Give me your tips ...

[BabelFish]

... on combatting the frequent `getting out of bed' that occurs when your child first goes into a `big bed'. If that happened to you... :p

DD is VERY good. She only gets up once or twice (on a bad day, three times) but it's starting to turn bed time - both for her nap and at night - into a very drawn out affair.

I make sure we have everything on hand that she could want - milk, water, a hankie, her fairy light etc etc. But she's getting creative!

Also, now that she CAN get out of bed, she gets up the second she wakes up in the morning - usually about 5am. It used to be that she'd wake up, chat for ten minutes and go back to sleep until 6.30. Now she gets up as soon as she wakes up and it's making her nightmarish during the day - she's SO tired. Plus, her constant getting up means she's going to sleep later and later at night and it's really affecting her behaviour.

I know it's a phase and that's just the new joy of having a more independent child - but how long did this phase last for you guys? And how did you manage it?

[TurnedBatty]

Thankfully my eldest ds did it for maybe a whole week when he moved. I used a timer to say "Once this goes off, no more getting out of bed." He was a big fan of numbers so it really worked for him

[BabelFish]

Oh ok very good - yes she likes stuff like that too.

We are pretty lucky - she's not really persistent or anything like that. But we miss the safety of being able to say `good night!' walk out and know that the rest of the night was just for us! :laughing:

[TurnedBatty]

'safety' hey? ;) Yeah, I reduced it a little each night. Of even using a sand timer might help?

[NonnyMouse]

We still had the cot when we transitioned Rocketman to his big bed. If he came out of his room after bedtime he went straight back into the cot and was told he could only sleep in the big bed if he stayed there all night.

AFter a few tries at this he decided the big bed was worth staying in for. :-)

[BabelFish]

OMG that came out totally wrong. Wooooooahhhh OMGGGGGGGGGG!!! :laughing:

No. Um, no. I mean just being able to laze around and watch telly knowing that we wouldn't hear a little voice every five minutes asking for something else!!

:doh:

[Myztiks#1Fan]

i give coop something to look forward to each day. tomorrow we have our group and he want to see someone so i have told him he can see her if he lays down and rests, he can fall asleep when he wants but he has to rest which leads onto going to bed.

most nights i tell him he can play the phone when he wakes up in the morning and that keeps him fairly happy.

we have only been in his own bed for a little over a week now and some nights it will take all of 15mins for him to go to sleep, othersl ike tonight, a good 2hours but he stays in his room with a max of about 6 get ups(his excuse is he needs to talk to meand its usually over seriously stupid things like his undies or something.)

[TurnedBatty]

:laughing: Uh huh. Sure sure. Its okay, I get it. Just remember to wait until you hear them snoring first!

Anonny that is a really good tip, I will have to remember that one :)

[Moxy]

Not that I have any experience, but I saw this advertised a little while ago & thought it looked like a good idea http://www.gro.co.uk/Gro-clock.html

Might well be a crock but thought I'd post it on the off chance it's actually useful.

[BabelFish]

Thanks Moxy - I have been wondering for a couple of weeks if I should get one of these. I kind of feel as though it'll be a novelty for a day or two and then she'll ignore it. That would be just like her!

Nonetheless, I went to look for one this morning, and I had limited time, so I ended up getting a Momo Sleep Trainer clock instead. It's not quite what I wanted but was a fair bit cheaper than the Gro-Clock and I think the monkey on it will appeal to her. The only thing I wonder is if she will actually be able to see if his eyes are closed or not as she gets up so early it's pitch black in her room! :laughing:

However, what I think will be more effective in the very short term is that I put a baby gate across her bedroom door today. I didn't want to have to do this, but really, she is going to bed later and later (last night it was 9.30 by the time she'd stopped farting around) and getting up between 5am and 5.30am, and she's just exhausted. She's saying she's tired after an hour of being awake, and it's seriously affecting her behaviour. She's a nightmare at the moment! She is mean to her brother, intolerant of everything, she's slapping and scratching if she gets cross, she's constantly complaining, having tantrums etc. I mean, I know this is her age, too, but she is simply not getting enough sleep.

I'm very baby-led and very much into allowing children some power in their lives, but there are times when as the parent I feel that I must take the reigns as well and impose some boundaries for her own good. And this is one of them. She simply needs to be in bed and asleep by 7.30pm or 8pm at the latest, and then if she wakes early she'll have had a good night.

She might cry and throw a few tantrums over the baby gate but it's really getting ridiculous and I'm not having our whole household suffering over the whims of my wilful toddler :p.

She has plenty of opportunitites to exercise her independence but I'm starting to think that compromising on a basic time for bed and time for getting up is a mistake :D