transition to a bed.... how did you do it

Hi Guys

SAnta brought Jordan a big boy bed for xmas and he has been so good in it until tuesday night.
He is now getting up out of bed and opening his door to come into the loungeroom as soon as we shut his door. This is happening for both day and night sleeps.
The 1st night it took 2.5 hrs to get him to sleep and DH ended up lying next to him in his bed and falling asleep with him.
Tonight it took 1.5 hrs and I had to sit on his bed till he fell asleep.
I dont want to make a habit of this but I am frustrated with getting up as soon as my butt hits the couch because he is out of bed already.
I am also loosing my temper with him, which is so unlike me and I am not happy about it. I really want to nip this in the bud so I dont become an awful mum.

Any suggestions would be great.

I was coming on to post a similar qsn Tracey. I am thinking I would move Charlie over to a big bed soon but am worried that without the cot sides, he'll be out of bed and out in the lounge within mins of putting him to bed. I hope you don't mind me piggy backing on any advice you get here!

Sarah is still in her cot but some friends of ours put a safety gate infront of their DD's bedroom door. she sleeps on a mattress on the floor at the moment coz it is a bit safer than her bed but the gate keeps her in her room and her parents can hear if she is really upset or needs something. we will be doing this when Sarah moves into her bed because she can open her door.

As a result of Olivia being a night wanderer as soon as she went into a big girl bed, here are my tips for sanity:

1. Don't insist they 'sleep' at lunchtime. An hour of quiet time in their room with some books/quiet toys gave me the break, but kept her awake and thus exhuasted at bedtime!
2. Surrender to the fact that they will likely pop out once or twice: just accept it. (My limit is twice...after that, I get stern!)
3. When you put them to bed, entice them to stay in bed....when I tuck her in I bribe her! "Olivia, if you snuggle down and go straight to sleep, we will maybe go to the park tomoorw......"
4. When Olivia does wander, I bore her back to bed. No fun & games. I take her straight back to bed, quick kiss, and exit.

The benefit to all this is that when it comes to night time toilet training, they will likely have got over the novelty of the evening wanderings.......

I should add that Charlie is 2.5 and still more than happy in his cot. So no big bed for him yet. Delaying the pain! LOL!

I also had a baby gate in the doorway. Worked wonders.

I would quickly return them back to bed no fuss or talking, it does require you to get up off the couch for a few nights but I found they soon get tired of not getting a response. Keep the same routine every night. My DD didn't like going to bed and would call out from her bed because she new that she had to stay there. Things that helped were having just one cuddly toy, a night light and shutting her cupboard doors because she was scared if they were open. Good luck :)

Hi Tracey-

My jordan has been in a big bed for bout a while now. The first 2-3 nights he slept like an angel... Then same thing happened he would come out 10 times... it gets frustrating but i found the more angry i became with him the worse he got...

Quick q? Does he have a night light??? What do you do when you put him in to bed...i.e read him a story or just quick kiss, tuck him in etc???

With Jordan we would read 1-2 books (little books) talk bout what we would do when he woke up in the morning etc then... Ok if you want to help mummy make playdough (what ever he said he wanted to do) then you'll have to have a big sleep so your not tired and cranky in the morning... etc

It took a few nights but if he went to sleep straight away we would do the things he asked if not i would avoid them all day...
Also what helped us was he loves Thomas the tank(TTT) (think from memory your Jordan likes wiggles???) we put the TTT bed spread on and pillow case... wnen it was almost "night time dark" (thats what he says now) we would make him go brush his teeth wash his face, give everyone a kiss and a hug good night then off to his thomas "big boy" bed....then as i said 2 books a little chat and kiss and snuggle in with blankets maybe put his music box on (still had a music box from when he was a baby and still loves it...it has lights on it) ... Also maybe try a toy in the bed, we use whatever jordan askes for (occasionally a train or teddy) they get kisses and we say goodnightto them and if he gets up or yells out we come in quickly and say "shhhhh you'll wake teddy up, he's being a good boy etc" seems to have worked as now he'll happily go to bed climb in get a kiss put his music box on and out the door within 5 mins he's happily snoring....

Also be prepared for midnight wanders to your room... Jordan does this we have noticed when he kicks his blankets off... he'll come in and straight away i'll take him back tuck him in give him a kiss and say nyt... most important thing is to act straight away so he learns he shouldnt be up and should go back to sleep straight away himself...


Good luck

I think I may wait a few more months now! :P I was hoping to make the transition before I went back to work and needed the sleep more than I do now, but DH is on LSL in July so may let him take on the task then! :)

I just want to say GOODLUCK! The only thing that keeps Archie in his bed is shutting his bedroom door, the first couple of nights he screamied cause he couldn't have his own way, now he knows that once the door is shut its sleeep time and 99% of the time he goes straight to sleep.

Putting a safety gate up is a great idea. Do you use a safety rail as well? This may help him feel secure.

My eldest DS made the transition when he was a month off two. I set the bed up in his room with him during the day and got him to play in it and "pretend" to sleep. I explained to him that he will sleep in it tonight and made it sound really exciting. I also prewarned him that he couldn't get out of bed unless mummy or daddy came and got him. That night I repeated the no getting out of bed bit and put him into bed with a routine of book and cuddle. He cried about being left alone so I hopped in beside him. He went quiet, but wasn't asleep. But then the phone rang!! I had to go get it because DH wasn't home and after a while I realised my DS wasn't crying so I didn't go back in after the phone call. After that I never had a problem with him sleeping in a big bed and he still at the age of three does not get out of bed unless we tell him he can.

I don't know if we're just lucky or if it is because I explained things to him first, it is amazing what they understand, even if they can't verbalise it.

There have been some great suggestions by the other girls on here, I hope you find something that works for you soon!