Big Boy Bed Time
Ever since we moved in with my parents last spring, we’ve had trouble keeping Harrison in his bed throughout the night. I talked about it here and here and a little more here and things have been going a little better.
Except for the fact that we have to sit outside his door every night for him to fall asleep, or we’re walking him back to his room repeatedly for several hours.
And the fact that he’s tried to get in bed with us at 2am every night this week.
And the fact that he’s in bed with us by 6am every morning.
I’ve got to think of something to keep this kid in bed. In our last house, which was MUCH smaller and his room was mere steps from ours, we simply turned the lock around and locked him in his room. It was controversial but effective. But in this new house where he is far down the hall and we can’t hear him and the house is just much bigger and still strange to us, we’re not comfortable doing that.
Then last night, we had (possibly) a break-through…
Harry asked for a big boy bed. A real, live, honest-to-goodness twin bed that he has to climb into.
At first, it kind of shocked me and then I remembered how he kept saying that he likes Momma and Daddy’s bed because it’s “big.” And last weekend when he stayed at Gram and Grandaddy’s, he asked to sleep in the twin bed that’s in his room at their house, rather than his toddler bed.
So what do you think, blog friends? Do we take down his toddler bed and give him a “big boy bed?” Do you think that would be incentive and excitement enough to keep him in bed?
If a big boy bed isn’t the answer, any tips for keeping the tot in his bed, short of duct tape?
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Beth Anne writes words & takes pictures at Okay, BA! You can also find her on theTwitters & Facebook.
We moved my daughter to a twin bed this past weekend. She’s asked for one on and off for a while, but told her she couldn’t have a big girl bed until she could sleep all night long in her own bed.
Maybe have a chart with a set number of nights that he needs to sleep all night in his own bed without coming into yours, and mark off the nights until it is time for the big boy bed.
We also added a bonus of if you stay in the big girl bed mommy will make you a special quilt (and she picked out the fabric)- but you could do a special bedding set that he can pick after starting with plain sheets/blankets.
My boy is soo tall that we skipped the toddler bed all together, my son and Harrison were born around the same time because we were on the same birth board on BBC. I now have another little boy so we actually bought bunk beds and only set up the top bunk, that way the rails were built in and he could not fall out. We also still have a monitor set up
Absolutely get his a twin bed! He seems more than ready for it, I think you’d be surprised at how easy the transition will be. My DS is about the same age as Harrison and my mom was getting rid of a brand new twin sized bed so of course I took her up on the offer. Once it was set up in DS’ room we asked if he wanted to sleep in his crib or his big boy bed, of course he wanted the big boy bed and he’s been a great sleeper ever since. I think we are lucky that he never gets out of bed either, just sits and yells our name when he wakes up. He’s been in the twin bed for about 8 months now. Good luck!!
My son did not sleep through the night til we put him in a twin bed at 18 months because he was climbing out of the crib. We skipped the toddler bed because he is super tall and we needed the crib for our new baby anyway. Maybe Harrison needs more room to move. Joseph is a crazy sleeper and I think he would wake himself when he bumped into the sides when he was moving and shifting in his sleep. I was petrified to put him in a bed, but it was an amazingly smooth transition for us and I got to sleep through the night for 3 whole months til my little girl got here!
D never slept in a toddler bed-we went straight from crib to full-size bed because baby #2 was coming and we needed the crib for her. We hyped up the transition with Star Wars sheets (his favorite), and the whole “big boy” status which of course he loved. Because it’s a full and not a twin size, he’s never fallen off it during the night-we just make sure he starts out in the middle of the bed & he’s fine. We use a bunny light (the alarm-clock kind that changes color at a preset time) and he knows he’s not allowed out of his room until “the bunny wakes up.” It works GREAT and I highly recommend it!
It sounds like a big boy bed is a good idea. It’s not going to make things any worse at least. Have you considered turning the knob around and then using a baby monitor to hear him if he needs you?
We did a big girl (twin) bed and let her pick out the sheets. Now she can’t get enough. Good luck!
B will be 3 in two weeks. I would have moved him into a twin size already, but doing that means we have to take the glider out of his room, and I’m not ready to do that yet. He stays in his room once he’s asleep, so that hasn’t been an issue for us.
Telling him that he can have that bed, but it’s a big boy bed, and big boys stay in their room, etc… might help.
We also got a color-changing clock so that B has a visual cue of when it’s okay to come out. Some mornings he’s up before it changes, and he gets up, turns on his lights, and reads books until it changes.
Have you thought about getting one of those clocks that flag when it’s ok to wake up and get out of bed? We go the “OK to Wake” clock when our son was transitioning out of the crib to the big boy bed. He could move into his big boy bed when he would wait until his special clock turned green before calling for us to get him out of the crib. It worked great because he was used to it when he moved to the big boy bed and knew he wasn’t able to get out of it until it turned green (and you can set it to stay green for like an hour so if he sleeps late it isn’t an issue). And if he does get up early before it turns green he either goes back to sleep or flips through books in his room. Good luck!
oh, i third the clock-type device. we have the bunny one that astrid mentioned. cayden may wake up before the bunny “wakes up,” but he’ll stay in his room until the bunny’s awake too.
we had a hard period about a year ago of him not staying in bed after we tucked him in. then i read somewhere to walk in, put them back in bed, and then take away their favorite animal/blanket. tell them if they stay in bed, that you’ll bring it back in. there were several nights that ALL animals and blankets were out of the bed before he finally stayed in it, but i really think that helped him know that staying in bed was where he needed to be.
We skipped the toddler bed for hailey and went straight to a twin at 24 months. Harrison can totally handle it.
Oh, we did put the boxspring on the floor under the frame so it wasn’t so tall.
I say switch him and really play it up that he’s in a big bed now. Even if it takes a bit longer for him to stay in it, I think it is easier to go lay down in his bed in the middle of the night with him until he falls asleep, rather than him come into yours. We moved Sophie a few months ago (she’ll be 3 end of Oct) because she started waking up worse at night again.
Lennox is one month younger than Harrison and he’s been sleeping in a full size bed since he was 15 months. Without rails or barricades or whatever devices people use to cage their kids
We have the opposite problem with our son. He refuses to get out of his bed without one of us there with him. He never was in a toddler bed though, we went directly to a double(full) bed for him. He is allowed to keep one book in the bed for when he wakes up in the morning. He will sit and play with the book until his designated time to get up (in our house it is 8am). We thankfully have not had that battle! Good luck!
When we moved over the summer, we put C in a twin bed. We made it a big deal and he helped pick out some things. Now he loves his bed. He still comes downstairs some nights, but he also doesn’t want us sleeping in his bed or with him. That is HIS big boy bed. We also never added a rail – I never got around to ordering one and we just put pillows on the floor for a few weeks. He’s fallen out once but got right back in.
We moved right to a twin bed, mainly because a toddler bed wasn’t an option. We are currently crashing for a few months at my IL’s condo so he is on the bottom bunk. We put the rails from the top bunk on his to keep him from rolling out – he’s a big time mover.
Unlike what Christina noted about “caging” kids in (pretentious sounding comment, but good for her kid for not rolling out), we needed the rail because he moves around a lot at night and I prefer the safety. He can still crawl in and out on his own.
I forgot to add! We had some friends who had their son sleeping in bed with them from the start. Soon a deep habit was formed and they could NOT get him to sleep in his own bed (think 3+hours of bawling). They decorated his room in his favorite theme and got him a big boy bed – he has slept there since the day they revealed the new room. They made a big deal out it, having him spend the night with the grandparents during the transformation. He was so excited about it, the transition from mom and dad’s bed was a breeze. Maybe it won’t quite as effective for your little man, but just a positive story for ya!
My biggest fear in moving to a toddler bed was that he would get up all the time. But he was SO excited about it, so we agreed and made one unbreakable rule- he cannot get out of bed “until the sun comes up.” It’s worked really well!! Sometimes it’s a little annoying because he’ll drop his stuffed animal or something and cry for us to get it…but it’s a slippery slope to give him the OK to get up, so we just stick to the rule and if he needs something we get it for him.