Attachment Parenting
dannie2011
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Need help transitioning my 3 yr old to her own bed. (very long sorry)
dannie2011
member
So my 3 yr old has always been high needs/spirited she is a handful. We have bed shared as it was the only way to get her to sleep, at this point I don't sleep between here and our 3 month old.
I tried moving her to her own bed in October before baby. I slept in bed with her at first then tried to leave her on her own (she shares a room with big sis) but she would wake up 3+ times a night. This went on for 2 months, and it was not pretty. The screaming in the middle of the night is terrible. I tried to tell her she can sleep in our bed that she did not have to scream just come on and get in. She wants to sleep in her bed but she wants me to sleep with her.
I ended up just taking her and keeping her in our bed. Oh and she still wakes up if some is not in bed with her. I know we are disturbing her as she sleeps.
Now it's been a week and a half of us trying again. Before trying I would ask her where she wanted to sleep, at first it was always our bed. Then one night she sad her bed. So we tried, and this time big sister got in bed with her hoping that she would be ok for the night. Well it's hit or miss if she will sleep the night without any fits. Some night she wakes up sees her sister then curls up and goes back to sleep, other nights like last night she woke up ran out of the room screaming and would not let me touch her, would not tell me what she wanted, just plopped herself on the floor kicking and screaming. Now it's almost like night terrors in a sense but it's not, she has a temper. When she finally calms down she would take my hand and go back to bed. She will talk (scream) to us sometimes.
I'm at a loss with her, I've never had any of my kids be so hard from the day they were born. I don't know what to do, I can't even put another bed in our room to try that. Heck I tried to sidecar her crib, tried her in it as a day bed and that didn't work. Oh and the kicker if she gets too worked up think Exorcist puking everywhere, cio absolutely does not work.
I'm hoping and praying someone here may just maybe have an idea for me other then keeping her in my bed?
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Re: Need help transitioning my 3 yr old to her own bed. (very long sorry)
Once this had been the norm for some time, we moved his mattress into his own room. I repeated the cycle: slept in there with him for a few nights and then would slip away and just go to him when he woke. For a while I would spend the rest of the night with him after he woke. Now he wakes less, and when he does I go to him and snuggle him back to sleep, but then I go back to my bed.
Here are some ideas I have for you:
1. If possible, have SO start helping with bedtime and night wakings. If she can become comfortable with him as comforter, he can go to her during the night and get her back to sleep...and even sleep with her when necessary. That will leave you free to care for baby.
2. Stick with her sleeping in her bed, and either you or SO go to her when she wakes instead of bringing her into your bed. It's more work, but it gives her a sense that her bed is good, safe, and where she belongs. When she wakes up, even if she wants you, she'll be happier with her bed and think it's a good and comfy place to be.
3. Consider putting a baby monitor in her room so that you can hear her when she begins to stir/wake, and you or SO can get to her before she becomes really worked up. You could even get a monitor that allows her to hear you too, and show her how fun it is to use.
4. Special sheets, night lights, and other things that make her part of her room "hers" will give her a sense of ownership and pride in the place she sleeps, and will make it more inviting.
Best of luck! Toddlers are a doozy!