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Two year old won't sleep in own bed

1 reply

nothoughts · 16/10/2018 23:16

2.5 year old DS used to sleep in his own bed. Before the summer we had a normal bedtime routine including bath, pjs, story bed. We came back from our summer holiday and he refuses to sleep in his own bed (routine not changed). He will sleep go to sleep in our bed without us but not in his own. This would be fine but he is a nightmare to sleep with. He pushes him up against me/on top of me, wakes frequently, turns perpendicular pushing us out meaning no-one is getting a good night's sleep. Also I get up for work before DH and DSes get up and either my alarm or me getting out of bed wakes him in the morning meaning he is waking up an hour earlier than normal.
We have tried transferring him to his own bed once he is a sleep but he inevitably wakes and comes in shortly after we go to bed.
We have now started trying getting him to go to sleep in his own bed by sitting in his doorway until he is asleep. The hope being that if he got used to going to sleep in his own bed he would more likely to go back to sleep on his if he woke in the night. However he is still coming in shortly after we go to bed each night and we either repeat sitting in his room until he goes back to sleep only for him to reappear a couple of hours later or we put him in with us and we still don't sleep well due to his wriggling and waking.
Has anyone got any advice? Do we need to persist with what we're doing or is there something else we should try? Would he have been waking so frequently in the night before but just resettling himself or could something be causing him to wake?

Any advice/reassurance gratefully received. We originally assumed he was unsettled by change of routine on holiday and moving to a new room in nursery but it's been going on for weeks now and there has been no improvement.

OP posts:
sleepismysuperpower1 · 17/10/2018 18:07

perhaps try getting a plug in nightlight? that sometimes helps reassure kids to know that there will be a light on all night.

also, consistency is key. before he goes to sleep, tell him that if he needs you, he has to shout Mummy and not get out of bed. if he does get up, take his hand, and gently place him back on his bed. don't get annoyed, just calmly tell him goodnight, sleep tight, tuck him in and leave again.

another good thing to try is the gro-clock. when the clock shows a moon, and it is blue, the child must stay in bed as it is night. when it is the sun, the child can get up as it is morning.

good luck and all the best x

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