I just the other day got rid of my 2 year olds crib and put him in a toddler bed. (He started climbing out of his crib!) Sometimes he gets out of it though when he should be sleeping. When I hear him get out I go to his room and put him back in bed and tuck him in and tell him its bed time and he needs to stay in his bed. I tell him he is a big boy now and big boys sleep in their beds and stay in their beds. I put up a baby gate so he can't wander out of his room but what else can I say or do?
I've seen a few episodes of Super Nanny where she has dealt with families with this exact problem. I would guess she has a website with tips on the subject.
I know she recommends that you not talk to the child or make eye contact when you go back in. Talking to them wakes them up more and gives them attention. Just put them back in bed and leave the room.
He will outgrow it.
At this age, they do not yet have, fully developed "impulse-control."
Leave him alone, if you have a gate up and his room is child proof, he will eventually stop getting out of his bed when he realizes he'll get no attention and nothing fun is going on. I have a baby moniter in my sons room so I can listen and make sure he goes back to sleep then I'll go check on him. Unless he is crying I leave him alone. Don't be surprised if he falls asleep on the floor sometimes too.
If he can't get out of his room, I just put an extra blanket and pillow on the floor and unscrew his lightbulb so he can't turn on the light. He'll get bored in the dark and eventually relize that his bed is the most comfortable place to sleep! or not, maybe he'll keep sleeping on his floor. My son slept in his pop up tent for almost a year between ages 3 and 4. I didn't care as long as he was sleeping!
it's hard for little ones to understand the imaginary boundaries of a bed. What we did was make sure her room was baby proofed so she couldnt hurt herself if she got out of bed at night.
Our twins are the same way. During nap time they will fall asleep anywhere in the room. At night we sneak back in to make sure they're on the bed and covered with blankets. But, other than reminders (which definitely don't work with our two year olds), there's not much you can do.
My son went through this same thing. We finally got to the point where we had to tell him that if he got out of bed again we would take his pillowpet away from him...and he still got out so we had to take it away and it was awful on all of us but it worked and he didn't get out anymore after that because we reminded him of what happened last time. Now he is almost 3 and totally uninterested in getting out of bed. In fact when I go and get him after a nap he tells me he wants to stay on his bed longer...go figure. You just have to figure out what will work to discipline him and stick with it. This will pass!
I'm in the same boat as you. We just put a toddler bed in my daughters room on Saturday, because she climbed out of her crib also. We've put up a baby gate on her door and shut the door. She comes out a few times before she settles down for the night. Usually after she does it twice i ignore her for a while. We do same thing for naps. It seems to get easier. Hang in there.
It will get better, but it may take a while. Like another poster noted, when you return him to bed, don't speak to him or engage him at all. Just gently and firmly turn him around, guide him to bed, tuck him in and walk out -- don't even repeat the "night-nights." You will feel for a while like this will never end, but it will.
Be sure he's not getting up because something in his room is scaring him; some kids don't cry or get upset but do get wakeful if something in the room is unusual or scary. Remember, a nightlight that seems lovely to you may seem to him to cast weird shadows, or a blanket hanging over the back of a chair that's there all day may look like a monster at night in the dim light. He's probably too young to articulate any concerns like those but look around his room from the new position and height of his toddler bed and think if anything might seem weird or scary from his perspective. Otherwise -- keep on putting him back, without any engagement. He'll soon realize it's not a game and there's no use in trying to play it!
It has only been a few days, so I would give it some time, you are doing it right. He is feeling you out though. My girls, 2 and almost 3 1/2 years old share a room. Our older daughter has been in a big-girl bed since last June and we just taught her that she needed to stay on her bed and be quiet. She did try getting up and coming to the door, she tried climbing into her sister's crib, she tried getting into the dressers, etc. For these kinds of things, we decided that she needed to be spanked for disobedience, when she was really testing the waters. But now she knows what is expected, and generally stays on her bed. Our 2 year old just recently had the rail taken off her crib and 98% of the time she stays on her bed also. Even in the morning, we have taught them to stay on their beds and read or chit chat quietly. They do pretty well unless they are left too long and get impatient. :) You are doing it right! Sometimes you don't even have to say anything if you find him off his bed, just pick him up and put him back and leave.
