How do I get my daughter to sleep in her own bed?

Question

My daughter has slept in her own bed since she was born. I was very adamant about it because my mother let me sleep in her bed and I did until I was 10 years old. Just within the past 6 weeks she has started getting up in the middle of the night and getting in my bed. This is every night. Well now she is getting to the point where she wants to lay in my bed to just fall asleep. Last night my husband went and laid down with her, in her bed, to get her to fall asleep. She told him it wasn't fair that mommy had somebody to sleep with every night and she didn't. She will play her daddy's emotions like a fiddle. I am 28 weeks pregnant and there is not enough room in the bed for all three of us and I hate to see the disaster when the new child comes. I wake up in pain. Also, we can't have s*x first thing in the morning like I want. This has got to come to a screeching hault today. What should I do? I am a stay at home mom and I am with my child 24/7, can I get some alone time?

Answer 1

ok what you do is go to a bedding store with your daughter and let her pick out her own bed set and after put it in her room and help her set it up then you get a chart and stickers and every night that she sleeps alone the whole night she gets a sticker and if she goes a whole week or two without sleeping in your bed you take her to the toy store and let her pick something out. that is what my aunt did for my cousin.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

Krista W had the best answer. I think her idea was a great one!

Answer 3

Put her in her room to fall asleep, then lock your door for the night.

Answer 4

I LOVE your way of thinking...plus you're smart enough to realize that things will only get worse! Here's what you do...

- call an impromptu family meeting (make it official) immediately after dinner tonight.

- have a pad of paper and pen to make her understand that you mean business! (write down the evening schedule from eating dinner to brushing teeth)

- tell her effective immediately, she's sleeping in her own room. any complaining will mean an earlier bedtime

- she is obviously manipulating (my kids do that too...works better on dad..)

- have her sign the new evening schedule (regardless of her age, she'll like following it..make a chart for her to check off each thing (ie. brush teeth, pj's on, read a book with daddy, etc.)

- tell her you really like to cuddle and be close to her too...so if she gets all checkmarks from Sunday to Thursday, she can sleep with you on Fridays (maybe dad can sleep elsewhere .....this might work for you...it did for me)

- it's hard enough to be prego and have disruptive sleep...peeing every 1/2 hour etc...but this situation is well within your control...you need dads FULL support of the schedule...tucked in by 8:30pm at the latest.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I know this will probably take some time but the best thing to do is, when she comes into your room at night, without saying a word, pick her up and carry her back into her own bed.

If needs be sit with her for a few minutes until she gets back to sleep.

She may wake up in the night and panic becuase she is alone in the dark so how about getting her a nightlight?

One last thing you could consider is getting a lock put on your bedroom door so she can't get in. She may make a bit of a fuss for the first few nights, but she will soon learn that no means no.

Answer 6

i am 39 weeks and having the same problem with my 18 month old.  All he does is Scream in his bed,  He falls asleep in our bed sometimes and that is fine but he will start waking around 1 or 2 and from there on its h**l all night.  I can't take it.  I can't move let alone get up to him screaming.  Hubby is beat I feel so bad.

Answer 7

the best thing to do is tell her she needs to sleed in a big girl bed that way mommy can get some rest or i will be ell tomorrow and tell her theres monsters under your bed

Answer 8

Find her something special that she can take to bed with her, ask her what she wants it to be a stuffed animal, a body pillow, maybe even one of your t-shirts to sleep in.  Let her decide what makes her feel secure and like a big girl.  Explain to her why mommy needs her own bed, definitely take care of it before the new baby comes.

Answer 9

How old is your daughter?  This is drastic but I recommend sawing the door in half so it has an upper & lower half.  Open the top half so you can look in on her but bolt the lower half from the outside so she can't leave her room.  You have to put your foot down!!!  In my husband's culture it's natural for the mother to continue to sleep with her children..........my own mother threatened to take me to the doctor if I wouldn't stop calling out so that put an end to it really quick it also put a wedge in our relationship we've never been close.  

You should tell your daughter that your husband is YOUR husband and not hers.  Give her a stuffed animal to sleep with.  Buy an oversized one.  I had that & it was really nice.  Also with the cutting the door routine you can have some alone time.  That is if she doesn't scream & wail at being locked in her room.

Answer 10

well get her a nightlight and say something like if u sleep in ur bed we could go someplace for ur reward