My 2 1/2 Yr Old Won't Stay Asleep!

I hate Cars too! My almost 3 yo son could watch it every day. I catch up on my reading, folding laundry, etc. now whenever I finally do let him watch it (twice a month or so).

Vacation always messes up their sleep schedules (and add to that this new bed that is easy to get out of...) so just continue to put him back to sleep in his bed and firmly explain that we do not watch tv in the middle of the night. He may cry, but I find it stops pretty quickly if you are consistent, and when my son does wake in the night he is really still exhausted and needs to go back to sleep. Good luck!

Sounds to me like you need to do sleep training.
I feel he would benefit better and STAY in his bed if he is put to bed in his own bed to fall asleep. Do not let him fall asleep in your bed and then try and move him. You also have to realize he is transitioning from a crib to a bed, it is probably a big adjustment for him.
I have read many sleep training books & finally used it for my first born when he was 5 1/2 months old. I never let him sleep in my bed, he needs to sleep in his own and he does no problem. Even in the morning if I am not feeling well (also expecting my second in 3 1/2 months) I try and get him to lay down with me for just a few minutes in the morning and he doesn't want to. I suggest buying the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weisbluth, MD. It will suggest putting him to bed in his own bed after a short but sweet bed time routine and never take him in your bed. It will also suggest staying in his room at all times. It is also okay if they are awake for a while in their room even if they are playing as long as they are quiet and stay in their room. Good luck! I know how hard it is not getting enough sleep when you are exhausted due to being pregnant. So I feel for you! Congrats on baby #2 by the way.

When we changed to a toddler bed it was a bit difficult for awhile too. It also sounds like he is stimulated by the whole cars aspect of the bed. We did a couple of things that seemed to work with our daughter at that age ( she is now almost four). First, we gave rewards for sleeping in her bed all night. The first reward was a lot of praise. The second reward would be a "special treat" like getting to watch a t.v. show or a sweet after breakfast. We would let her choose. Maybe watch the car movie or reading a cars book in the morning after breakfast could be the treat for you son. Another thing we would do with movies that were getting overplayed was just explain she could watch a little bit and select the last few scenes. We also told her if it was dark out we were sleeping and would not be coming in anymore. At one point she started getting up and coming into our room. We put one of those child safety knobs on the door so she could not open it. That way she knew not to come in and we would wake up a bit more and be sure to put her back in the bed. If we laid down with her we limited the amount of time down to two minutes (lessening it every night until we got to two minutes or so). Sometimes they really only need a little bit of comfort or over time by reducing the amount you give them they get used to and accept less time from you and learn to fall asleep better on their own after they wake up. It can cause a few though nights but if you are consistent it will be over before too long.

Hope this helps.

I think he needs to learn to fall asleep in his own bed - getting the new bed was the perfect opportunity to do that... and I suppose after that first night he should have been given oodles of praise that he went to bed like a BIG BOY in his BIG BOY BED and the next night you probably should have stood firm that he do the same and he could earn such and such... (like a Cars movie in the morning?? - sorry!!) It's not too late! Also, I hope you aren't allowing him to watch TV / movie in the middle of the night... or he'll think it's okay that he can ask for this. My little one used to wake up and "want to go downstairs" (as if it's time to really 'wake up') and I had to insist that it wasn't time - pointed out the darkness and that nobody was awake. A few nights of crying about it happened, but she got over that one once she realized it didn't work and mommy / daddy didn't give in. I don't think the size of the bed will help or change his sleeping pattern. Try a stuffed animal or snuggly he can cuddle to help him fall asleep - maybe you can shop together for it so he can pick it out. You also probably need to give it some time because of the vacation throwing off his pattern a bit. Maybe for the next few days you have to run him more ragged than ever - spend lots of time outside - or by the beach / pond / lake - let him run around, bring him in the water, etc..... so he's too pooped to wake up wondering about the movie or where you are... or he might be able to settle much quicker if he's that tired, even after waking up briefly. I'd stand your ground about not letting him come into your bed to "fall asleep", and about not lying down with him in his bed either. Just walk in, tuck in, reassure, leave. Repeat? Once he sees that he's not getting anything other than reminded to go to sleep in his big boy bed all by himself (and possibly earn rewards?? - even a simple sticker chart?), he may give up the "fight". Good luck - I look forward to seeing other responses because we haven't moved my daughter to a toddler or twin bed yet... and I'm afraid that she'll also be getting up all night if we do!! She's always slept in her crib, and never in our bed - but I'm afraid the bed thing will make her think that she can get up whenever she wants to. Keep us posted!