How do I get my son sleeping properly and in his room again

[Cupcakes1234]

Hi all,

After some advice. My son has just turned 2 a couple of weeks ago. Since we went away in the summer his sleep has been a complete nightmare. He never used to be this bad and even as a baby he slept absolutely fine.

It started off with us having to sit next to the cot in his bedroom for him to fall asleep, then he would wake up in the night and have some milk (which we have now put a stop to) and then just refuse to go back in his cot. Like literally scream (we tried controlled crying and just leaving him but an hour in and in the night) we just gave in and put him in our bed.

He was still waking a few times in the night, would be in our bed but was disturbing our sleep.

The situation now is he sleeps on his mattress in our bedroom every night. Some nights he stays in his bed, some nights he gets into bed with us but we don't give him anything in the night anymore.

How can I get him back to sleeping in his own bedroom and in his bed and stay there. We have a weekend away booked soon, but once that's out the way I intended to clamp down on getting back some normality as I don't think it's good for him or myself and partner.

I think I will have to take the sides off the cot as he will just scream the moment I put him in the cot! I've tried and he's having none of it. But what else can I do to ensure it all goes smoothly and get him back to his bed.

I'm watching with interest, my dd just turned 2 and sleep has gone out of the window. I have no answers I'm afraid

@Tobuyornot99 it's so hard isn't it. It started as "we will do anything for some sleep" but it's just become a habit now and it's not good for any of us!

Dd is in bed with me and DH is in the spare room, every morning I say we need to sort this situation out, but come bed time I'm so tired and weary I just give in and let her sleep wherever she wants.
I know we need to address the situation, but bloody hell I need some inspiration to get it done

We are in the same situation! He has his bath and bed around 8pm and then we go up about 10.30pm. I feel he's too young for a Gro clock etc. I think I could do CC but my partner definitely couldn't so it's trying to find something we both can do which works for our son too. Glad I'm not the only one though!

Isn't this the age they begin to get nightmares, so night terrors?

Same situation with 3.5 year old 🤷‍♀️

@llangennith that thought did enter my head at first as when he was waking in his cot and crying he was inconsolable but it's not happened since moving he's been sleeping with us

The situation now is he sleeps on his mattress in our bedroom every night. Some nights he stays in his bed, some nights he gets into bed with us but we don't give him anything in the night anymore.

Can you not just carry this on for a while? He’s still really little and it sounds like he needs you there it won’t be forever.

@crazycatlady5 I keep telling myself it's not forever and to cherish it as I'm sure I'll miss it one day. However the longer we carry it on I feel the longer it'll take to get normality back

I would just ask yourself what normality is though? I think it’s totally normal for some young children to need their parents near them for longer than others.

Very true. Maybe I should just leave him a little longer while we are getting some sleep! It's not like he's an inconvenience and we don't have any other children to think of either.