My 3 year old is refusing to sleep in her bed and it’s driving me and my partner crazy

[Gamerchick124]

So this has been happening for about a week, and as I’m typing this my daughter is crying and screaming in the other room while her dad lays next to her in her bed. Normally she falls asleep in our bed and we move her into her bed. However in the middle of the night she wakes up and it’s a battle for HOURS to get her back to sleep. Tonight she fell asleep on the sofa so we put her into her own bed and again it’s another crying and tantrum to the point she throws up.

I’m absolutely exhausted as you can imagine and it’s effecting my mental health and probably my partners too. I already struggle to sleep so this makes it so much worse.

please help

is there any reason you can’t have her sleep in your bed? We’ve found just rolling with it gives everyone the most sleep and they migrate back when they’re ready.

Is she napping in the day? What time does she get up and go to sleep? If she's not tired enough then that's going to cause all sorts of issues that could present as not sleeping in her own bed.

I think the problem is that she’s not falling asleep in her own bed. Can you get a new duvet set/nightlight/teddy or something to set the scene for a (good) change in routine? Then do the usual routine of dinner, bath and pj’s but then make sure stories are read in her room and we have a beanbag we sit on until they fall asleep.

Give her your expectations and prepare her by letting her choose the new thing to have in her room and then make sure you repeat the plan of what’s happening i.e. “remember, stories are in your room tonight and you get to take new teddy with you to bed”. And pretty much hold firm. You might have 1 or two tricky nights but she’ll adjust quicker than you think.

We don’t have enough space nor do we sleep well with her in our bed since she’s much older now

Sometimes, she naps for one hour in the afternoon

So what's the bedtime routine?
She needs to start off in her own bed, awake. Have story, cuddle, night night and leave. Check back regularly if she needs it, but make it clear it's sleep time and she is staying in her bed.

I doubt that she really needs an afternoon nap at 3yo, so stop those to make sure she is tired at bedtime.

Earache?
Threadworms?
Night terrors?
Always worth excluding these very common causes of night waking, crying and not settling.