am i creating a rod for my own back

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by letting my ds come downstairs when he wakes up in the night, play for a bit, watch roary on dvd, letting him fall asleep on the sofa and putting him back in his cot?

cos i've just done all that and have done it a few times and now realise i probably shouldn't have!

I am a great believer in doing anything for a quiet life! However I did this with dd1 and lived to regret it!! She is now 8 and still comes downstairs! However with dd2 I did things totally differently and would really try hard not to do this again!!

Also, if your ds is ill or out of sorts then I would not worry about it too much.

well I wouldn't do it

I would not do it.
I sometimes let DS stay with us and cuddle up on the sofa to fall asleep(while we watch the news) but would not allow him the come back downstairs. It's a pain to take him back up in the short term but majorly disruptive in the long run I think.

I think as a regular thing, I wouldn't do it - he will get the message that this is normal, and that will be the way it is permanently. However if it is just one or two nights when he is not well, then maybe you have to go with it for a short while, and make sure you get back in your usual routine afterwards.

am i creating a rod for my own back?
Yep.
Spent the last seven years shouting GOTOBEDANDSTAYTHERE.

slim - i'm not sure i understand what you're saying? you let him cuddle with you on the sofa when he gets up but not downstairs? confused!

My general reaction to any "am I making a rod for my own back?" question is to say no. But in this case, I think the answer is probably yes. Once or twice, under special circumstances, not a terrible thing to do and may be a good option in a go with the flow kind of way. But if it's getting anywhere close to being a regular occurrence then I think it's best to crack down and establish firmly that night time is for sleeping.

I think slim is saying she lets her DS stay up sometimes, but not get up once he's gone to bed.

its no way every night but if he does wake in the night i do always bring him down and let him fall asleep on the sofa so he doesn't wake everyone else up. it was the first time tonight i've let him have a dvd on. normally he just crawls around until he's tired enough to sleep again.

yes not very eloquent so early in the morning.

His dad never home before 7.30/8pm so if he's still awake, i let him curl up on the sofa with dad and he'll fall asleep in 5 minutes rather than moan upstairs for half an hour.

Oh he's a crawler......I think you are OK occasionally. Although DVD not so good idea I think.

I thought he was a toddler. In which case you really want them to stick to the rules.

well he is a toddler - he's 18 months.

Awwwwww he's still a baby, enjoy!!

Yet, DVD still not good idea.

I think it's a rather bad idea to take him out of his bed when he wakes up and bring him somewhere else .. your aim must surely be to have him sleep through .. can you not find another way?

I think, well IMHO, you are teaching him that if he gets into light sleep rather than learning to re-settle he can wake up and then mummy will come and there will be the opportunity to play and possibly watch tv

a toddler needs sleep .. a child needs it too .. long, unbroken sleep at that

teach him to sleep for your own sake

he doesn't get to play with toys or anything he just crawls around for a bit and lies on the sofa. i can't keep him upstairs cos he cries cos he just isn't tired to go to sleep/doesn't want to go to sleep.

he doesn't get to play with toys or anything he just crawls around for a bit and lies on the sofa. i can't keep him upstairs cos he cries cos he just isn't tired to go to sleep/doesn't want to go to sleep and wakes the whole house up.

Without reading the responses.

I'd say it depends on the age of the child and the frequency.

If it's happening more than 3 times a week - you'll regret it because it will become a habit. If it's sporadic and you are all happy with the situation, then it'll be fine imo.