How do I sleep train?

[Rachaelc1981]

Hi, my 2.5 year old son had never been the best sleeper. He has to fall asleep on me, I can transfer him into bed where he stays for few hours then wakes up, this can go on until he won’t go back into his bed and I have to sleep on sofa with him.
How do I start to sleep train when my husband is in the same room and step daughter is in next room (she’s 24 and works full time so needs sleep) and my 2 other sons are in the room opposite? Everyone needs sleep but I don’t know how to do it with everyone upstairs in bed? Any ideas? Thank you in advance.

Could he have a toddler bed in your room so you just put him to bed there and then hopfuly he sleeps through? Then once the sleep is established you can later work on him doing the same in his own room.

Thank you for your reply. He’s still in our room. There are a lot of us ! Myself, husband, step daughter, step son, 12,8 and 2.5 year old. We are looking to move house next year so for now there is no spare room for him. That’s why I don’t know how to start as husband is obviously in the same room and the rest of family are in rooms next door or opposite. Husband and step children work so they need sleep and obviously younger ones need sleep for school. I think out of everyone I’m the only one that doesn’t sleep, 1st one up and last to go to sleep !

I think you have to break the ‘falling asleep on you’ first, then it will be easier to deal with the overnights (when he presumably also needs to be on you?)

Have you heard of / tried ‘gradual retreat’?

Essentially, you’d be trying to gently reduce the amount of contact he needs. So maybe a few nights of falling asleep next to you, then a few nights of him in his bed, with you lying next to him with an arm over him, then a few nights with you sitting holding his hand, then sitting but without contact, then sitting further away, then in the doorway, then outside… you get the idea!

If he gets used to falling asleep without contact, he’ll hopefully then get used to staying asleep without it, or to resettling himself.

Thank you for your reply. That’s very helpful and I will definitely give that a try x

Well bedtime for a 2.5 year old would be about 7:30pm surely everyone else isn't going to bed that early.

I did the Ferber method but I didn't follow it to the T, I did it with more gradual increases of time intervals and I made sure I consoled him each time. With both my kids by night 3 it worked so even if you are worried about bothering others you can let them know it's highly unlikely you'll have to do it for more than a few nights.