Sleeping

LinnyAnne10

My 3 year old does not sleep through the night. And we are struggling with him sleeping in his bedroom by himself.

I wonder if there is something I could be doing to get past this stage?

He has never been a good sleeper. With hubby gone for 9month deployment, I gave up the struggle and let him sleep with me in our bed. Now hubby is back, we been trying to transfer him to sleep in his own bed. Which we made a BIG deal out of getting him a new bed, with new bedding. That he loves! And likes sleeping in there, but not by himself. He wants me to sleep with him in his bed.

How can I get him to sleep in his room by himself, and fall asleep by himself??

foreverapartofme

I can't recall the exact name of the book but it was the Ferber Method Second Edition and it was fabulous.  I used the method while my DD was about 6 months old but there are many chapters in the book that focus on toddlers and older children as well.  Good luck to you!

TiffanyBerry

DD is 3yrs, 9mo, and still doesn't STTN, nor does she sleep alone the whole night.  Starting at 18 months or so, we began a VERY slow process of her getting used to being alone, and then sometimes falling asleep on her own.  I still am laying in her bed for 20 minutes before I head out (to walk the dog, so I'm not even in the house - DH has the monitor, and goes up briefly if he's called), but she will fall asleep on her own now.  But she'll wake up MOTN to pee, because she's cold, from a dream, or just from a light sleep cycle, and call me in.  I sleep the rest of the night with her.

I see this one as more developmental milestone than anything else.  But I'm pretty AP/RIE/gentle/whateverlabelyouwanttouse when it comes to most parenting things.

JonandJennifer

To change his waking you need to reevaluate your routine. I like the Elizabeth Pantley method, however with any method you must be flexible and remember they are human just like we are. They need to set their bodies up for sleep. Establishing a routine and not missing the intial tired phase is key. You will find that if you hit the first tired phase your child will sleep better and get in a good rem cycle and wakes less often.  Now having that said, Rylee goes through periods of mental development where she will wake up and want to bedshare. But for the most part she sleeps really well at night and when she doesnt I'm perfectly fine with it. I want my door to always be open for her. We do not believe in crying it out and I nursed and helped her to sleep.  She is able to put herself back to sleep without aid. Honestly I think the key to sleep is gentle, easy transitions. JMO.