suggestions please to get a 2.5yr old to stay in bed

[MrsBish]

My friend is having problems getting her DD to stay in bed at nap time and bed time.

Her DD started climbing out of her cot a couple of weeks ago, so she's lowered the side to stop her hurting herself.

Each sleep time, though she just wont stay in her cot. She thinks it's a game to get out all the time, however stern her mum is being!! They are now giving her one warning after she first gets out and then she's tied into her push chair in her room where she falls asleep in about 5 mins, so she's def tired. Once asleep she's transfered to her cot. My friend hasn't got a clue what to try next, and I have no idea what to suggest!!

She has borrowed our stairgate to put in the doorway from tonight, will have to see if that helps!

Any tips ladies??

no idea sorry

but when you find out can you tell me

There were a couple of threads about this recently - have a quick search.

I think the "putting back to bed x 10000000 times" seemed to be the only solution.

She had been doing back to bed, but it ended up taking two hrs worth of putting her back to bed!! Think my friend has decided that that isn't going to work!

Sounds like a familiar story. Someone suggested sitting at the top of the stairs with a magazine, and that after about 3 nights it started working.

I can vouch for the fact that shouting like a banshee doesn't work

yeah, her ds really doesn't seem to 'get it'. thinks it's great fun getting out of bed and really doesn't tire of being put back to bed.

just read some other posts and have suggested a star chart, but not sure if she'll be old enough to understand.

my dd has been awful recently with all aspects of sleep - she is 2.5 also. Bedtime now is better and we stand at the door until she drops off - usually only 10 mins which is well worth it if it means you get your evening back. I have also taken the "positive" decision to drop her day time nap - whilst I need the break (have a 13weeks old too) at least then I know she will be tired when she goes to bed. We also have a gate on the door which we couldn't be without. If you keep going back and forth they are just being rewarded with your attention and it becomes a game. Hopefully we have bedtimes cracked now - it's just the night time wakings we have a problem with now.

Good luck!

We've been having huge problems too. Our 2.5 year old is in the same room as the 13 mth old. They keep eachother up. We put the little one to bed first and pray she falls asleep, then put the toddler down. She gets up, out of bed and get's into the cot, or plays with curtains, or takes her nappy off and distributes poo in all sorts of places. We've found that the best things for her is if I make sure she has used the toilet before she goes down and then police her from getting out of the bed. I stand by the door and listen and if I hear her get out I go in and put her back, and put her back and put her back.... some nights it takes forever and sometimes it doesn't take long. We tell her she can read in bed, so that helps if she isn't very tired, but at the moment every bedtime and naptime is a battle. Tears. Screaming and crying. I find the ignore, ignore, ignore rule pretty good. As in, I try to be completely underwhelmed and uninterested when I put her back. No talking. It seems to be getting a bit easier. Perhaps if your friend is worried about her kid falling out of the cot it might be time for a big bed

we had this problem the first time we tried to put dd(2.4) in a bed - i've heard it can take up to about a week of returning them to bed before the penny drops, but was really sturggling with the disruption. After 4 nights, dd asked to have her cot back so we did and we all got some sleep.
we have just put her back into a bed at her request, she is now nearly 2 months older, and so far, touch wood, after 2 nights, she has stayed put. i think the difference might be that she now understands bribery, and gets a princess sticker the following morning if she stays in her big girl's bed. laso, she has now dropped her nap which means she is more tired by bedtime.
good luck to your friend!

dd1 has a a stair gate on her bedroom door when she got out of bed cant go to far.
found only solution to avoid eye contact, dont talk to them and keep putting them back to bed dd1 eventually went down after an hour and was fine after that