Toddler Sleep Training

APendola

Has anyone done sleep training at an older age?  I see why it's ideal to sleep train when they are 6 months to a year and they can't get out of a crib.

DD has a toddler bed that she naps in sometimes but she sleeps with us.  She's too big and taking up half the bed.  My husband seriously sleeps at the foot of the bed with the dogs.  So it is getting a little ridiculous.  She also started a new daycare this week and had some trouble with napping and kept all the other kids up for an extra hour and a half.  She napped well at her last daycare, but they might have had different methods (ie. maybe someone rubbed her back until she fell asleep.)  

I'm not sure how to get her to sleep on her own.  She won't stay in the bed without someone there.  The daycare lady suggested that we close the door and let her scream it out in her room but that sounds pretty horrible to me.  If I leave her in a tantrum by herself she might hurt herself.

aylafsu88

Check out the book Sleep easy book. They have a toddler section. I skimmed over it and focused on the infant section last year but I do remember a few things. If you have a kid who wants you to stay in the room with them while they fall asleep it talks about how to work away from that. It also talks about how to handle a kid who won't stay in their room. It seemed like it had some good tips.

nesenotes

Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child also has a section on Toddlers. And I believe the main part of the book also pertains to all kids from Infants to Toddlers.

I actually had to re-read the toddler portion recently because she was acting like she was going to drop her nap on me. So I adjusted some things and we are back to naps again.

APendola

bantyrooster she has a toddler bed.  We have been thinking about putting a double bed in her room so that one of us can lie down with her before she falls asleep or even sleep with her when she is having a rough night.  That would solve the problem of all of us in one bed.  But the daycare still prefers her to be sleep trained.  They even suggested it might not work out if she can't fall asleep on her own.

aylafsu88 I think I have Sleep Easy at home.  I got it when she was a baby.  I'll take a look at the toddler section. Thanks.

APendola

cookiesandwine does she often get up and go to your bedroom?

APendola

starryfishes said:

bantyrooster she has a toddler bed.  We have been thinking about putting a double bed in her room so that one of us can lie down with her before she falls asleep or even sleep with her when she is having a rough night.  That would solve the problem of all of us in one bed.  But the daycare still prefers her to be sleep trained.  They even suggested it might not work out if she can't fall asleep on her own.

aylafsu88 I think I have Sleep Easy at home.  I got it when she was a baby.  I'll take a look at the toddler section. Thanks.

Sorry to hear she's having problems. Did they daycare suggest she can't go there if she doesn't nap? Thats crazy. I know kids in Ts room don't nap. They either do something quietly or another teacher takes them somewhere.

I know.  I'm really disappointed at that reaction.  There are 12 kids and 2-3 teachers there.  So I guess it's tough if one teacher has to focus on one kid that won't nap and leave the other with 11 kids.  So I understand that it's tough...but I also would expect they'd be able to adapt a bit. After all, we are paying a lot of money every month. She actually napped well her first three days there but on the 4th day she cried for an hour and a half and kept saying "I wanna play".

sarahandeddiejune212008

I bedshared with Avery until August. I started rocking her and then putting her in her crib. If she stayed asleep great, if not I'd rock her a bit more. I made her sleep in her crib for at least an hour the first few days and slowly extended the time. I would go in to comfort her whenever she asked for me. I'd pick her up and hold her for a few minutes and then put her back in her bed.

It was a rough few weeks, but I wanted a gentle transition. She now sleeps through the night most nights. We are currently working on going to bed while still awake. She shares a room with DD#1 so I try to let #1 get to sleep before I put A in the room.

It takes patience and a lot of caffeine the next day, but I'm so glad we transitioned.

Oh - and Avery is still in a crib. I'm terrified to make the switch - lol.