Help our baby is due in 8 weeks and I need help getting my older child to sleep on her own!

nggomez

So I am due in June, and our last child is 6 years old. She has spent her whole childhood sleeping with me and my husband. Over the last 3 months we have been making her sleep in her bed, but around 4 am she creeps into our room and crawls in bed with us. I put her back in her bed but when I wake up again she is back with us. Any suggestions on how to get her to sleep all night long in her own bed! We have tried the melatonin, and she still gets up at least 2 a night! Help!

rspalding001

Im not there yet since our LO still sleeps in a crib but I have heard with any transition to a toddle or regular bed the key is consistency. Even if it means you put them back in their bed 100 times you keep doing it until they get it. 6 years old seems old enough that you can try reasoning with her a little bit too, try explaining why its important she sleep in her own bed, make it a reward for being a big girl now. Let her go shopping with you and pick out her own sheets and things for her bed. Have a reward system with stickers based on how long she can stay in bed with a special sticker for making it all night long. These are just ideas. I hope they help! Good Luck!

nggomez

Thanks. We just did the new bed set, letting her pick it out, and when we explain why, she just says but she misses me. I have tried to explain that I am still right here. So I will try the reward system and see if that helps! Thanks so much!

Designermomma

Mine had always slept in his own bed but has to sleep with the lights on. He was in the convertable crib until last year when we made him a big boy room since his little brother was on the way. Recently he says he doesn't want to sleep by himself and we (take turns) get in his race car bed, read a story and stay till he is asleep and sneak out. At first he was upset when he woke up we weren't still there but I told him I had to use the bathroom and other excuses. Now he just expects it. We had a problem with him waking up too early for a while and coming in our room. We got a special alarm clock for kids that turns red/yellow when you should be in bed and green is when you can get out. That helped a lot too.

nggomez

Where did you get the alarm clock at?

vlevitt

You can also try the gro clock works well for our early rising 2 year old.

Designermomma

Amazon, we have the "teach me time" clock but friends have the traffic light clock and swear by it also.

bublesmiled

My 6 year old dd will occasionally come walking into our bed in the middle of the night, she's half a sleep when she does it.  I realize she does it more when her bedding is not made right or when she's not feeling quite right.  One suggestion would be for you and/or your husband to wear a shirt for a couple of hours or over night and then put it on a big stuffed animal.  She could cuddle up against the bigger stuffed animal like it was you and feel comfortable through out the night.  Unfortunatley, this is a stage that they grow out of on their own.  Just be patient, she probably isn't totally aware she's doing it until later.  I agree with the pp about putting her back over and over.  Hope this helps, good luck.