getting a 2 yo to stay in his big boy bed?

[anotherpeanut]

So my almost 2 year old learned how to climb out of his crib. We never really co-slept after he became mobile...he just never seemed to get comfortable in our bed after that point so he's pretty much alway slept on his own (own room, own crib). I just have no idea how to get him to stay in his new big boy bed! He totally has the option of sleeping in his crib or his bed now, and it doesn't matter to me at all where he sleeps. He is climbing out of his crib constantly now so I guess my question is how do you get a 2 year old to stay in bed? We are currently using the super nanny put him back into bed 5000 times method but it's EXHAUSTING! I guess I just need to hear that this will pass and he's just testing his limits. I found him wandering around his room at 5 am (before he could get out he would read a book to himself and fall back asleep)...but now he just escapes! I'm 12 weeks pregnant, my back is KILLING me and I'm exhuasted. thanks for reading!

[annekevdbroek]

My older son was the same way. It eventually passed. He is a sleep-fighter, so the not staying in bed was part of that. I did make a bag to hold books that attached to his bed and gave him a little light, so he could entertain himself in bed. But mostly it was putting him back in bed over and over and over and over. We transitioned to the bed because he was climbing out of the crib and I figured getting out of the bed was safer than climbing out of the crib.

My younger son - now 3 - never climbed out of his crib and has not gotten out of his bed even one time on his own.

[Meems]

I think that once a babe is climbing out of a crib, it is no longer a safe place to put him to sleep. My friend who went through this recently, had good luck by initially sitting in her DD's room for a week, then a chair by the door for a week, then slowly down the hallway. For a while they did have to take her back to bed a few times, but it was at least a month-long transition.

[craft_media_hero]

Oh, wow, that sounds rough! Will the crib convert to a tot bed, since he's getting out all the time anyways? My girl didn't stay a whole night in bed by herself for quite a while around that age too, we just had an open bed policy. Would temporarily putting a futon mattress or twin next to his bed for a parent to sleep in help while he gets used to being mobile?

[anotherpeanut]

Well here's what happened. I tried the supernanny put him back into bed technique 25 times and gave up. It's not my style, he was crying, my back was hurting and we were all miserable. I gave up, plopped down next to him explained what was going on in a really calm voice, told him i understood how hard all these changes are (he's always weaning from bfing, trust me i didn't choose for this all to happen at once...the bfing weaning yes, the bed climbing no) but he was so caught up in the big boy stuff he forgot to ask to nurse (today anyways, i'm sure this'll change tomorrow)! I stayed with him until he felll alseep and went in as soon as he woke up again. i told him that mommy needed to sleep in her own bed so if i wasn't there when he woke up i would be there in a few minutes but everything was okay and i loved him very much. he woke up a little while ago, whimpered for a minute and soothed himself back to sleep. so we are having our first night in the big boy bed. i gave up on nap, it didn't work at all earlier...but naps may be going by the wayside anyways at this point. he gave up his 2nd nap around 10 months. and he sleeps 12 hours at night. thanks for the support!

[mammal_mama]

Have you thought about putting his bed in your room?

Also, is he ready to go to sleep when you put him to bed?

If not, I think it might be easier to just stay up playing until he's a little sleepier, then if his bed's in your room, you can read some stories if you want, and just lie down with him to help him relax.

Either that or just lie down with him in his own bed. I was just thinking that if you're worried about him getting up in the night, at least this way you'd be more likely to know.

IMO, it's perfectly normal for him to still need to be parented to sleep. It doesn't seem realistic to me to expect a 2yo to just lie down and fall to sleep on his own. Considering the fact that my 4yo and 9yo still like to be parented to sleep.

[anotherpeanut]

I honestly don't think there's any way he would sleep in my room! He never has so I think that'd throw an even bigger change into the mix. He's a pretty mellow kid overall and has some good techniques for soothing himself to sleep so I think there'll be a transition period of a few weeks but with some patience it'll all be good (and we'll all be happy)! I'm not opposed to having him in my room, he just was always happier in his own bed (once he became mobile). I spent alot of last night in his room and either me or DH probably will for the next couple weeks. He's very tired when we put him down to sleep, if we wait too long we hit the point of no return and he starts melting down and it's hard to calm him. We have a good routine at night so we've left all of that the same, lots and lots of books and singing and snuggling and nursing when requested (and he remember this morning). It was a pretty successful night overall, I think we are all feeling positive about the way it went. Thats my main goal, that he's okay with it and I'm okay with. It's a learning experience!

[mammal_mama]

Yes, it sure sounds like you know your son well and you already have a nice routine going! Sometimes children do just go through transitions where things are a little harder for a while. I think it'll get easier again soon.