XP: DS will not sleep in toddler bed
Mags04
member
Hello Ladies,
Last week my 20 month old DS figured out how to climb out of his crib. We weren't planning on taking him out of the crib yet but since it is no longer safe we had no choice. Tonight is night 6 and DS will not sleep in his toddler bed. We have a gate by his bedroom door so we don't have to close the door on him. For the past six nights he has cried for over two hours by the gate and eventually falls asleep on the floor by the gate. He continues to sleep on the floor all night until he wakes up very early. Tonight is the first night that we put the mattress on the floor not to far from the gate. But right now he is still crying by the gate.
We make sure he has all his comfort things, security blanket, paci, etc. I've even tried holding him and placing him fully asleep in the toddler bed but he wakes up immediately upon laying him down. I didn't want to start the habit of having fall asleep in my arms but I'm desperate at this point.
Did anyone else have problems transitioning their little one to a toddler bed? If so how many days/weeks did it take for your little one to adapt?
Do you have any tips that helped your little one adjust?
Seeing him cry and sleep on the floor every night is really getting to me. I just don't know what more to do for him.
Re: XP: DS will not sleep in toddler bed
What kind of toddler bed did you get?
For us, we just converted his crib into the toddler daybed, which is what I thought that I'd do when I bought the damn thing, but DS flipped the eff out, much like your son. After 5 days, I couldn't take it anymore. I was exhausted, FI was exhausted because he was constantly having to sleep on the floor beside DS and DS himself was exhausted from constantly being up and distraught.
DS was (still is) really into firetrucks, so I put DS back in the crib in the meantime, and searched Craigslist for a firetruck toddler bed. I found a newer one for $50 and thought it couldn't hurt---- it did the trick. He loved it! It took him a little bit longer to fall asleep the first couple of nights, but it was nothing like it was with the daybed.... not even in the same galaxy.
I was never a fan of the novelty beds, but if you can find a used one that is in reference to something that your DS really likes (trains, cars, trucks, etc) then it's worth a try.
My DS also fought the toddler bed. He has been in it now for four months. Some nights, he asks to go to bed and gets in and goes right to sleep. Other nights, he cries and begs for me and DH to stay in there with him. It does get better eventually. The bad nights happen less and less now. Good luck.
My older son did the crying thing for about two weeks and slept on the floor in front of his closed for for about six months. He figured out how to scale the gate. He now sleeps great in a twin bed.
my younger son climbed out of his crib over the summer. At first he hated the toddler bed (side taken off his crib). Then I figured out I should just turn the bed around so that the open side is away from the wall enough for him to get out and the closed side faces the door. I think he likes the security of the crib. We struggle with him waking in the middle of the night and he freaks out about having his door closed, but can also climb the gate in his doorway. Right now the threat of closing the door is enough to keep him in his bed at bedtime, but then he wakes up between 1-3am and freaks out if the door is closed. So it's kind of a work in progress. Maybe try turning the bed around before buying him a new toddler bed.
I thought of getting one of those tents that go over the crib do they can't get out. For some reason the pedi's nurse advised against that. I would love for him to be back in the crib but I know he'll climb out.
We moved DS to a twin mattress mid-December and we are still working on the adjustment. We were told to keep his bedtime routine the same from when he was in his crib. Unfortunately, that did not help out with DS. We're still working on finding a new routine for the new bed.
It has helped DS to have both of us (DH and I) to start bedtime together. We put pjs on, change his diaper, read books and pray together, and sometimes sing songs. DS then likes to snuggle with DH and I leave and knock on the wall saying, "I love you!"
Right now, it takes about 1 hr to get him down and asleep. DH has been able to leave while DS is very sleepy rather than fully asleep (which is progress for us!). We're hopeful that it'll keep getting shorter!
2 years of TTC, Seeing RE Feb 09, 2 medicated TI cycles - BFNs, 3 medicated IUIs - BFNs, back to medicated TI cycles until IVF approval, IVF approved in March 2010. BFP on last medicated TI cycle.