Almost 4 YO coming into our room/bed at night..new issue

CA2006

A very brief background:

DS is almost 4 and has been out of a crib since he was just over 2 YO.  He has never (I repeat, never) been interested in sleeping in our bed.  He will get into our bed and play, want to watch TV, etc. but is never interested in sleeping.  Even when he's sick or wakes and refuses to go back to sleep in his room, he will still never settle in our bed.  One time he even slept in a sleeping bag on our floor when he wouldn't go back to sleep in his room b/c of a cough...refused to sleep in our bed.

Fast forward to the past 2 nights.  Both nights he has come out of his room and into urs then crawled in bed between DH and I and fallen asleep.  He isn't scared (he's told me that, plus he has to walk through a dark house to get to our room), he isn't sick, he wakes around 5am and wants to go back to his room.  We do NOT want to make a habit of this. I am not sure what is causing it and what we can do to stop it effectively.  Anyone else go through something similar? I am wondering if someone at preschool mentioned that they sleep with their parents and he is "testing it out". He's done that with a few things since starting school, so it's a possibility. 

 

 

lite-bright

Both of my girls occasionally get in bed with us. If it's after 6 a.m. and they can be still, I generally allow it. If it's before that, or they're too squirmy, I take them back to their own beds. They don't usually fuss about it. 

It's not a consistent problem, but for awhile DD1 was an early riser. We got her an alarm clock that changes color when she could get up and come in our room. She figured it out in about two days and that solved the issue. 

I like morning snuggles, and usually one or both of the girls are in our bed by about 6:30 or 6:45. That's fine with me and doesn't mess with anyone's sleep -- I'd rather be woken up by snuggles than my alarm anyway. 

CA2006

lite-bright:

Both of my girls occasionally get in bed with us. If it's after 6 a.m. and they can be still, I generally allow it. If it's before that, or they're too squirmy, I take them back to their own beds. They don't usually fuss about it. 

It's not a consistent problem, but for awhile DD1 was an early riser. We got her an alarm clock that changes color when she could get up and come in our room. She figured it out in about two days and that solved the issue. 

I like morning snuggles, and usually one or both of the girls are in our bed by about 6:30 or 6:45. That's fine with me and doesn't mess with anyone's sleep -- I'd rather be woken up by snuggles than my alarm anyway. 

Oh, if it was 6am, that woudl be ok.  This has been at 2am and 3am. 

Brewtowngrl

Talk about what is scaring him during the day.  Do you have a night light or a light he can hold?  The fears started big time with DS1 at that age.  Talking about it helped.  We also did "bug spray"  at night. His fear was bugs in his room.  It was just lavender spray or you could use water.  I told him it kept the bugs out.  The dog also double checks his room before bed.  

lite-bright

If he's not scared or sick, just put him back in his bed. It may just be a passing whim. 

DD2 was in our bed at 3 a.m. last night. I let her snuggle for a few minutes, and once she fell asleep, put her back in her bed. It's not a common thing, and sometimes she tries an excuse ("There's a spider in my bed!"), but once I put her back, she doesn't come back in until the "allowed" time. 

mavs_girl07

we've also been experiencing a lot of fears and nightmares during the night.  We added a small fish aquarium, it has a a couple of fish, a couple of frogs, and a very dim blue light which seems to help.  We also put an air mattress next to our bed for her.  We let her know if she got scared, this bed was just for her and she could come sleep on it.  This was a good balance because it kept her out of our bed, but still made her feel safe.  We had about a month where she came in and slept on it every.single.night, but it's gotten better slowly.  It's rare now that I wake up and find her in there, but we leave it there just in case.  

chels0120

Wow. I could have written your post! haha our DS is the exact same way and just about a month ago (he's 3 1/2) he came into our room 3 days in a week around 4:30-5:00 a.m. and crawled in with us (more so inserted himself in the middle then parted the sea! how does someone so small take up so much room?!). After a few times of this happening I was tired of it. I intercepted him as soon as he came in our room and carried him to his room, tucked him in and layed by him for a few minutes. I'm chocking it up to separation "anxiety" even though he wasn't anxious. I think he just wanted to be by us. Ever since then, NO problems.

GL!