sleeping

[superchick]

my 3 year old son has been going to bed fine but has suddenly started getting out of bed when we first put him to bed. we have taken teddies & dummies off him,held door shut but he still persits. can anybody offer any advice??

[devilwoman]

please dont take his teddies or dummies from him as this seems like he's being punished , these are comfort objects and at his age he needs comfort and security and to feel safe, instead when he gets out of bed just take him straight back to bed; tuck him in and leave the room, do this as much as is needed, hell get the message after a few nights, perhaps he could have a night ligt if he's scared of the dark or leave his door open, please dont punish him but stay calm and teach him to sleep alone with love and understanding.

[superchick]

hi devilwoman,thanks for reply! i have tried tucking him in bed and leaving him,have also tried telling him he will have a suprise if he stays in bed-which he does have on the occasions that he does stay i n bed. last night it took 2 hours for him to get the message. i dont understand as we had problems before-both when putting him down and waking in the middle of the night. we seemed to have sorted it out up until about 2 weeks ago.

[devilwoman]

thats great superchickl, if you did it before you can do it again, be consistent, it'll be fine, good luck.

[Le Chat]

The advice of just taking him back to bed and tucking him in is good and textbook. However, some children haven't read the sleep books and you have to find alternative solutions if they don't work.
I had this problem with my 2 yr old and we would be in and out, in and out every night and for weeks - so it did not work for us. What I had to do, contrary to all the sleep books, was stop his daytime nap, so he was completely and utterly knackered at bedtime and couldn't get out of the bed if he'd wanted to!! This got him into a good pattern, so now he has the odd daytime nap (we are 7 months on now) but still goes nicely to sleep as he has got used to the routine.
I doubt whether this advice is any good to you as your child probably doesn't have a nap at 3 yrs anyway but you need to do what you have to! If that means giving him a later bedtime, putting a stairgate on the bedroom door (if you stay upstairs, so he knows you're there, so won't be scared - eventually he'll go back to bed - or fall asleep where he stands!) then do it. Try everything you can but try it for some weeks.
Hope this is helpful to you! My own child now goes to sleep beautifully but gets up several times during the night and I am yet to solve this!!

[eyore]

hi my three year old has done the same what woked for me is,i put a safety gate on left door open lamp on,got a big quilt put it on the floor with teddies,pillows as well,and she eventually fell asleep ,learned that it was great fun to sleep in her room and now goes to bed fine ,but i still keep the gate on the door closed,then when i go to bed i open it and she feels more secure,good luck

[hardykat]

not many people will agree with me but i gave my son who is now 2.5 a tv combi and put him to bed 20 minutes early and let him choose a video to watch then after him watching tv for 20 minutes i would go up and turn the tv off and by that time he would be settled in bed.

[superchick]

hi le chat, thanks for reply! you advised to stop day time nap which i did & it did work-he went to bed at 7 oclock with no problems at first.it dont matter how tired he is he will still keep getting out of bed. devilwoman advised not to take dummies & teddies off him as its not fair but surely he should be punished for bad behaviour?? he is given several warnings before anything is taken off him.my partner is now in the process of putting a stair gate up as we speak-hopefully this will do the job!