive.
They lack impulse-control.
She needs a sensory diet of activities leading up to bedtime to help recruit serotonin, dopamine and acetycholine to her brain. Works like a charm! They can't fight chemicals.
