How to keep DS with ASD in bed?!

[Hurricane74]

Hi

My DS is 3.5 and diagnosed with ASD. He sleeps in a cot which has been great as he is never keen to go to bed but it has contained him and he has dropped off after a few minutes of mild complaining. But in the last few days he has learnt to climb out of it and now I am having major struggles getting him to sleep at night. He just escapes the cot and wants to stay up. I have resorted to a stair gate across his door but last night he fell asleep on the floor behind it after grizzling for at least half an hour about it being locked and it doesn't feel like the best solution. I am also concerned he could wake in the night and wander around the house alone while we are sleeping. Have others struggled or dealt with this?
Xx

Hi, my DS is 4 and suspected ASD. We moved him to a bed when he was 1.5 (always jumping out at night).

We do the same and have a baby gate across his door. He went through phases of being annoyed about it and trying to climb out. I would sit by the gate just out of sight and tell him to go back to bed every time he tried to climb out. Eventually he got the idea that I didn't mind him being up as long as he stayed in his room. (After that he went through a phase of turning the light on, but that's a different story!)

He could easily climb over the gate but it seems to be a visual reminder now for him that when the gate is closed it's time to stay in his room. It did take a while though.

Stair gate on his door is fine.

Maybe do a sensory check of his room, check light, heat, noise, type of bedding etc and see what helps.

We put my 3 year old in a sleeping bag so he can't escape his cot. I know some people who put the sleeping bag on back to front so they can't escape the bag either. You can buy baby style sleeping bags for older children on amazon. DS has an age 3-6 years one.

We had (and still have) an extra tall stair gate across the door and removed all furniture except for his bed which is very low and soft toys. All other toys etc and clothes we store elsewhere. Ds is now 5 and it’s worked well for us. We use a baby monitor hidden under his bed (so he doesn’t play with the wires) so we can hear what he’s up to, we go in if he’s crying obviously etc.

Both my kids with sen had stair gates on their doors. Ds2 who has asd was very fond if lying next to his, rattling an item up and down the bars like he was in prison and would then fall asleep.

Thanks everyone. Really helpful and reassuring replies. Stair gate seems to be doing the job at the moment so will plough on xx