HELP! My soon to be 2 yr old started climbing out of his crib so I moved him to his toddler bed. When we put in down for bed, he cries and walks around his room for about 45 minutes before he goes to sleep. (He rarely cried before when we put him to bed in his crib). My husband and I go in there and tell him that he has to sleep in his big boy bed, which does not seem to help. He is waking up during the middle of the night crying, so we have been going in there with him.
When it is bed time sit beside him after you tuck him in, and read a bedtime story, or sing bedtime songs, and he will soon think his new bed will be a pleasant experience. Doubt if he will be near so apt to wake up either.
Hi C.!
WOW triplets, how do you do it girl? Our son, 5 next week, did the very same thing with his toddler bed. We waited until 3 because he loved his baby bed, and he's our baby! But he would wander around the house, which scared me to pieces, and show up beside the bed BAWLING! It lasted for about 2 months until he settled down. He does not like change, really who does? So we have learned that most big changes send him for a short tail spin, this was not different. We also use a reward system but we rarely use food. We have a dry erase board on the fridge. He gets a smiley face, or frowny face, for things. We will often ask him "how many smiley faces do you want for staying in your bed all night" or whatever the specific goal is at the time. He will perk up and say THREE! For each smiley face he has more than frowny at the end of the week he gets a quarter! He cannot WAIT to spend these at the Dollar Store or Walmart. He is ALL into it and has been since he was about 2! His sister is 8 and she loves this system as well. We use it for eating a good dinner, picking up toys, staying in bed you name it! IT WORKS! Thank you Super Nanny!!!
Good luck and you're doing great! S.
This is hand me down advice. My doctor told me to have my daughter in a toddler bed immediately at 2, because of climbing out, but my Mommy friends told me that didn't work for all of their kiddoes. It DID work for my daughter, she loves her big girl bed and stays in there decently well. One friend's daughter will be 3 in August and she is still in a crib (with the crib tent over it to keep her from climbing out) because she was not ready for the big bed transition, another friend has had her son in a big bed since he was 18 mos old and he STILL does not stay in his bed all night. The reason I am telling you this is to reinforce the "follow your gut' advice. You know your child best, if you don't think he is ready give it another month or so in the crib. I even recommend that if YOU aren't ready to give up that time!! ;o)
Bless you with your triplets! It's a mind-boggling job. We had twins and that taxed us, it's hard to even imagine a 3rd one.
I suspect that he is missing his crib, but he is truly ready for a big boy bed when he can start crawling out of it (dangerous). It's fine that you have to soothe him in the middle of the night, perhaps even lie down with him until he goes back to sleep. It's so painful to listen to children sob at bedtime. Have you tried lying down with him before he goes to sleep? Of course, I also realize that you have 2 more babies that need bedtime assistance.
Good luck to you.
My son is 2 1/2 and we made a big deal out of moving to a "big boy bed" when he turned 2. He got to pick his own bedding to make the transition easier. (He's not great about change either) So we thought letting him choose would help him "nest" a little. We went through several nights of crying before we started to use the Supernanny "stay in bed technique. She says go through you normal bedtime routine and then when it's time for lights out say "It's bedtime darling". When he gets out of bed the first time repeat the phrase. The 2nd time he gets up just say "bedtime". The 3rd and every time after that - you say nothing. You just keep taking him back to bed and walking out. It seems harsh, but believe me - it works! Like a champ! I had to wait until my husband was away to try it b/c he can't handle the crying. But, it took only 22 minutes and 8 times of putting him back in bed for him to fall asleep the 1st night. It got easier every night until about 4 days later, he said, "watch me go to sleep now Mommy" and he really did!! Yea!! It took about 2 weeks for him to quit getting up in the middle of the night, but we just kept up the technique and he realized it wasn't going to change, so he quit getting up unless he had a nightmare. Good Luck!!
I know every child is going to be different, for instance my three year old had no problems staying in his crib...never once climbed out, or even tried as far as I know. He transitioned well into a big boy bed on his third birthday. I think the crib gave him a sense of security. My 20 month old, however, I can see will be a climber, and because I believe the crib provides a security for them, I'm probably going to keep him in it 'till he is three or close to it. I might try one of those crib tents to keep him in safely (if it's not too costly), otherwise I would try the "Supper Nanny" method and keep placing him back in his crib. After a few nights of that (being consistent with it is key) I think he'll get the idea. We have a video monitor on our little guy so we can see if he's climbing out. God bless you and your family
I just moved my son, 3 out of his crib. I was terrified as he loved his crib. He started climbing out about 2 years ago. We did the constant putting himback in w/ out talking, nanny 911 style.
He still likes to get out of bed after a couple nights in the toddler bed, but it helps that we:
read a book
do a reward chart
and let him have a book to read in bed using the light of his nightlight
We do the m and m reward also. The kids need to get to x amount of m and m's and when they do they get a stay up late party where they get to eat their m&m's. Each night they get to put five m & M's in a cup. If they get out of bed or their room one m and m gets taken away. We happen to have 30 as our goal. When tehy reach that goal of thirty we let the,m chose a show and watch it(or book) and they get to have an stay up late ice cream party and put their m & m's on top!
I also think time will help!
HEY fellow triplet mommy! My kiddos just turned three, so I know how it goes. We actually still have our kids in their cribs, but they like to climb out and what we have been doing is putting them to bed, closing the door and then standing just outside of their door. When we hear any kind of 'escape' movement we open the door and stop them. Keep poking your head in, sometimes every minute for 5-10 min. Eventually they realize their efforts are not doing any good and they give up and stay in bed. We have gone from a 2 hour bedtime fight to 10-30 min. of checking on them every few minutes. YEA!!
EASY- Think of his room as an extention of the crib. Place a baby gate at the door and/or close the door. Make sure the room is safe and allow him to get up an explor the room if he chooses not to sleep. Just like you would give him a couple of toys in his crib, make sure there are fun toys that are accessable that he can play with quietly.
We did this with our 18 month old daughter when she started climbing out of the crib. The first night, she cried at the gate, and ultimately fell asleep on the floor. The second night, she wined a little, played and returned to bed to sleep. The third night she turned over and went to sleep. She woke up a few times during the night, but we just placed her back into the bed and left the room.
Good luck.
Why do you feel the need to go in and comfort him?, just go in, put him back in the bed, no words, close the door. This is new to him, but so is his new found ability to manipulate you! Keep tough! If he is not in harms way, put a baby gate at the door and let him put himself back to bed, he is only making sure you are still there. In time he will learn tht you are with out you running in every five minutes. Good luck!
