Seeking Advice on How to Get My Almost 4-Year-old to Sleep in Her Room All Night

If the plastic on the mattress is removable, I would take it off and double up on some fitted sheets if needed. I also use soft nightlights in my children's bedrooms, and that seems to help as well. Could always try lying with her until she goes to sleep, then sneak out afterwards. :)

Hi C.,
I have three children and all were totally different but we had one bed hopper.
Change the mattress pad to a non-plastic but water resistant one. Yes, they are a life saver. Also, a night light, soft music and a consistent time every night that you begin and end your routine. This is key, **consistent routine**. The child will learn to know what to expect and you and your husband's constant reassurance will keep her safe and warm all night in her own bed. It's actually turned out to be the best thing for my daughter who is now almost four in March! This began last year and took up up to three months of working constantly with her and talking about how wonderful bed time is etc. Talking was key also because I learned that it was the bed's noise that she didn't like and I also learned that one corner of her room scared her (hence the night light now).
Hope this was helpful. Good luck and start soon!

I put in a full bed in my daughters room and just put on the floor in between the bed frame. She could "play" on it during the day and it made for an easier transition at night. I also put a gate up so she could not get out of her room. I let her "Play" as much as possible after I put her to bed, but she could not leave her room. It took about 5 nights, but then she was fine. You just have to realize your going to have to suck it up a couple of nights, but better to get it over w/.

My son, who is now 14, had trouble with the toddler bed making noises as well. I took an egg crate foam mattress pad, the kind you can buy at walmart for 10 bucks, cut it down and cut it to fit his toddler bed . Put a sheet over it and about three nights later, he was sleeping in his own bed. Leave a night light or a lava lamp on for your 4 year old. I found that the lava lamp and the fake fish tank from Walmart works the best cause it gives them something to look at while they fall asleep.
Hope this helps.

My daughter just turned 4 in Dec and she still sleeps in uor room too. I also put a bed in the floor for her and it seems to work on keeping her out of our bed. I also did that with my other daughter who is now 7 but sleeps happily in her own bed now. It took about a year but as they say... these things take time. It helps kids to know they have the security of sleeping in the same room with you but not in your bed. It will work after a while but unless you want to suffer the tantrums and crying at night for that week (which didn't work for us anyway) you may want to give it a try. Hope this helps.

We have the exact same problem! My son will turn 4 in April, and he still sleeps in the same room as we do. We have managed to kick him out of the bed by creating a bed for him on the floor beside us. He's learned now (finally) that he can't sleep in the bed with us until the sun comes up. That doesn't help overall with the marriage part of it, but at least we all get sleep now. I've heard all the stories about letting them sleep in their own bed, give it a week and they'll stick to it, that week will be hard, etc., but it just hasn't worked for us. On the other hand, I've also heard that they will want their own bed in time. My best answer for you right now, unless you can suffer through that week, is make a bed for them on the floor beside you. We use a down comforter as the bed, but a cot or a blow up mattress will work too. Good luck! If you come up with another solution, please let me know! (he did mention the other day that he wanted bunk beds in his room - he would sleep on the top and I could sleep on the bottom =)

Go ahead & get your child settled. The sooner you do that the better you will all sleep. My oldest was the same way & her sister,20 mos younger, was my good sleeper. When she got old enough we had 2 w/bad sleeping habits. It has taken us a good 6mos to get everyone sleeping in their own rooms and through the night.

I am anxiously awaiting to read the responses you get to your question because I am in the exact same boat with my 4 AND 2 year old daughters. They are both in my bed each night and it's getting a little crowded. Funny thing is that they don't like to sleep together in my 4 year olds double bed. I too struggle with the idea of destroying their security of sleeping with mom and dad- my 4 year old is just really afraid of the dark and my 2 year old has a lot of nightmares. So I really have no good advice, but did have a couple of thoughts based on what you said in your question. Is there any reason you couldn't get the twin bed now and just have the younger one move into it when she's ready? Also, are you sure a twin bed is big enough for both if your plan is to have them sleep together? I ask this because I always planned on my girls sleeping together so bought my oldest the double bed and my youngest just can't stand sleeping with her sister. One likes the dark, one doesn't. One likes to snuggle, the other doesn't. So while I was hoping that being able to sleep with her sister would help my oldest stay in her bed, that hasn't been the case.

Also, you can get mattress pads for toddler beds that are water proof but not plastic. I have 3 of them because I too thought the plastic sound was making it hard for my older one to sleep. I bought them either at babies r us or target. If you can't find a non-plastic mattress pad, look at target for a waterproof pad. I have one on my king bed and my daughters double bed for just in case purposes. It goes under our mattress pads, but on a toddler bed it would probably cover the whole top of the bed and you could just put the fitted sheet on top. That saves the mattress from wet diapers without being plastic. That might help. Good luck, and I'll be checking out the other responses for some advice.