How do I get 23mo to stay in her bed when she wakes up?

[ellesabe]

Is this even possible????

She has been in a bed for about 3 weeks and is very good at going to sleep in the evenings, maybe getting up a couple of times before giving up. The mornings however are a different story.

We have an alarm clock which plays nursery rhymes and we are trying to teach her to stay in bed until the music starts. But she just doesn't get it! She used to sleep until 7:30 in her cot but she now wakes up at 6am and appears on the landing looking for her music each morning.

We put her back in bed each time but this went on for 50 mins this morning and she gets pretty hysterical, trying every trick in the book (asking for milk, telling us she's pooed when she hasn't, asking for cuddles etc). I'm also 38 weeks pregnant so it's wearing me out somewhat!

I know 6am isn't bad, but a couple of times she's woken at 3am thinking it's the morning and has done the same so we really want to be consistent.

Do you think we're doing the right thing?

Of course none of this would be a problem if idiot dh hadn't taught her how to get out of her bed

[HappyJoyful]

Am interested as have 22mo dd, hadn't even contemplated taking her out of cot yet.. Am glad I haven't as can imagine her doing exactly the same as yours. No way I could teach her (perhaps she'll change in a month) to stay in a bed. Can you put the cot back up ? Sorry not much help, but if you're knackered that's the option I'd go for.

[ellesabe]

No her cot has been replaced with bunk cots (bed on the bottom, cot on top, in preparation for the new arrival.

Like I said though, it could be much worse. We may just have to ride the storm I think and hope she learns soon.

[PrincessPumpkinshoutsBOO]

Ds did this, and as quick as he started to do it (immediately the first night in a big boy bed) he stopped, after a couple of weeks all on his own, in the mean time I just told myself over and over again he wakes up thinking 'my mummy loves me and really would like a cuddle from me right now. Just go with it, she won't always do it.

[EMS23]

I hope someone gives you a great answer because my 23mo is exactly the same!

Moved into big bed in anticipation of the new baby. Now we have a 6 week old that's sleeping through but a 23mo that's up and wandering 2 or 3 times a night!

[rainshine30]

When we moved DD about 6 months ago - she was about 2.5yo, we had 10 days/nights of her loving her new found freedom and wandering. I was so furstrated I tried everything I could think of to persuade her to stay in bed. We have a gate over her door for safety (big stairs) so it was hard to come to terms with but by the end of a week of it, I had to let her lay / sleep at her door. I hated doing it, but she was so stubborn and I ran out of negotiation techniques! After 2/3 nights she relented and just decided bed was nicer.
She's been fine in her bed ever since, until very recently but that's the subject of another thread!
I would recommend a gate and plenty books for her to quietly look at if she does rise early and at least it means you don't have to physically get up to her.

[ellesabe]

We don't have a stairgate but it's worth a thought. Unfortunately dd has learnt that if she opens her door without making a sound, she can peer around her doorpost and watch tv (yes our flat is that small!) without us realising that she's even out of bed! I'm not sure a stairgate would solve that one

We did actually find her asleep on the floor one morning after she'd been up and down from 3-6am. She had obviously worked out that if she came out of her room she was put back in bed...so she eventually just stayed in her room and zonked out!