Moving to the big boy bed.

[Lavender14]

Ds is 3 and I've just moved him into a big bed with a bed rail last week. We had two nights of easy, straightforward bedtimes and sleeping through and since then bedtime has been a horror with him repeatedly getting out and messing around.

I'm a lone parent and often by the time I get to bedtime, my reserves are low and I'm aware of all the housework and next day prep waiting on me before I can go to bed so I find this incredibly frustrating. The only way I can get him to stay in his bed and go to sleep is to lie down beside him until he's almost asleep and then leave the room but I feel like I'm setting a bad precedent with this?

What do others do? Any advice?

I always stay in the room until they fall asleep and DC1 is almost 4. We don't have any messing around at bedtime and I'm probably only in there 15-20 mins absolute maximum after I've read a book and tucked them in. We'll transition away from it at some point, probably when they learn to read. If sitting in takes less time out of your evening than dealing with the messing about then I'd do that.

We had this when we moved to the big girl bed. First two nights were perfect, then suddenly she realised she could escape! We have a stair gate on her door though so she can't wander around. Advice online says to make it as boring as possible in there. I just sat on the chair in her room, with the gate closed, saying nothing, until she gave up and got back in bed. It was dark with a nightlight. It took some perseverance, I think she got up about 20 times that night before falling asleep. The next night it was a bit less, then the next night she stayed there. It's been about 2 weeks now and she occasionally hops out of bed, but I just make it so boring for her that she gives up. If you give it attention they will keep doing it. Good luck!