[duckduckduck]

Last month we started putting our two-year-old DD to bed in her own room in a toddler bed. Prior to this she had been sleeping in our bed for about five months as she kept rolling into the sides of her cot and waking up crying.

She goes to sleep beautifully in her bed and stays asleep for an hour, maybe two. She then continually wakes up and we have to go in a resettle her. After doing this a few times, she then decides to get up out of her bed and walk to the lounge room to find us. She is quite stealth about it and it scares the absolute crap out of us!

What I want to know is, how have other people managed to get their toddlers to stay in bed the whole night without walking the house? DD's bedroom is right at the other end of the house from ours, and we're concerned she might trip over in the dark and hurt herself on the way to our room - not to mention scaring the life out of us by appearing at our bedside in the dead of night!

(I should mention that we aren't fussed on the idea of closing her door or babygating as it's unsafe in the event of a fire.)

[adl]

Eagerly watching for replies ... Advice I have been given is discipline ... Repeatedly putting back and being firm...tonight we did two stories and stopped climbing out , made him lie down for stories.... So far so good!!

[Wyn99]

She is used to waking, seeing you in bed, then sleeping again. That's her sleep cycle. You have put her alone, at the other end of the house and when she wakes, you're not there, so she seeks you out. You could:

- put her toddler bed in your room, in view of your bed
- put her back in a cot, she will not cry if she hits the sides if she's really tired and it will stop her getting up and walking the house
- a night light in her room

[duckduckduck]

You could:

- put her toddler bed in your room, in view of your bed
- put her back in a cot, she will not cry if she hits the sides if she's really tired and it will stop her getting up and walking the house
- a night light in her room

- We can't fit her bed in our room, and besides that, we really don't want her in our room for another five months - it's not exactly conducive to romance
- The cot is currently occupied by our infant son. And I don't want to buy another one when she's going to have to get used to sleeping in a bed at some point soon?
- She has a night light. Doesn't help.

[tres-chic]

Our DD is 2, has never co-slept and is doing exactly the same thing.

I think she's just getting older and more aware of her surroundings and needs reassurance so we're being consistent and hoping it's just a phase.

Good luck.

[boopyscreet]

Our DD1 did exactly the same thing when she first went into her toddler bed - even the stealth thing where she would suddenly appear next to us and scare the bejeepers out of us.

I got one of those reward charts and told her that every night she stayed in bed she would get a sticker (magnet) and at the end of the week she would get a present.

It took two weeks with a few ups and downs and she has not done it since.

[pinkcupcakes]

lol this might be along the lines of the "take the doorknobs off the door, so much cruelty etc"thread... ( so plz don't flame me lol...)

but the other day in bunnings, where all the child-safety stuff is, there were plastic doorknob covers... so that she can't get out, but if you need to get in quickly in case of emergency they're easy enough to take off... ( but then if you have a fire start and you are out cold thats no good for her, is it?hmm...) just a thought...
otherwise i guess repetition... i have heard how some ppl have had a chair to sit in next to the cot until child goes to sleep ( condition being that you can only stay if bubba settles down for sleep) and then after a few nights gradually move the chair further out of the room, until you are outside the door and then not there at all... works for some.

our dd got to a point where, even with security items, nightlight, and a 10 min convo every night about theres no such thing as monsters etc, she would still freak out. then one night she asked if she could have the door open. now we leave it open just a crack, and she can hear us/tv, plus see a bit of light, which i think is reassuring. havent had a problem since.