I have a 7 year old boy who will not sleep in his own bed. I have done his room up his favorite charter which is buzz light year. He sleeps with me when my husband is gone at work which is each night or if hubby is home he sleeps on floor. I am in need of help.
Thanks for all the input. I am going to give a couple a try and see what happens.J.
I have not had this trouble, as I only have stepchildren. However, my friend told me what she did with her son. She recommends laying with him in his bed until he falls asleep and also to put a nightlight in his room. Now he sleeps in his own bed just fine, without Mom or Dad.
Hope this helps!
N.
We have been through this with all of our kids 6, 2, and 1. It used to bother me. Especially when I was the one getting booted out of my own bed! But then again I say pick your battles and if that is the worst your good! It is nice to have them around and someday soon thye will be too big and not want to cuddle with mom and dad. So all in all I say he will start to go on his own especially when he realizes tht there is more room in his own bed!
I have suffered from the same problem from time to time. Have you tried the rewards system? I began rewarding my son with Internet time when he would sleep in his own bed all night long and it was an excellent incentive for him. I have my bed to myself again! (Actually, it's me and the cat, but the cat is easier to deal with than a 65 pound growing boy!)
J., you need to watch Supernanny also. She, on many occasions, has addressed the issue of children not staying put in their own beds. I'll try to explain it, but you really must see when she takes this problem on in one of the shows. She has the parent put the child in his bed, then leaves the room and closes the door. Out comes the child! The parent walks to child back into bed, says NOTHING, tucks him in, and leaves the room, closing the door. Out comes the child again! Sometimes this will go on for 1 hour, and the parent is completely silent, while taking the child back into his bed, tucking him him and leaving the room. Eventually, it works. Really, it does. Like I said, you have to see it.
We never, ever allowed our twin daughters to sleep in our bed. Mainly, because we have a queen size bed and we are two large-sized adults and there simply was never room. Also, my husaband is an extremely restless sleeper, and with his size and constant moving of his 6'5" frame and 320 lbs, he would most certainly have rolled onto the child and crushed her. So, I'm glad we never had to deal with that issue, as many parents do after allowing their child in their beds.
Good luck. Watch Supernanny at 9pm on (I think) Tuesday or Wednesday nights - every week its on!
Have you tried staying in his room with him until he falls asleep? Make boundaries clear. Once it starts it's hard to stop. Stop all drinks after 7pm so that potty is not an excuse. Tell him when he wakes up to turn his pillow over to the "good dream" side and think of happy times (vacations, movies, games) and remember that you are always there but you need your sleep too. Consistency is very important.
J. - I know you are looking for advise and support on getting your son to sleep in his own bed/room. But as a mom of a 10 year old girl and 7 year old son who still often sleep with me (or have me sleep with them), I can only say ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS. I am often critizied because I still let my kids sleep with me. I hear all the negatives of how they won't become independent, they'll have trouble sleeping through the night on their own, they'll develop sleep problems and dependency problems, etc. I say BS (excuse my language). My kids are very independent and have no trouble spending the night away from home, or sleeping by themselves if I insist. Actually, I am probably the one with the problem - I can't sleep without them. I know how quickly they have grown...how quickly they will continue to grow. Before we know it, they will not want to sleep with us, or want us to sleep with them anymore. I honestly believe that making them sleep by themselves (making it traumatic or a struggle and battle - either with them or my husband) is more harmful that letting them be close to me just these few more years that they want to. I often sleep in their room, and when they fall asleep, go to my room. If they wake in the middle of the night and call for me, or come to my room, I let them crawl in bed with me....or I go crawl back in bed with them. I will admit that I don't have a very good quality of sleep, but I think my quality of life (and theirs) would be much less without these moments of closeness and companionship that we share as we sleep next to eachother at night. So my advice, as bad as it may sound/be, is to give-in to your 7 year old and enjoy these moments while you can. Soon he will be 14, 17, 27 and you will cherish the memories of his closeness to you all those nights so long ago, and the beauty of that perfect, peaceful child that lay next to you or cuddle/snuggled with you before he feel asleep. And all those nights you talked about the days events, problems they were having, reading them books, them reading to you, making up stories, etc....we do all that for a good hour while in bed before we finally fall asleep. There is something in the darkness of the room (even with a nightlight) that makes your kids feel close to you (and you to them) and lets them confide in you things that they would likely never tell you during the busy day or evening before bedtime. They feel secure with you next to them as they fall asleep...you feel secure with them next to you all night long. While I agree it is not the popular approach, ours is a FAMILY bed and I know that my relationship with my children is so much stronger because of it. Good Luck! H.
Hi, I understand your concern about this. Is your little man an only child? Have you tried putting a night light or a special fiber optic light in his room too watch? This is a tuff one too deal with, iv had too go through it with my sister's one son and my youngest grand daughter.
C.
J.,
Hi, I think that has been a special time for you and your little one to cuddle at night, but now he is getting to the age he needs to sleep in his own bed for all of your sake, especially his. He needs to make that transition if he is going to ever sleep in his own bed, in his own room. The longer he goes, he may become scared, then you will have a bigger, harder problem to solve.
Just my opinion,
K.
My daughter is 7 and she was going through the same thing. I put a nightlight in her room and also a string of lights that goes around her closet door. We also made an agreement that if she sleeps in her bed all week that she can bring a sleeping bag into my room on Friday night and sleep or she can watch a movie in her room on Friday nights. The first 2 weeks she chose to come into my room, but now she opts for a movie. She did keep coming out of her room a million times the first couple of nights, but you just have to stand strong and tell him that he's a big boy!! Just be consistant in whatever you decide to do!! Good luck!
Along with the advice of a night light you could also put glowing stars on the ceiling. My son has this and likes it.
Or do you have a pet he can sleep with? My kids take turns sleeping with our dog, then when I go to sleep I put her in her area.
Also, on the nights your husband works do not allow him in your bed, if he wants he can be on the floor. Maybe he'll tier of this and go to his bed???
GL:)
I have read that when this happens to sit on the floor while your son is in his own bed until he falls asleep if necessary. Each night move away from the bed a few feet until your sitting outside his door. Then he shouldn't need you at all. If you haven't already tried it, it may be worth a try! Good luck!
