I'm seriously at my wits end

NewMrs07 · January 2012

Adrian has been climbing out of his crib for a week and he refuses to stay in it at nap time and bed time. He has been losing sleep b/c of this and so have we. Last night he wouldn't go down until 11pm (after I pretty much forced him to fall asleep on my shoulder) and he woke up at 6am (so 7 hrs sleep is not enough for a 2-yr old). We've had to do the shoulder thing for naps too b/c he'll climb out of the crib over and over like some kind of game, even though he's completely exhausted and needs to rest.

I don't know what to do. The books say to put him there over and over but it doesn't work. And then he can't get back into the crib w/o us helping him. We bought a toddler bed today in the hopes that if he gets out, we can leave him in his room and he'll get back in bed when he's ready. But then he might never sleep! I think nap time is over now, unless we find a solution.

Any advice? Everyone I talk to has never had this problem. Our child is seriously very stubborn, hyper and feisty. I know parenting is hard, but when the heck does it get a little easier? I feel that this stage is even harder than the baby stage.

stever · January 2012

You're on the right track with the toddler bed. M's been in one for about 6 months. He's about 50/50 with staying in and going to sleep and wanting to climb out and being threatened with time-out if he does get out.

mwd · January 2012

Absolutely he should be in a toddler bed! REally make a big deal about it, how special he is, what a big boy, can you get him new bedding for a character he LOVES? Allow him to read books in there with a flashlight, as DS found this to lots of fun. (FYI, buy lots of batteries!) Can he access books by himself in there? We had to do this when DD was coming, as we needed the crib for her.

If this doesn't work, you will have to threaten him with a time out if he gets up. Or promise a special toy if he stays in bed for one night, then three, then 5, etc. And he will sleep when he is tired, it just may take some time. If these don't work, call the pediatrician and ask if they have any recommendations.

Pesky · January 2012

ditto on the toddler bed or twin. Go that route, put a pressure-mounted gate on his door (what we've done for DS and DD) or shut the door. If he gets out and doesn't want to get back in, his deal. I've picked DS up off the floor before sound asleep and deposited him back in bed. They figure out pretty quickly it is a LOT more comfortable to get to bed when getting sleepy.

BrideBuddies · January 2012

Holy crap. I can't believe you lasted this long in the crib! C started escaping right before he was 2 and there was no going back at that point. I was afraid he's hurt himself in the middle of the night, so we switched as soon as he consistently kept getting out.

Definitely time for the big boy bed. Hate to tell you this, but it was about 3 weeks of heck before Charlie really settled down. And even now, he still wakes up sometimes. I have a big fleece blanket on the floor and he sometimes prefers to sleep there. Some people just put the mattress on the floor for a while.. that works too.

Ditto on using a tension gate across the door. We have lever handles on the doors and put the gate right up underneath the handle and he hasn't figured out how to escape that yet.

Babyproof EVERYTHING in his room. He WILL tear the place apart, given the chance.

pahokie · January 2012

I would try the mattress on the floor or the toddler bed, because I would be really worried about him falling. We have DD in a toddler bed, and because she can get out easily, we do end up with her in our bed at some point most nights. We are working on getting her to stay in her room all night right now.

Do you use any sort of nightlight or lamp? We had one of those glowy blue nightlights which is not very bright and DD told DH that she gets scared when the lights are out, so we swapped it out for a brighter light, which seems to have helped some. On the other hand, is that light so bright that it interferes with sleep?

Are you willing to let him cry it out? He will eventually figure out that he feels much better if he goes to sleep when he is tired instead of pitching a fit. DD can't open her bedroom door, and like pp we have occasionally moved DD to bed from the floor.

Is there a reason A must nap in the crib? Sometimes DD naps in her bed, but often we just let DD fall asleep on the couch (sometimes sitting on one of us, sometimes not) and stretch her out to sleep there.

Good luck!

NewMrs07 · January 2012

pahokie:
I would try the mattress on the floor or the toddler bed, because I would be really worried about him falling. We have DD in a toddler bed, and because she can get out easily, we do end up with her in our bed at some point most nights. We are working on getting her to stay in her room all night right now.

Do you use any sort of nightlight or lamp? We had one of those glowy blue nightlights which is not very bright and DD told DH that she gets scared when the lights are out, so we swapped it out for a brighter light, which seems to have helped some. On the other hand, is that light so bright that it interferes with sleep?

Are you willing to let him cry it out? He will eventually figure out that he feels much better if he goes to sleep when he is tired instead of pitching a fit. DD can't open her bedroom door, and like pp we have occasionally moved DD to bed from the floor.

Is there a reason A must nap in the crib? Sometimes DD naps in her bed, but often we just let DD fall asleep on the couch (sometimes sitting on one of us, sometimes not) and stretch her out to sleep there.

Good luck!

He won't nap anywhere except his crib. He used to fall asleep in the car if it was nap time and I drove around long enough, but not anymore. He's really stubborn about fighting his nap time, even though he goes down easily on a floor mat at day care (3 days a week), so I know he can do it if he wants to. DH does not help b/c when A escapes his crib/room, DH just plays with him and defeats my hard work. I've had a word with DH so he won't do that anymore. A is smart enough now to realize that if I say no he can go to DH to see if he says yes.

We'll try the toddler bed tomorrow and see what happens. I'm bracing myself to a couple weeks of hell, but hopefully not. I think we'll need to get a gate too, b/c if not, A will just get out of his room and jump on our bed (our door knobs are old and can't be baby proofed and he can open them).

Man, I hope we can get over this milestone quickly. I'm kind of tired.

Chelz · January 2012

I'm not sure what to advise... just right there with you on the no sleep and "I'm seriously at my wits end". DS has been waking up 6x a night for 2 months.

I wish you the best of luck and hope the toddler bed works. I've also had people tell me about having him help pick out a cute nightlight and/or fun character bedding to make him feel like a big boy!

pahokie · January 2012

That's rough - I'm sorry! I would try the toddler bed, make a huge deal about what a big boy his is, etc.

Maybe like pp suggested try a reward system? One star if he spends the night in his bed, ten stars get a small toy, etc?

Hope something works out and you get more sleep soon!

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