Our DD is almost 3-1/2. She coslept with us exclusively until she was 2 at which point she starting going to bed in her own bed in her own room. DH lays with her until she falls asleep each night (which he is fine with...it doesn't take long). The problem is that she wakes up at some point in the night and calls for us, at which point she is brought into our room to sleep the rest of the night in our bed. This happens anywhere between 11:30-3:00. She honestly has only slept through the night (in her own bed) twice in the year and a half she's been going to bed in her own bed.
We are expecting our 2nd baby at the beginning of March and I realize that the clock is kind of ticking for us to solve this problem before the baby comes and she blames it on him. I really don't want 2 in the bed when I have a newborn. We only have a queen and I can already tell I won't have room for nursing if the whole family is there.
Last night we tried our 1st night of having her stay in her bed. Before bed we had a talk about how big girls stay in their beds all night and we made a sticker chart promising a reward (build-a-bear) after 8 nights of staying in bed. We've successfully used charts for potty training and paci weaning so we know this is a method that works with her. She was excited about the chart.
She woke up at 12:00 and DH went in and sat on the edge of her bed until she fell asleep at 12:30. At 1:00 she woke up again and was requesting me so I went in and sat on her bed for an HOUR. DH heard her talking on the monitor at 2 and came in to relieve me. He sat with her for another half hour until finally giving up and bringing her in to our room.
The issue seems to be that she is scared. When I was doing my hour shift I held her hand or stroked her head and she would fall back to sleep but the second I would remove my hand her eyes would shoot open.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions from Mom's who have dealt with similar situations.
Sincerely,
Very Tired Mama ;o)
We are expecting our 2nd baby at the beginning of March and I realize that the clock is kind of ticking for us to solve this problem before the baby comes and she blames it on him. I really don't want 2 in the bed when I have a newborn. We only have a queen and I can already tell I won't have room for nursing if the whole family is there.
Last night we tried our 1st night of having her stay in her bed. Before bed we had a talk about how big girls stay in their beds all night and we made a sticker chart promising a reward (build-a-bear) after 8 nights of staying in bed. We've successfully used charts for potty training and paci weaning so we know this is a method that works with her. She was excited about the chart.
She woke up at 12:00 and DH went in and sat on the edge of her bed until she fell asleep at 12:30. At 1:00 she woke up again and was requesting me so I went in and sat on her bed for an HOUR. DH heard her talking on the monitor at 2 and came in to relieve me. He sat with her for another half hour until finally giving up and bringing her in to our room.
The issue seems to be that she is scared. When I was doing my hour shift I held her hand or stroked her head and she would fall back to sleep but the second I would remove my hand her eyes would shoot open.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions from Mom's who have dealt with similar situations.
Sincerely,
Very Tired Mama ;o)
