Suddenly Has to Sleep in Our Bed

When he cries, go to him, but do not pick up. Soothe or settle him the best you can in his crib, or just sit in the room with him until he falls asleep, then leave. The more you pick him up, the worse the problem becomes. Honestly, you may have to listen to a little crying until he readjusts to his former sleeping habits. My son still does this type of thing from time to time, but we stay firm on how to handle this, and in a night or so he is back to sleeping through the night just fine.

I am all for doing what gets the family the most sleep. A study shows that most parents use a combination of sleep methods. What we do with my son, is rock him to sleep and put him in his crib. The first time he wakes up, usually between 1 to 4 AM, I give him something to drink and attempt to rock him back to sleep. If this doesn't work, I put him in bed with me and he sleeps til morning. My suggestion is, do whatever allows you to sleep. MOST people will disagree with me on this, but the child will eventually learn to go back in his own bed and sleep through the night. It might just a little longer than we parents would like. If you don't have a problem with him sleeping with you, let him. If this is something that doesn't interest you, then try something else. Whatever you do, follow your heart, and don't let people tell you there is one right way of doing things! Cry-it-out is not the only right way. Co-sleeping is not the only right way. The right thing is what is best for your child and family.

It may just be a phase, (teething comes to mind, those back teeth are the WORST, in my opionion) I suggest holding and comforting and just really trying to get him back into the crib gradually, go ahead and enjoy a few nights with the little guy next to you; my 3.5 y/o was like that, too, and we let him sleep next to us a few nights and eventually got him back into his crib for a good long sleep everynight. Now, when we tell him it's bedtime, there's no problem. Babies will let us know what they need, just don't let them "milk-it" too much, follow those beautiful motherly instincts and eventually he will be back in bed. :) good luck, I think there's no safer place than a parent's arms. :)

It sounds like it's age appropriate seperation anxiety, but in order to avoid the long-term habit to form I recommend the book The No Cry Sleep Solution - you could probably get a good used copy on half.com or amazon.com...

it's a quick read, and it's not a book that suggests 'cry it out' methods, it directly addresses the seperation anxiety. From what I understand from our ped., the seperation anxiety typically occurs 3-4 times during early childhood... so it's to be expected. Handle it with love and care :)

Good luck!