Toddler bed help!!!

jarebearsmom · October 2013

Ds has been in a toddler bed since a month before he turned 2. Fantastic transition until recently when he started getting out of bed to play. Dh turned the bed around so it was like a crib again. That was fine for a week until he learned how to climb out. So we turned it back around and just shut his door. Now he knows how to open his door. Last night was the second night he has gotten up to play in the living room in the middle of the night.

Something has to give! Any day now we will have a newborn here. We can't have both of them up all night lol. Suggestions?

jnicolen1 · October 2013

oh man. i am dreading this. its the exact reason oliver is still in the crib. super nanny would say to pick him up and put him back in his bed over and over until he stops. i think oliver would outlast super nanny

i have a friend who puts a bell on her childs door. it rings loudly if he opens it.

curious to see what advice you get here. good luck!!!

sdpookie13 · October 2013

Have you tried a child-proof door knob cover? We use this currently but it took us a few different brands to find one that she couldn't just pull apart. Or maybe another type of door lock? I bet it's a phase and will pass if you keep re-enforcing the no-playtime at night rule. We also use a toddler clock that changes color when it's time to get up. That works 80% of the time.

TMNTgirl · October 2013

I would just put a child type lock on the inside of the door.

Every once in a while DS1 comes out of his room anywhere from 5-30 minutes after we've put him into bed and we just put him right back down and tell him it's bedtime. No more stories, kisses, songs, etc. Just business.

AllieMag24 · October 2013

I felt strange about this at first but we put a gate on our girl's door - I didn't like the idea of closing/locking her in the room. This way, the door can be open but she can't get out (until she figures out how to get over the gate!). She's been in the toddler bed since June because she's a monkey and was getting out of her crib back then.

babycakes · October 2013

I was also going to suggest a baby gate infront of the door. He could possibly climb it but its worth a shot.

Also be consistent with picking him up and putting him back into bed. Is there a reason he gets up? Nightmares? Not sleepy? Hungry? Need to go potty? Scared of the dark? Maybe if you can get to the reason, it may be a easy fix?

Maybe implement a reward system for him staying in his bed/room until morning? A sticker on a chart for staying in bed for a whole week? And at the end of the week if he has all 7 stickers, he gets a small prize (new pajamas? $1 store toy?). And if he gets up in the MOTN, he gets one sticker taken off the chart.

I haven't had this issue before so these ideas may be totally off but GL to ya! Hope you figure things out before new LO comes along!

jarebearsmom · October 2013

We have the problem of him not wanting to go to bed but then the problem of him waking up at 2 or 3 am so I doubt it's that he's just not sleepy. Dh and I just talked about it again and he's concerned that j could be sleep walking. Dh has sleep apnea which is hereditary and he use to sleep walk when he was a kid.

We tried the kid lock. He had it off in 10 minutes. We will try the baby gate tonight. Thanks ladies!

AllieMag24 · October 2013

Just to add one more thought...we actually installed a serious gate because a tension gate would be useless for DD if she realized she could push it over or knock it down by climbing it.

GL!

tiffanyp · October 2013

I just took the handle off A's door and installed it backwards so that I can lock her in. I don't use it anymore, but I have used it when we needed it.

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Toddler bed help!!!

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