3 yr old - won't go to bed

Hi everyone,

Just wondered if anyone had any suggestions/ideas on how I can get my dd to go to sleep in her bed at night. When i put her to bed at night, she keeps coming out (i think it has become a game). I cant shut the door because she can open it, I have a gate on the door but that just seems to make her worse and cant stand to listen to her screaming and carry on. She then gets so upset that all she wants is cuddles anyway. I have tried sitting on her bed with her, laying down with her etc, but she just chats away and i would really like to get her into the habit of going off to bed and going to sleep without me having to be there. She also still has her dummy (horrible, ugly thing that it is) and is really attached to it, does anyone have any suggestions for getting rid of it.

Thanks

Hi,

I would love to help you but i have the same problem as you have with my DD so i woudl love to hear what anyone else has to say about this.

Does you DD have a sleep during the day still ??
What time do you put her to bed ?

Kimberley has stopped sleeping during the day but can still be on the go at 9pm with no luck in getting her to bed.

Kameron is usually pretty good, specially when playgroup/kindy is on cause that really wears him out. During the holidays though he is allowed to stay up a bit later but most ofen than not he is asleep by 9pm anyway. Have you tried a relaxing bath for her where she will then get into her pyjamas, and reading a story for her.

This will work for Kameron nearly every time if we are having trouble getting him to sleep. He will still be awake when the story finishes but will fall asleep 5 mins later.

If she gets up don't make a big fuss of her put her straight back and say goodnight without any other stimulations.

Love

when my kiddies have moved to a bed as part of getting the bed etc i have always brought them their own cd/tape player and they choose story book tapes or cd's.

we do the bath, drink of milk and quiet games then i give a warning that it is 5mins to bedtime (quite often setting the timer on the oven) then take them off to bed, once settled in bed they get 1 or 2 stories of their choice (depending on the size of the book) the it is cuddles and kisses and goodnight, then they tell me which storey they want to listen to and i put it on their cd player and they have the book and read the story to their teddies lol - if they come out i give a warning the next time they come out then the cd player will be removed from their room and i carry through with it (no matter how much they beg for me not) - they also choose whether they want their light on or off - if it is on they still fall asleep and i just turn it off before i go to bed (we have put a soft 25 watt globe in the normal light as i have had nothing but trouble with night lights breaking etc)

my ds (nearly 6yrs old) now listens to the radio station and i turn it off before i go to bed.

this has worked for us but i know every child is different and i wish you luck.

Hi, We had a terrible time getting our son to sleep. He became very attached to falling asleep on our lap before we put him to bed. We tried everything to get him out of the habit. Then when he was just over 2 we tried again and it worked. We both said goodnight with the same routine and words (use whatever suits you e.g. Goodnight sweetheart, sleep well, I'll see you in the morning. I love you). Be happy but quiet. We read him one or two books of his choice, then turned out the lights, gave him his bottle and one of us (usually dad) sat at the end of hte bed (not looking at him or talking) until he goes to sleep. There were tears the first couple of nights and my husband had to use a few stern words but we kept to the routine. Each night it took less time to get him to sleep. Then we moved to sit at the door, the outside the door etc. We didn't react to him unless he actually got out of bed when dad would quickly and purposefully march in, put Luke back in bed and walked out again.

I think your 3 year old is well and truly ready to understand. Try to explain that when the sun has gone, then people sleep - mum, dad, nana, pop, dog, cat etc etc, and when the sun comes up then people wake up. It's very difficult but try to remember that when your DD cries etc she is probably angry and doing her very best to upset you and make you feel guilty!! Try to make her feel bad for keeping YOU awake and that you are really, really tired and need to sleep. In the morning, you can praise her for doing better.
Good luck. It's so hard but you'll be truly pleased with yourself when you win!!
Zoe :sleeping:

We trained our son at 2 by just sitting around the corner outside his room and putting him back each time he came out (after making sure he was Ok and comfortable and udnerstood our expectations, of course). He didn't get really upset, but he did persist in coming out! I think the first night it took about 4 hours and he came out over 150 times. By the third night he only came out a few times, and after a couple of weeks he never ever came out again. I would recommend this technique for any child who is old enough to understand. I have heard of a technique where you actually secure the door and leave, but we would definitely not feel comfortable with locking our child in.