My son started climbing out of his crib, and won;t stay in his toddler bed - any suggestions?

He's exploring, right?!

But seriously, I remember* putting the kids back into bed slightly more boring-ly every time. So, the first time, I'd remind them that it's bed time and I'd see them in the morning, second time would be "back to bed, please", then "Bed", then no utterance from me at all.

Likewise, by the third or fourth time, I'd be avoiding eye contact, moving slowly, and carrying them at arms' length. Anything to make the experience as dull as possible for them.

That worked well for me, so I never needed to find an alternative approach


_{*Excuse my fuzzy memory, this was months ago.}

How old is he?

What have you tried?

My son did this. He didn't sleep through the night until he was 18 months old.

We tried lots of things... nothing really helped. Ultimately, we just decided to bear with it. It was a difficult time, but I am usually up late anyway, so I would settle him down when he needed it. Otherwise, if he was just up and moving around in his bed or room, we let him be.

For us it just came down to the idea that he wasn't going to be forced to sleep.

Since he was about 2, he has gone to sleep well, and wakes up with ease when he needs to.

It was a quite a relief when my daughter slept through the night starting at 2 days old.

Both of my kids have never really gone to bed before 9:30. We tried a schedule, but that is complete bullshit. Keep them flexible. As a result, our kids have always been able to deal with traveling until 4 in the morning, jet-lag, or any other fucked up shit we throw at them.

Thanks for your replies, guys! He is 2 years old and has been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old. The problem is that now that he's in a bed, he simply jumps out of it and starts pounding on his door like is suddenly afraid or something. He's never been afraid before, but I'm thinking that now that he is in the open, he is nervous? Do you think a nightlight might help?

Part of what makes me nervous is that his room is on the second floor, and I don;t want him wandering around in the dark and falling down the stairs.

If he's not apparently distressed, I'd probably just leave him until he's gone quiet for a while, then go in and check if he's gone to sleep on the floor or something.

More than anything, though, I'd try to avoid encouraging the banging by responding to it.

Let him pick his own nightlight.

Put a gate on the steps, just in case.

For us, the solution would have been to sit with him in his room to keep him from wondering. No talking, lights out, but I would just sit there in the dark, listening to an audio book or something, until he fell asleep.

... then I would get up, and he would hear the first tiny sound of movement, and be standing faster than my eyes could focus on him, and I would sit down again.

I have been through hundreds of hours of Mexican stand offs, and in the end, I won.

We were worried at times that it might become a crutch, or that he wouldn't learn to sleep without us there, but it was apparent that his personalty is simply not manipulative. He wasn't trying to game the situation, he just wanted a presence.

Now, if it had been my daughter, we would have had to handle it very differently, since she is innately manipulative.

Posted by MutantMandias No talking, lights out, but I would just sit there in the dark

By the way, this is a recurring theme in my life.

Yeah - SuperNanny be damned.
My experience is described to a T below. My daughter HATED bedtime until she was 2.5. There is no reasoning with a toddler.
The Mejican-standoff comments is especially funny/true.

Posted by MutantMandias Let him pick his own nightlight. Put a gate on the steps, just in case. For us, the solution would have been to sit with him in his room to keep him from wondering. No talking, lights out, but I would just sit there in the dark, listening to an audio book or something, until he fell asleep. ... then I would get up, and he would hear the first tiny sound of movement, and be standing faster than my eyes could focus on him, and I would sit down again. I have been through hundreds of hours of Mexican stand offs, and in the end, I won. We were worried at times that it might become a crutch, or that he wouldn't learn to sleep without us there, but it was apparent that his personalty is simply not manipulative. He wasn't trying to game the situation, he just wanted a presence.

Posted by metawaffle If he's not apparently distressed, I'd probably just leave him until he's gone quiet for a while, then go in and check if he's gone to sleep on the floor or something.

This actually happened, there is twin mattress on the floor in there for when my wife feels like she needs to be in there for him. We shut his door, he cried for a while, and when we checked on him, he had crawled onto the mattress and covered himself up. Maybe this is the way to go, just let him tire of adventuring...

Posted by DevilC There is no reasoning with a toddler.

This is so true, haha.

1) Put him to bed without toys or excitement, quick kiss or hug, and say goodnight. Tell him that you expect him to stay in bed

2) When he gets out of bed, simply pick him up and put him back. Do Not say a word to him. Just put him back and leave

3) Repeat if neccessary one more time

4) If he gets up again then you must stay in his room, do not talk, do not lay down, do not make eye contact, do not fuss with him at all. Let him move around on his bed, don't try to force him to lay down. If his feet touch the floor, get up, pick him up, and lay him down again.... DO NOT TALK!!!

5) If all else fails..... Drug him LOL

Legal disclaimer: do not actually drug him

Seriously: do not drug him LOL

Posted by Nvr2loud 1) Put him to bed without toys or excitement, quick kiss or hug, and say goodnight. Tell him that you expect him to stay in bed 2) When he gets out of bed, simply pick him up and put him back. Do Not say a word to him. Just put him back and leave 3) Repeat if neccessary one more time 4) If he gets up again then you must stay in his room, do not talk, do not lay down, do not make eye contact, do not fuss with him at all. Let him move around on his bed, don't try to force him to lay down. If his feet touch the floor, get up, pick him up, and lay him down again.... DO NOT TALK!!! 5) If all else fails..... Drug him LOL Legal disclaimer: do not actually drug him Seriously: do not drug him LOL

This is starting to work, and don;t worry, I would never drug him (does Benadryl count) just kidding!

My daughter did the same when she first switched to a bed. We bought a music box and each night after reading her a story we'd put it on and never had any more problems

Posted by Yankee Traveler (does Benadryl count) just kidding!

Yes, yes it does. haha

my kid will sleep anywhere. this fact was made most evident on our recent vacation, where we set up her bed in the hotel bathroom. if she has her blanket and doll, we're golden.

Posted by DiVaMoNKeY my kid will sleep anywhere. this fact was made most evident on our recent vacation, where we set up her bed in the hotel bathroom. if she has her blanket and doll, we're golden.

yuck!!!

I hope it was a nice hotel LOL

We have slept our kids in dresser drawers (open of course), rubber made type containers, duffle bags, ect.

I remember when one of my brother's was young he had a problem with slee walking, so my mom and dad had to put a barrier on the side of his bed so he wouldn't get out. I believe it was made of mesh... I can't even remember what it was called or if they still make them, but it worked, haha.

The Super Nanny method works wonders too!