DD is 2.5 and sleeping has always been a struggle. Once she turned two she seemed to turn a corner and was doing much better, but things are terrible again recently. Right before Christmas we converted her crib into a toddler bed and she's having such a hard time! She's been freaking out at night when she's put in bed, and we're pretty sure she's scared. Tonight she was screaming bloody murder for about 20 minutes until I went in. She was a mess; sobbing and shaking. The only way she'll sleep in there is if one of us is in the room with her. Has anybody dealt with this? Looking for advice for how to get her over this fear so we can all sleep better. I don't think she's manipulating us as this seems to be a genuine fear, so I want to help her move past it. I'm 20 weeks pregnant and don't want to be dealing with this when we have a newborn!
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My LO who is 22 month went through something similar. She did not want us to leave which was new. After the first night (where we had to stay until she fell asleep), we returned to the Ferber method which we had used when she was 6 months old! We did checks at 3,5,7, 7minutes. it took 3 nights and the. She was back to her usual self. We read books, sing songs, and then let her get in bed by herself and tuck her in and leave. Even the 3rd night of Ferber only took 1 check at 3 mins.
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My 28 month old just transitioned to a Privacy Pop tent with a twin mattress inside. We zip it up and "lock" it with a tiny carabiner on the zippers and he's been sleeping phenomenally in it. He was a little freaked out the first day (cried 15 minutes at naptime?) and cried a little for nap the second day, but he's loved it since. I think it's because it gives him the secure feeling his crib did. He just hollers in the morning when he's awake and we go get him.
We had him do a floor bed without the tent and he was up and crying at his door multiple times a night. It was just too much freedom for him.
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Maybe she's not ready to be out of the crib yet? Any way you can try the crib again? If not, how about a night light or one of those crib soother things? (I'm not at this stage with my 2.5 year old yet but I am praying he stays in the crib forever, because I'm scared that he'll be the same way!)
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@sapphire: Thanks, we might have to try this. This never worked when she was tiny (she would just amp up and go on and on), but now that she's older I think it might.
@gingerbebe: We might have to think about that. She sleeps in something similar at daycare and likes it.
@BabyTsMom: Unfortunately she was crawling out of the crib and had an accident where she fell and hurt herself doing that at daycare, so we had to move her. She liked the crib so I was sad to move her!
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@LemonJack: I am sorry! Since going back to the crib isn't an option can you put up a toddler rail if their isn't one already?!
I've also seen these things called Dock a tots look like a blow up boat to put in beds gives them more security.....
IDK just trying to help I bet its hard! ((Hugs))
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@FaithFertility: She had a convertible crib so there's a small rail, but it's tiny. I am definitely going to check out your Doc a tot suggestion! I've never heard of that! Thanks.
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@LemonJack:
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@LemonJack: What's your overall nighttime routine like? When our oldest transitioned to a real bed her sleep was about the same for the first few months. And then she figured out she could get out of bed and then she started coming back out a lot, crying, etc. So first, we transitioned her whole bedtime routine to her room/bed (like before we read stories in the living room, and then we switched to reading the stories in her bed). And then she started asking us to leave her door open.
We just live in a 2 bedroom condo, so we were terrified she would never go to sleep if we had to bedroom door open because it opens to our living room/kitchen where we are doing stuff. But it totally works--she can see and hear us cleaning up dinner and stuff, but that reassures her, and she falls asleep much faster than before when we insisted on closing her door.
It's probably just a transitional stage.
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@Anagram: We've talked about leaving the door open, hoping it will help her feel more secure, so I think we'll need to try that next. Her bedtime routine hasn't changed, but a good portion of that doesn't happen in her room so we might need to change that.
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Sorry if someone else mentioned this ... but are you using a nightlight? Maybe a special doll or animal to help her feel brave? We literally just went through this with our 3 year old. We take a lot of time during the day to remind her that her room is safe, monsters are not real, and we're always here if she needs us. It seems to have helped.
Bed transitions, for kids that are already not great sleepers, are HARD!! HARD! I feel for you.
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@littlejoy: Thanks, they are so hard! She is the sweetest little thing, but has always really seemed to struggle with every transition. She does have multiple "friends" in bed with her, and I spent a lot of time before and after work today really talking to her about her bed, and how she's safe, and that we're still right here. We'll see! She did so well the first couple weeks.
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@FaithFertility: Thanks for the pics! I might use these as inspiration for setting up something myself with a body pillow along the open side.
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Yes we also have a nest in DS1's bed tent. We got a big plushy minky body pillow along one side (Costco has them right now for like $10.99), one pillow for his head, and a second along the other side, so he has a U shaped pillow nest. He then gets like 4 other friends tucked around him, two lovey blankets, and a soft plush twin blanket. I would love to sleep in a nest like that! He's so cozy in his fort.
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@gingerbebe: I'll have to run to Costco to check those out! She would love to be tucked in all cozy. She loves that!
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