3.5 YR OLD wont stay in his bed

Abloom610 · January 2015

Hello Everyone,

Please HELP! Our 3.5 yr old will get ready for bed, read stories, etc but as soon as the ritual is over he will not stay in his room. He comes out multiple times and we always warn him we will shut his door if he comes out again. He still comes out, we shut the door, he has a meltdown....you all know how that goes. I am sure how to break this awful cycle? Does anyone have any success stories they can share?

We even tried letting him read in his room with the light on for a litle while after his bedtime routine but he only adapted for 2 days before he started coming out of his room again.

He is still somewhat napping in the afternoon, should we take away the nap?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

dufferoo · January 2015

We spent $2.99 on one of those plastic doorknob covers that make it hard for little ones to turn. The very first night he got up a few times and cried when he couldn't open it, but then he quickly gave up trying. I've also heard of people turning the doorknob around to lock them in there which seems kinda mean, but I think sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do in the short-term to break a bad habit. Good luck!

sweetgirl425 · January 2015

When my daughter was about 2 1/2 she was doing this same thing and it made bedtime a nightmare and the process of putting her back in bed over and over would sometimes take an hour before she'd finally go to sleep (she already slept with the door shut at that point, but was able to open it). We ended up doing our bed time routine, tucking her in, reassuring her and explaining that if she got up we would lock the door. of course, she got up, and we locked the door. she screamed and cried for quite some time the first night, but the second night was better and before long she would actually just stay in bed and go to sleep on her own!

The idea seemed so mean to me at first, but when you think about it, it's really no different than doing "cry it out" with a baby in a crib. Its just doing it with a child that's too big for a crib. And I would go in after I knew she was asleep and make sure she was safely in bed and then keep her door unlocked for the rest of the night.

My daughter is 3 1/2 now and started repeating this behavior again after we moved to a new house. I've tried many things to reassure her because I know she's genuinely afraid of the dark. she has nightlights and we started leaving her door open with a hall light on. This still was not helping, so I started something I found on pinterest. You place 3 strips of tape on the floor in their doorway. one piece marking where the door is when its completely open, a second piece marking the half-closed position and a third piece marking where the door would be just slightly cracked. then explain that each time she gets up the door will be closed to the next tape, meaning if she gets up three times the door is shut. This has worked great so far!! It only took closing it halfway the first night for her to not want to do that again!

Hope this helps! sorry it's so long, I've just had my fair share of sleep obstacles with her.

jaecat521 · February 2015

We got a hook latch lock for our kiddos' doors. My 2 year old cried for awhile for a couple of nights, but once she realized that bedtime meant bedtime, she started going back to her bed of her own accord. She goes down at night very well now, and only tries to get out if she has an actual issue. Just be consistent, and make sure that all of your kid's needs are met.

3.5 YR OLD wont stay in his bed

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