5 1/2 yr old sleeping alone

[LdyBluNH@aol]

dd had slept in our bedroom for a really long time.

her mattress was right next to mine and when dad left to go to work, she often climbed into bed with me for the morning

it became time to get her into an actual bed - her body was really too big for a crib mattress and i needed to have that mattress gone so i could get in and out of bed without it being an olympic event

so we got a full size bed and have it set up in her bedroom

she loves having the bed, loves being in her room - but will not sleep in there alone

there have been some nights where i've stayed until she's asleep and then left but i'm not able to stay awake most of the time and broken sleep isn't working for me either

i guess if i had two twin beds we'd be ok but we don't and i'm not sleepign well with her and not sleepign well on this mattress

i want to respect the fact that she's not ready to sleep alone; i just dont get why not or what the need is. if i had a clue what the need is i could work to meet it

[L.J.]

I don't have any advice.

My son is almost 6 and still sleeps with me too. He doesn't really seem ready to make the transition yet either.

I don't know what it's about, but I do know that here I am in my 30's and I still prefer to sleep with someone vs. sleeping alone too. Maybe that's why I've been okay with the kids sleeping with me.

Hope some others can help with some suggestions for you.

[love2all]

This sounds familiar. I just moved myself from the floor of the kids room into my own bed.!! Ds, now 5 will come in to our room in the morning, but it is not an all night need to be with me anymore.
When I was trying to figure this all out, I read about need vs habit and decided that my child was in the habit of being with me, it was not a physiological need. This being that he would allow me to bring him back to his own bed, he was needing to see me, to know I was nearby, but it was no longera NEED. I can not really explain but it was something that i felt was true with him- it was just a habit. So, i went through the motions of breaking the habit-- continuous getting up at night and returning with him to his room. First I slept with him for a month, then I put him into his bed and lay on the floor and slept there for a month, now he wakes up and yells to me, and I tell him I am in my room and he can go back to sleep, he usually does. It seemed to be a habit of him having me near, but i feel as though I have worked it out in a way that was not trumatic for either of us.
good luck with it all- I am looking forward to a month, yes just a month, but it is better than nothing, of just me and dh in our bed by ourselves.......Too bad I am so huge that it hurts to roll over much less become a sex-goddess for a while, that is what he'd like lol!!!!!!!!!!

[briar]

My 7 1/2 year old JUST left my room. She is so happy. I'm happy I never made her leave and that she felt good about doing it!
I'm wondering if my 3 year old will fallow ahhhhh imagine a whole room to myself!
Have you talked to her about if she is ready or not? Do you happen to have a twin mattress you could bring into your room for her? Set it up and leave the other one until she is ready. That way the power is in her hands?