How to stop 2 year old coming into mum and dad's room at night?

zaksmum

My grandson's 2 and just gone into his first bed from his cot.

He's discovered that he can now come into mum and dad's room all night before waking for the day at 530 am! He has sides on his bed but not all the way around so it's not escape proof.

Mum and dad are exhausted and feel they don't want to allow him to come into their bed, so it's a battle of wills with the little fella screaming the place down when taken back to his own room.

Anybody got any tips please?

Chakani

Stairgate on his door.

Desperado99

Get him a funky alarm clock and tell him he can only get up when it goes off

claire16c

My SIL used a method similar to what Ive seen on super nanny.

When my niece used to get out of bed, shed put her back in bed and say a couple of short sentences, like 'you need to go back in your own bed, night night' type thing. She started off sitting near the bed til my niece fell asleep.

Then she would sit near the door, and keep putting my niece back in bed if she got up. And lessening the sentences. Never letting it get into an argument. And ignoring screaming as long as she knew my niece wasnt ill or anything like that.

Eventually she just stopped trying to get out because she knew she would get put back.

Sometimes on supernanny the parents would have to do it over 50 times the first couple of nights!

mountainofdebt

Admittedly he was abit older than 2 but a friend of mine used a star chart - if he stayed in bed until an agreed time all week he got a small toy....they then extended the length of time he had to do this for until they weaned him off the chart completely.

Personally I would just go through the mill and put him back into bed each time he got up.......

daveyjp

Been there, got the t shirt.

You just have to keep putting the child back in the room, waiting outside the bedroom door to return them to bed each time without saying anything.

A few broken nights sleep for parents will be worth it in the long run.

The early starts will go on for many years!

Ignore any suggestions to lock children in a room, or use stairgates. It only gets the child more upset, as you would be if you were locked ina room!

notanewuser

My almost 2.5 year old still ends up in with us once or twice a week. She has been in a full size bed since she was 19 months and has a stairgate on her door so it's up to us whether she comes in or not.

You can't beat waking up with your toddler snuggled into you. (The little foot up the nose I could live without, tbh!!!)

notanewuser

daveyjp wrote: »

The early starts will go on for many years!

At least we don't get many of them.

flower24

We had a stairgate on our little boys room at that age because I was scared he'd get up in the night and take a tumble down the stairs. Not much use if they can open the gates though as some toddlers can.

meritaten

stairgates are for stairs not toddlers doors!

I agree with putting them straight back into their own beds - as many times as it takes! after a couple of nights - the toddler does give up! it does mean a few nights where parents get little or no sleep - best for them to take it in shifts.

Chakani

daveyjp wrote: »

The early starts will go on for many years!

Ignore any suggestions to lock children in a room, or use stairgates. It only gets the child more upset, as you would be if you were locked ina room!

No matter how upset it makes them, no two year old of mine is having the freedom to wander round the house without anyone knowing what they are doing. They might generally just wander into their parents' room and make a bit of a nuisance of themselves, but mine can open doors, cupboards, break things, hurt themselves even when I am awake and can hear what they are doing. Just imagine how badly they could hurt themselves unsupervised in the middle of the night, while their sleep-deprived parents sleep like the dead.

I don't see that having a stair gate on a toddler's room is any more "locking them in" than having them in a cot they can't climb out of.