This is a nightmare...please help!

mstopka

We are out of town for the holidays and staying with my parents in their two bedroom condo. So, DH, DD and I are all in the same room. We put DD down around 7 and she is fine going to sleep, but she wakes up in the middle of the night, sees us and won't go back down without us picking her up and putting her in bed with us. We have never shared the bed with DD and are not used to it and don't want her to get used to it either! It's a full-sized bed so with DH, DD, me and the dog it's cramped and no one is getting any sleep. What would you do? We are visiting my family for the holidays for two weeks so we have to find a solution to this! Thanks!

animalcrckers

is there any way you could put up a sheet or screen or something so that DD cant see you if she wakes in the middle of the night?

Lindsey7521

Does the bed have a head board or footboard? Can you move the bed so the headboard is facing her? That way if she wakes up, she only sees the headboard...

oboechick7

animalcrckers:

is there any way you could put up a sheet or screen or something so that DD cant see you if she wakes in the middle of the night?

This worked really well for us. Or, if she's in a PNP try putting something over the side that faces you so that she can't see out that side.

Sus77

If you have never let DD sleep in your bed I wouldn't start now, it could be a difficult habit to break.

My advice, although you might not like it, is to tough it out for the first night.  If she wakes up, sees you and wants to be picked up then do what you normally do when she wakes up through the night, be that give her a hug or whatever but then put her back in bed.  If she cries I would leave her a couple of minutes (you might want to warn the other people in the house) then comfort her.  Basically controlled crying but with you in the room.

Hopefully after the first night she'll learn that she doesn't get to get up and play just because she can see you.

One other option, if controlled crying is not for you, ( I know lots of people don't agree with it) is to leave the room until she puts herself back to sleep, although that might mean a very disrupted night for you.

Difficult situation without an easy answer.  We have to share a room with DS when we stay with my parents so I totally understand your anxiety about the situation.

Daisy582

We have to share a room when we travel too and it can be hard. We have discovered the less Cam can see, the better so we try to limit what he can see by putting a sheet, blanket etc. on the sides that give him a view of us. I have also put my pillow on the floor by the Pack n' play if he woke up crying. That way, he can see me but not actually get out. After he falls back asleep I move.  Good Luck!

NY-allie

Does the room have a walk in closet?  You can put DD in there and leave the door open (as long as she can't see you).  We've done this with DS (some places have closets bigger then the room I had growing up).

kshoes

you can try a pop up tent as her bed.  a friend did this when she went to visit in laws and said it worked great. hth

sasa625

DD is the world's worst sleeper at home, but it's even worse when we travel. We had this same situation at MIL's house and DH and I gave up and ended up sleeping in the family room on the recliner and couch. It was either that or be up for hours in the middle of the night (and up for the day by 4 am at times!) DH ended up taking her to the recliner to sleep on him a few times when she was younger, but we figured that was a really bad habit to start with an already difficult sleeper!

mstopka

Thanks everyone! DD is a good sleeper at home and we really don't want to start any bad habits. Maybe we'll try putting a sheet up tonight and see how it goes.