Daughter and toddler bed
By Kaldonya
@Kaldonya (277)
United States
January 26, 2007 12:30pm CST
I have a 26 month old daughter that is extremely PRECOCIOUS! She can scale in and out of her crib and her brother's crib with no problem. So we got her a toddler bed (for safety so she wouldn't fall out of the bed or something like that), and moved her brother's crib into another bedroom. It's been a week and I cannot keep her in her bed for the life of me! She is a very strong-willed child, and seems to be obedient pretty much all of the time....except with this. I know that toddlers are learning to be their own person and will say "no" on things to test boundaries, and I think this is her area of challenge. It's not like I can sit outside her door for HOURS every afternoon and put her right back into bed when she gets out (so that she learns). I tried that. I gave up after 3 hours.
My older boys weren't like this. They went to bed and stayed there when they were told. I just don't get it.
Any suggestions?
2 people like this
6 responses
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
2 Feb 07
Tell her she does not have to stay in bed but she has to stay in her room. Put some pillows on the floor and have a nice soft play area, maybe some soft lights and books, she can just play herself to sleep.
BTW: My son was getting in and out of the crib at 13 months. I went one day to get him up from his nap and he was standing on the side rail.
2 people like this
@Kaldonya (277)
• United States
2 Feb 07
We did make up a nice soft bedded area with blankets and pillows on the floor for her, and it's right next to the door. The little stinker still crawls over and sleeps on the floor in front of the door.
I don't think she even naps anymore in the afternoons. I can hear her through the monitor playing the whole time.
1 person likes this
@cjthedog64 (1552)
• United States
1 Feb 07
As long as her room is child proofed, it shouldn't really matter where she sleeps. Some kids like to sleep on the floor. Won't really hurt anything, will it? I'm sure she'll sleep in her bed before she's married or anything...
2 people like this
@Kaldonya (277)
• United States
1 Feb 07
LOL! That's what we figured too. She seems to prefer the floor for the time being, and her room is really child proofed, so it doesn't matter to me. Yeah, hopefully before she's married she'll prefer a bed, otherwise her husband will begin to wonder! :-)
1 person likes this
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
4 Feb 07
Poor you. I do not know what to say for sure. Maybe you should tell her she needs to be in there and hope she listens. My daughter is just learning how to stand up on things and she stands on her crib. I worry that she wil fall someday. So, I always check on her and not put her in her crib until she's really tired, and she usually doesn't fight with me about that she goes right to bed after few minutes.
Maybe you should try that with your daughter, put her on the bed when she is really tired and she won't think about climbing out of it, hopefully.
@Kaldonya (277)
• United States
6 Feb 07
That would be nice...but she seems to be one of those little kids that thrives on very little sleep. She seems to do very well on power naps. I've tried waiting until she was really tired. The average time that she gets really tired is around midnight. ugh.
@slavena (87)
• Canada
26 Jan 07
I think maybe you should try staying in her bed with her until she falls asleep, assure her that the new toddler bed is okay, and it's good because she's a big girl. Whenever my daughter has problems adapting to something new I always say ' I thought you wanted to be a big girl ' , and of course she says yes, and then after that everything is okay!
2 people like this
@nexis777 (134)
• United States
27 Jan 07
I've got a 26 month old son who has been in his toddler bed for probably 6 months. He does NOT get out of his bed unless I go and get him from it. He tried it a few times when I first put him in it, and I would just swat his leg, put him back in bed and tell him he needed to stay there until I came to get him. After a few times of that he decided it wasn't worth it to keep getting up. I think your best bet is to make sure it's not worthwhile for her to get up. If a spanking will do it, then do that. If taking away sugar, or some snack she likes works, then do that. Honestly, because you gave up that one time with her, she's going to be that much more stubborn about it in the future because she knows there's a breaking point with you and she's going to strive hard to find it again. You have to be more stubborn than her. I train my kids from a set of books called "To Train Up a Child" if you'd like to read a bit about them go to www.nogreaterjoy.org.
2 people like this
@Kaldonya (277)
• United States
1 Feb 07
Over the past days, we've tried different routes, including the spanking. Nothing worked. My daughter is just extremely "stubborn" plain and simple. I figured that it wasn't worth the fight to try and keep her in a bed that she'll just get out of anyway. Her oldest brother was like that too when he was little. He slept on the floor NEXT to his bed. So we're fine with letting her sleep on the floor. We have a "bed" made up on the floor for her as well as her bed. Thanks for responding.
1 person likes this
@stirringthepot (49)
• United States
2 Feb 07
Our daughter is 28mo and sleeps in our of those 3 in 1 beds. When she was able to get in and out with the mattress lowered all the way, I took off the side rails. It took about a week of me sitting out side of the room or laying down on the floor to get her to stay in her bed. She would usually fall asleep in about three hours. I could only suggest is form routines and be consist ant with them.
