Transition from Cot to Bed

[TopCat1]

Hello Everyone

We got my daughter (2 in feb) a toddler bed
this week as she has 'really really' outgrown her cot, and she LOVES the bed, even brings visitors up to see it and always wants up to it during the day, but at night - thats a different matter.

She goes to bed ok, as she has a great night routine, gets a bath at 7pm, in bed for 7.45, where I read her a book and she falls asleep fine (as long as one of us are with her, when she was in her cot we could just leave her) and she has a night light. Its when she wakes up in the early hours the problems start.
she has been waking every night this week around 1am - 1.30am and refuses to go back to bed, gets herself Hysterical. The first night I was determined to keep her in the bed and kept bringing her back to her bed, tucking her in, kissing her and left the room,but she was out of it straight away, this went on until 6am, (6 hrs) until we gave in
and brought her into our bed, this happens every night now, I've litterally been
up from 3am this morning (and in work exhausted) as
she now refuses to even get into bed with us. We are exhausted as you can imagine, but she is also exhausted and not getting any sleep what so ever, because its not as if she will finally go to sleep.

We have to be out of the house for 7am, now that we have started going back to work, and don't know what to do now, its not helping with my relationship with hubby as we are at eachothers throats now.

your advice would be appreciated.



TopCat1 03/01/2006

[peeriesooky]

Im sorry to say you are going to have to sit it out but be stronger. do not take her into your bed even if you are up all night. when she gets up put her stright back into her bed. she will get back up but keep putting her back. she will scream but a little reassurance is all it will take. she will soon understand i went through it for 3 weeks with my middle child whilst i was pregnant with my 3rd. it was hard but it has paid off . good luck but it does pay off.

[goddessmum]

I totally agree, I had the same with DS and continially putting them back will work, but be prepared for it to take a couple of weeks. It will pay dividends in the end though. Good luck

[Robinia]

By toddler bed do you mean one with a little barrier at the head end? Is she sliding down the bed and falling (or has she fallen maybe just once) out of bed do you think?
My youngest was a real wriggler & roller & need extra barricades.(I wedged the side of the dismantled cot next to the bed with a chair) I think they must subconsciously adjust to not rolling too far after a while.

Hope you get some sleep soon!

[xanderma]

I had exactly the same with my eldest & learnt the hard way (i.e. I did EVERYTHING wrong!) One thing I can advise is not to stay in the room until she falls asleep. If you do stay with her, she will fall asleep remembering that you are there, and on waking during the night, wonder where you've gone and start searching for you. She needs to be able to put herself to sleep alone at bedtime so that, should she stir in the night, she can settle again without needing mum or dad's presence.

It takes a lot of perserverence at first, but within a week or two, if you're consistent, you will see results. Good luck - Diane

[Plocket]

We had a similar problem with our little one - she loved her bed but demanded attention in the night. We did the putting her back in bed and leaving her thing but she kept getting out of bed and coming into our room.

We finally resorted to putting a baby gate across her door - so we could get in easily but she couldn't get out. She screamed a bit for the first couple of nights but eventually got quieter, and finally gave up completely.

It was so successful that we left the gate on for a long time so that she didn't come into our room as soon as she woke in the mornings. Now that she's 4 she asks if she can come in our room in the mornings, and if we say no she's fine! We have privacy!!!

[kikimon]

i know its hard but you have to keep putting her into her own bed , the moment she wakes up and gets up. Do you have one of those rails that you can put under the mattress so it still looks like a cot and it stops them from falling out of bed? Maybe she does not feel safe in the bed yet without the confort of the rails like she had in the cot.I know its hard on you and your hubby and i do feel for you but you have to keep doing it and be very stern about it. if you give in she knows . Kids are quite intellegent that way.Go to bed a bit earlier for a few nights and then when she wakes up you would have had some good sleep and you feel it is easier to be firm with her as when you are really tired you will just feel you will give in to her. put her back into the bed, leave the room and stay in the hall. when she comes out , just put her back in and keep doing that. The first few nights will be hard but if you stick to it she will eventually realise you will not give in to her and hopefully she will then stay in bed. Good luck and let me know how you got on.