My son is 28 months and we are expecting baby #2 in February. We just started him in the big boy bed. We are having a TERRIBLE time with him staying in it for his nap. I am ready to get some serious gray hair over it! He is fine at night and has had no night wakings in about a week. I have threatened him by saying, "stay in your bed." I have stayed outside of his door and put him back in the bed everytime he gets out. I have given him a sticker for everytime he stays in the bed for the night or naptime and he will earn a toy after 30 stickers are on his chart. He has not napped for 2 days in a row this week and I went through this last week for 4 days in a row. He is so tired by nighttime he crashes at 7pm, but I cannot have him not napping at all. He went from napping 2-4 hours in a crib to 0-2 hours since we started him in the bed. HELP!!!!!
Hi everyone! Well, I appreciate the responses. I agree that 30 stickers is too many! The only thing is none of the other feeback has been very helpful because he has no toys in his room right now and he DESPERATELY needs this nap. He is a bear when I finally retreat and get him up 2-3 hours of fighting with him. He is so tired that we put him back to bed for the night at 7. He is ready by 5pm, BELIEVE ME!!!!!! He only sleeps 8-9 hours at night so he needs closer to 12-13 hours total so the nap is still needed. He can't function- is not as coordinated when walking/running, gets more bumps and bruises, and just is not himself without the nap. Thank you all for taking the time to write, but I still don't feel like I have some good tips to try, except for reducing the sticker count.
It may not neccesarily be the bed. That may be just coincidental. My son stopped wanting naps at his age. But....he did start sleeping through the night for 11-12 hours at a time. I guess it just depends on the child. My daughter napped until she was 5. Try maybe skipping the naps and going for quiet time instead and see if that works.
Good luck,
R.
I agree with the post that said that 30 stickers is too many. I just read on Baby Center.com about the transition to a big bed and they recommended 3 or 4 stickers.
We haven't made the transition yet for my 28 month old son. Fortunately he's still really happy in his crib, doesn't climb out, and we have no pending baby like you do... but I will be interested in others responses for future.
My son is like that too and he's gonna be 3 in November. We started out putting a baby gate up so that he could see us if he needed to, but then he figured out how to climb up and over the gate so we had to put door knob covers on the inside and outside door knobs and close him in that way. We tell him that if he wants to play in his room for awhile, then that's fine, but he needs to go to bed. And he usually plays for another 40 minutes or so and then climbs in bed, and his sister does the same (they share a room.) Good luck and congrats on the new baby!
He may be getting to the age where he doesn't need a nap everyday. I put my daughter in her toddler bed at 24 months. I never had a problem getting her to go to sleep at night. Naps are another thing. She doesn't stay in her bed, but most days she will play quietly in her room for 1-2 hours which is a welcome break for me. Other days she will play for a bit and then crash. Now at almost 28 months she doesn't usually nap but maybe one day a week. She too will fall asleep in the car in the evening or sometimes just watching tv with us. Sleep for an hour. But she is still ready to go back to bed by 9pm. Follow his mannerisms you will be able to tell if he needs a nap. If he is acting like he needs one try putting him down and after a little while I'm sure he will fall asleep even if it isn't in his bed, ie the floor at least he is getting the sleep he needs.
This is just my opinion but I think 30 stickers is too many. That basically means he has to wait anywhere from 2 weeks to a month to see any results. You dont even have to make the 'surprise' a toy, it can be you sit and watch a whole movie with him or you go to the park for awhile.
J.- My son just turned 2 Aug 6th, and we put him in a big boy bed. At first he didn't know what to think, but he got new room decor to match his bed, so he was excited...lol. He didn't want to stay in bed at nap time at first. His room is baby/toddler proof, so I would just shut his door, and let him fall asleep on his own. At first he would get up and play with some of his toys, and when I would go to get him up, he'd have a little of this and that in bed with him, but all in all it worked GREAT.... If your comfortable doing it that way, then give it a try. He does really good in his bed now. Sometimes I can still hear his little feet walking around up there after I lay him down for nap, but he always goes back to his bed and falls asleep on his own. Good luck. I hope this helps!!
