6 year old cries til she pukes at bedtime?

Question

my daughter is almost 6 and we are trying to get her into her own bed. we have tried letting her cry, but she will gag herself and throw up all over the place. i heard somewhere to just let her lay there and clean her up when she wakes up in the morning.... un, no. can't bring myself to do that. also, even when she sleeps elsewhere she will wake up and climb into bed with us. Unfortunately we usually don't know she's there until morning. any ideas? please help.

Answer 1

try letting her fall asleep where she wants then put her in her bed. and as for the crying and puking do you give in and if you do that would be why she cont to throw up. give her a bucket or bowl and see what happens good luck

Answer 2

It sounds like attention seeking to me.

I can't think of a way for you to notice she's with you, but make her bed seem more attractive and when she starts to cry, you're doing the right thing leaving her. When she's sick, go in and clean it up without saying anything even if she speaks to you except maybe 'bed' or something short like that. If she consists, you could put some music on so she knows you're not paying attention.

Good luck

Answer 3

Hiya :)

I slept with my mum and dad in their bed till I was about 8 then one day I just decided I'm a "big girl" now and want to sleep in my own room.

Now that I've got my own two kids they want to come sleep with me and I feel what my poor mum had to go through!!

What I am doing for both of them at the moment is explain that sleeping on our bed is not an option, so I make a bed for them on the floor in my room with a little mattress and their blankets, yes it causes me to have to pick up a few more things in the morning but they are happy and smiling everyday, so to me that's worth it.

If you really don't want her in your bed why don't you and her decorate her room together, or buy her a huge teddy and say that he would love to sleep on her bed with her or he will get lonely. She might also be scared, and being scared truly is an awful feeling, try sitting with her till she falls asleep, or leave the light on, talk to her and ask her why she doesn't want to sleep on her own.

I wish you all the best of luck!!

Ellie

xxxx

Answer 4

she may have separation anxiety.

i was very attached to my mother as a child.

maybe take her to a doctor or therapist.

i went to one and it helped a lot.

it may seem scary,

but i just played with toys and answered some questions.

then she just talked to my mom.

good luck.

:)

Answer 5

She does this to control you.  Sit down with her at bedtime and let her know that she needs to stay in her own bed.  Explain to her that it is unacceptable behavior to make herself sick.  Tell her that from now on if she pukes that she will be cleaning up her own mess.  Have her put clean pajamas on if necessary, change her own sheets and put her back in her own bed.   This may take a few nights but it should be effective.  As for climbing into bed with you...keep your door closed or almost closed and attach a bell or something similar to the top of the door so that it will wake you up when she comes into your room.  Tell her it's bedtime and walk her back to her bed if necessary.  No drinks, nothing, because she will stall you in putting her back in her own bed.  Don't give up, don't give in.  She will try every trick in the book. You might want to make her a bedtime chart and for every night that she stays in her bed she gets a star.  When she goes a whole week with staying in her own bed you can take her out for a treat.  Be strong! Good luck.

Answer 6

My daughter is 9 years old and would rather sleep on the floor in my bed room then in her own bed. This is a real fear of hers. She won't even sleep in her room or living room when she is allowed to have a friend sleep over. So unfortunately she is not allowed to have friends sleep over.

What did work briefly for us from ages 5-7 was I would lie in her bed until she fell asleep, then i would get up and go to bed. I had to stop doing that when my baby was born and she ended up back with us.

Other then that I don't have any advice but wanted to let you know you are not alone. I believe it is a real fear of hers and she is old enough to tell me how scared she is and you can just see it in her eyes. I don't think she is trying to pull one over on me. I think it's a real FEAR and should be treated very gently. I too have thought about therapy.

Answer 7

The reason she cries until she pukes is because she knows you will come in to clean her up and then she will wind up in your bed.  YOU enable the behavior.  It isn't going to stop until YOU stop enabling it.  If you can't bring yourself to let her cry and then clean up the mess in the morning rather than letting her have her way you are going to have a 12 year old sleeping with you...

Answer 8

I agree that its a form of control. She knows that if she pukes, she doesn't have to sleep in her own bed. Personally, i can't understand why people let their kids sleep with them for so many years and then think it can change in a week or less. You probably already know that you should have tried this a lot younger or never let her sleep with you to begin with.

How about you move her bed into your room? Or have her sleep on a smaller sized bed in your room until she gets used to that. And then gradually move her into the other room. Try 2 way radios too so she knows that if she really needs you, you're always near. Get her a big night light if the darkness is what bothers her. And you can always try rewarding her when she is good and sleeps in her own bed and when she doesn't take a toy or something away from her.

Other than that, all I can say is when my girls have intentionally cried till they puked I've told them the next time they puke, they get to clean it. That thought in itself seems to be enough to straighten them right on out~~they know I hate to clean it and they know they sure don't want to do it either!

P.S. They never have cleaned any up and I'm not sure I could ever let them either.

Good luck!

Answer 9

I would tell her that "there is not enough room in our bed so you need you sleep in your own bed. You are a big girl and you need to act like a big girl." also have a reward system. First..start out with her sleeping in your bed 6 times a week. Then...one night she has to sleep in hers. If she does...she gets a small toy like maybe a new headband or something like that. Then the next week...its 5 days in your room...2 in hers. Make the reward something she really wants.Keep doing this until its one night in your bed 6 in hers. Then chage it to always in hers. I hope this helped.

-Tara

Answer 10

My daughter did this too when she was between 3 - 5.  She's 7 and eventually grew out of it...although sometimes she still crawls into bed with us.

I was told by one pediatrician to let her lay in the puke and clean it in the morning too......never did that!  I would lay in her room with her until she fell asleep sometimes.  I know some people would disagree, but we bought her a disney tv with a dvd player and found putting in a movie for her would keep her in bed.  I would check on her after 20 minutes or so and she would be sound to sleep.  I'm not sure if you sleep with your doors open or shut, but we keep ours open and I have a dim lamp on in the hallway too.  I don't believe there's any right or wrong ways, you just have to try different techniques until one works for your family.  I look at it as they're only little once, by the time they're 13 the last place they'll want to be in is mommy and daddy's room.  I cherish snuggling her once in awhile!

Answer 11

I'm with Country... It's a form of control... she should get the 10 pts. for the winning answer....

I remember my neice at that age who would work herself into vomiting when she got upset....

One and only one time: She got upset her mother and I were going to go somewhere without her.  Her dad and uncle were driving her home in my car.... and she started to work herself into the heaves.

I made it clear to her that she was NOT ALLOWED TO THROW UP IN MY CAR and that if she did, she would clean up her own mess.

Guess what?

She didn't vomit... stopped crying.

Throwing up was never again part of her "attention" pattern.

GET TOUGH!