3 Year Old Leaving the "Big-Girl Bed" HELP!!!

MamaBird

Sun, Dec 26 2010, 9:24 pm

We just changed dd's crib to a big girl bed and she keeps running out and playing with toys, flying into my bed, etc. I need some creative ideas to help her stay in her bed. I've done the big girl bed = big girl thing, the "mommy's getting upset" thing, and everything else in between!!!! any new ideas? (pleeeease???)

TwinsMommy

Sun, Dec 26 2010, 9:43 pm

I don't care if my twins leave their beds as long as they stay in their room. I took everything fun out of their room and made sure that they're tired at bedtime. Even so when they wake up in the morning before me they open their closets and drawers, and cuddle together in bed, but at least they're not finding any toys--- just pullups, clothing.

They don't leave their room because I keep their door closed with a childproof handle on the inside--- since they now know how to get that off, I have a shoelace attached on the outside of their door to another door so from the inside the door won't open--- in case of fire of course it takes half a second for me to remove the shoelace and open the door quickly. They're only in there at bedtime. A couple times of trying to open the door and not succeeding, and they no longer bother. The only thing that gets me to open their door between their bedtime and morning is a scream (poopy pullup, nightmare). A little happy talking or singing, I just ignore it and the culprit is asleep after 10 minutes.

They'll be 4 next week and they've been in toddler beds for about a year now.

If you can't remove all the toys from her room or keep her door closed in such a way she can't open it, why not try a sticker chart with a great reward for staying in bed x number of nights in a row?

rachel6543

Sun, Dec 26 2010, 11:27 pm

Recently I saw somewhere on this site (can't find it now) amother mentioning a children's alarm that changes colors when it's ok for the kids to get up in the morning (see link below)

http://www.americaninnovative......e.php

Maybe something like this will help? Teach your daughter that she's only allowed to get up when the light turns to green in the morning??

I haven't tried this myself, but I'm seriously thinking about getting it for my son. He's still in a crib, but in the next few months I'll have to transfer him to a bed and I think my son is the type of kid who would really like a clock like this.

BusyBeeMommy

Sun, Dec 26 2010, 11:36 pm

I've had that problem. I would sit with my 3 year old and first tell her 2 stories, say shema and kiss her good night. Then we had a small conversation about how we are not allowed to leave our beds for anything. If she had to go to the bathroom, she would call me and I would take her no more than 2 times.

I had 2 incentives for her to stay in bed:
I would leave the door open
She gets 2 stories at bedtime

If she got out of bed, I would put her back in and tell her that I will close her door. At the second time, I would close the door for a few minutes. When I opened it, she usually knew that I meant business, but I had to keep it closed for the rest of the night on several occasions. If it got really bad, I would take away one or two stories from her the following night, and when she would cry, I would tell her that the next night she will get the stories if she stayed in bed.

It didn't happen overnight, and it was a learning process, but eventually she got it. It took about 3-4 months.

I would suggest that you keep yourself as free as possible during the next few bedtimes to monitor her getting out of bed and getting her right back in as soon as she gets out. It may take hours, but it's an investment. You can also tell her that if she does it for X amount of times she will get a prize. I did that for my DD when she had trouble sleeping through the night.