Arghhh keep waking up to 4yo DD in my bed. Need to stop it. Any ideas?

[megandsoph]

Title says it all really. I go to bed and she and her sister are happily asleep in their beds, but every morning this week I wake up to find her in my bed. I would have no problem with this if I wasn't about to have another baby who will be sleeping in my room.

The main problem is the fact that I never wake up to realise she is coming in my room to stop it. I have tried telling her about the baby coming, which has probably made things worse.

Have no clue how to stop her doing it other than stagging on and waiting up to catch her but not sure what time she comes in this will be extremeley difficult.

Any suggestions please??

[MrsWednesday]

My DS1 (also 4) started doing the same thing just before Christmas, and if he didn't creep in quietly in the night, he'd wake up and start shouting and screaming about various things, often keeping us up for hours at a time.

We had some success with a star chart - at the weekend he earnt a trip to the cinema after staying in his bed all night for a week. We also gave him a cuddly toy doggy that he takes to bed at night - it is invested with magical powers to keep bad dreams at bay.

When I posted on here earlier in the year it did seem to be a surprisingly common thing for children at this age, not sure why but perhaps it's because their imagination starts to run wild, I don't know.

Sorry, not sure if that's any help or not!

[megandsoph]

Thanks MrsW

I think I will try a star chart.

RE wild imagination she has been talking about a dog she see's at night in her room

I really thought it was due to this baby coming but I'm glad it seems to be a common phase.

[MrsWednesday]

DS1 announced that he was scared of his duvet so at that point I decided that, perhaps, he was starting to take the mickey a bit!

Just remembered one other thing - we did move him into DS2's bedroom, and after a couple of nights messing about at bedtime that seemed to help too.

Good luck with the star chart, and even more good luck with the new baby!

[megandsoph]

Hi Again MrsW Thankyou for the goodlucks

After discussing the star chart, which she helped me stick up. The little tike still came in through the night and woke me up this morn by opening my eye with her finger and laughing

I don't know, I think I will have to keep guard for a couple of nights to put her back in her room.

Thanks again

[lispy]

I saw this on tv in Aus and the doctor suggested either walking them back to their bed everytime or putting a mattress on the floor in your room that they can sleep on if they must come into your room so they still feel some comfort. He implied that they soon give up... Never been there so don't know if this advice is good..

[vwvic]

I second lispy. DD2 did this when she was at this age. As soon as I was aware that she was in my bed, I gave her a big hug and said -literally- "I love you, but you need to sleep in your own bed". At the same time I gently scooped her out of bed with my leg. Sounds horrid, but she was too sleepy to really object, and I figured that as she had found her own way into my bed, she could find her own way into hers! This was repeated every time she was in my bed.

A week later she started to sleep through in her bed.

[tortoise]

Can you put something on your door handle which will jingle,crinkle or any noise which might be enough to wake you as she enters the room? I found a carrier bag worked with my DD1. I heard it russle as she opened the door!

[Singapore]

Hi megandsoph, we are having the same problem, we have dd1 aged 4 every night and dd2 aged three most nights. when I get out of bed to feed ds they all spread out and I cannot get back in and end up sleeping in their room. This is one thing I swore would never happen to me, but that was before I had kids. Will give the sticker chart a try.