My 5yr old wont sleep in his own bed?

Question

My 5yr old son (will be 6 in Oct), has a hard time sleeping in his own bed. We have turned his room into the "Bat Cave", including Batman sheets, comforter, wall appliques....he actually picked out everything himself and helped decorate the room. He was very very proud of this accomplishment but still continues to wake up almost every hour and crawls into bed with anyone (parents, sibs, grandparents....). We have a low level halogen light on very low so the room is not dark (in addition to his Batman night light). He doesnt drink any juice or eat dessert after dinner so it's not a sugar problem. We read books to him in his bed, he falls asleep but will get up. He says he is too scared to sleep alone in his own room. Any suggestions, advice or ideas? He is a big kid for his age, over 48" and 63lbs so it's not easy to sleep with him, he moves around ALOT. He sleeps in a full size bed and we have promised him new Batman toys if he can sleep at least most of night in his own bed.

Answer 1

Is it that he's having bad dreams? If so, try getting him a dream-catcher. Or get him a big stuffed animal and tell him it'll keep him safe (that's what my parents did when my sibs and I were younger).

Answer 2

Why is he scared? Batman would never let anything bad happen to him! I got a big huge gorilla for my son when he was little. It sat on the bed and protected him while he was sleeping. It worked for us. Good luck.

Answer 3

I agree, consistency and rewards do tend to help. But it's HARD!! I know because my 8yo boy would sleep with me every night, if he could. He's always found it difficult to get to sleep, even as a baby, and does have a learning disabilities (maybe ADD). He also has bad dreams sometimes (and occasionally night terrors).

I've tried relaxation techniques which are hard given his age, and the magical thinking concept (i.e., giving a toy such as a stuffed animal or action figure the power to protect him while he sleeps) but that didn't work, he just said, 'But mum, that's just a toy!'

I've done the get up and put him back to bed thing, night after night, but as a single mom I am just so tired, I've woken up in the morning and found him in the bed with me, and I didn't even know he'd come in! I've also tried keeping star charts, and that works only until the reward comes, then he's back to popping out of his bed again.

What has worked (sort of) is we have a deal - and it's not ideal, I admit - he sleeps in his bed through the week and if he does then he's allowed with me on weekend nights.  

I would like to resolve why he feels this need for closeness, but I'm going to give it some more time before I work on it again. Good luck!

Answer 4

Get up out of your bed and take him back to his bed.  Tuck him in and then leave the room.  You have to be consistent and do it over and over and over until he finally figures out that getting up and going to sleep with someone else isn't going to work.

Answer 5

Did you start letting him sleep with you as a younger child? ? Bad habits are hard to break. Consistanly take him back to his room EVERY time he crawls in bed with you.