Switching to Beds!!!!

I remember going through this not too long ago....My 2 1/2 year old daugter sleeps on the second level of our home and our bedroom is on the main floor. When we moved her to a toddler bed we were concerned about her safety (falling down the stairs), so we put a gate up each night in her doorway (and we still use the baby monitor, so we can hear her if she wakes up in the middle of the night). She did have a little light up aquarium thing that plays music on her crib and we moved it to her headboard--this has been so helpful! Most nights we hear her turn that music on in the middle of the night (self soothing behavior to get back to sleep). I've found that if we use something (like a blanket or the light-up aquarium--something that she has access to in the middle of the night when we're not there) to initially put her to bed at night then if she wakes up in the middle of the night she looks for that ojbect to self-soothe herself back to sleep. With our first child we rocked her to sleep each night, so guess what she expected when she woke up in the middle of the night....yep, mom or dad had to rock her back to sleep. We've wised up a little the second time around, but each kid is so different, aren't they?

I can answer #1. What works for us is we developed a routine before bed. I give her three options and she gets to choose one (reading a book she chooses, singing a song or telling her a story). Before I read/sing/tell her the story, I remind her, "Now remember, once mommy is done you need to go to sleep so you can grow and be a big girl. Do not get out of bed. The door is open so I can see you, hear you and you are safe". She agrees, "Ok"....and then I start the story, etc. I remind her of this every other night and now don't have to anymore. She gets it. Repition and routine...do what works for you, but increase the frequency. Good luck.

We also have 2 1/2 year old twins. We switched them to big kid beds about 2 months ago. We are LUCKY that they ahve always gone to bed reasonably well. However, we do have nights where they play and jump around in there. We just repeatedly and sternly tell them it's ni-ni time not play time. That works for them usually.

They do wake up in the middle of the night and try to join us in our room. We don't let them sleep with us and never have, so we just get up and bring them back to their beds. Sometimes they want us to lay with them, so we make them ask nicely rather than continuing any fit they may be having, and we'll lay for a while. Luckily my daughter usually only wants me to lay for a minute or two before she's telling me "Mommy go ni-ni in Mommy's bed?" My son is a little more needy so we often have to lay a little longer; sometimes we have to wait until he's fallen back to sleep before we can sneak out.

Do you have those bed rails along the sides of the beds? We think it helps our kids feel a little like they're in a crib.

My advice would be to stay consistent, be firm (no matter how many tears!!) and they'll learn that this is their new reality.

Well I would first ask why they got out of bed. If they say I don't know then I would say well lets go lay back down because its really late.Take them back in their room and put them back into the bed. Ask if they need anything and tell them you are going to bed too. What I do to keeps kids in bed is I make a schedule. I give them dinner, play with them a while,then its bath time then I put them in bed and read to them and tell them its time for bed and just leave the room.

S.
When we moved our son into a toddler bed we would put him into bed and say our goodnights with hugs and kisses and then leave the room, door closed. He would then get up and play and then put himself back to bed in about 15 minutes. This still seems to work for him most of the time and he is 3 now. Sometimes I think they just need to have time to come down from the day. As for what to do when they get up in the middle of the night, I am still trying to figure that one out. Our 3 year old is already trying to burn the candle at both ends. He likes to stay up late and then gets up early. Yikes, if he only knew what he has to look forward to he would sleep all the time. LOL Good luck.

HI thre -

I have three y.o. twin girls and we're still not putting them in 'big beds' b/c they are just SOOO roudy at night. We had to get the nets at 12 mos b/c they were climbing out of the cribs.

You didn't mention if you you sleep your twins together?? Tricks for doing that and keeping them in bed would be great to have. I'm sorry that I don't have any advice... I'm just writing to offer sympathy!! :) Good luck!