Wednesday, January 30, 2008

bed issues

We need some advice. Grace will not stay in her bed! She was doing great until she got sick last week. So for nearly 2 weeks she has gotten up at least 2 times a night. This was fine when she was sick, but now she is fine and I'm sick! We have a child lock on the inside of her room, so she can't out. (This might sound mean, but she is on the second floor of our house and I wouldn't want her to get try to come down the stairs in the dark in the middle of the night). Anyway, we don't know what to do. She usually goes down pretty easy (although not as easy as it was when she was in a crib), but then wakes and gets out of bed and starts knocking at the door. I've let her cry when she was in her crib around 8 months, but what do I do now?? We currently have her mattress on the floor, but we are thinking of putting her bed frame together and just getting bed rails. Our thought is that it just might keep her in the bed. So any advice?

ps... Since I'm due in less than 5 weeks I'm totally worrying. What am I going to do if I have a toddler and a newborn waking up several times a night. I'm tired just thinking of it!

11 comments:

A Perfect Pandemonium said...

Cody did the same thing. He was perfectly fine the first month or so and then started getting up. We put bed rails up and it seemed to help. However, now he has learned to just come in our bed in the middle of the night but we only have a one story house so it's not bad. Plus, he goes to daddy's side of the bed and doesn't wake me up...smart boy!

I say try the bedrails, if that doesn't work then you can try something else but I guess you'll just have to see what works for her. People can give you ideas but it seems like it's going to be a trial and error period. Hopefully, if you start now, you'll get the issue resolved before baby arrives...let's hope.

I'm tired for you too!! I already get up in the middle of the night and I'm exhausted in the mornings!

Lindsay said...

I would try the rails...
I am worried about transferring Travis for the same reason...
I will ask some of my friends with older kiddos and see what they say!

Jamie said...

I haven't taken the plunge into the big girl bed yet so I have no advice. But I hope you find that the rails keep her in there, you need some rest!

Anonymous said...

hey girl, same problem we had, and some times still do if she wakes wanting a drink or if she is sick, but she just comes down to our room. I take her back to bed, tell her it is night night time and to go back to sleep, I do usually get her a drink if that is what she wants and normally she goes back to sleep. in the beginning, i had to take her back in 3-4 times before she would stay and on occasion one of us would just end up laying in the bed with her. its all about consistancy. i would try the rails for sure. kates bed is on the floor but it is also pushed up into a corner or her room. it is also closed in a little on the bottom by her changing table and we do have a rail on the long side, so there is only about a 2.5 foot space for her to crawl off the bed at the end. it seems to work for us, and i think the walls/rail make it snug like the crib was.

E said...

Oh man, good luck! I am thinking of you.

Leigh said...

They will go thru stages of waking up at night. It kind of comes with having kids. I would try night lights or putting some books or toys in her room. So if she gets up in the night she can fall back asleep. Good Luck.

Texas Aggie in Florida said...

Try the supernanny technique. Worked for us. Go through your nighttime routine, say night night and you sit with your back facing her, don't say a word, even if she talks to you. Stay until she falls asleep. If she gets out of bed, you put her back in without saying a word and then go sit back down on the floor with your back to her. Each night you place yourself closer and closer to the door. It usually takes about a week to be back to normal. It's exhausting. But this is a stage and it will pass. You just moved to a new house so it's a tiny disruption in her life, but it will pass. She will go through lots of phases having a younger sibling. But it too will pass.

If all else fails, you can make her a bed close to your room or in your room so that she feels secure, but without being in your bed. I would only do something like that in an extreme case. I've had to do that before and it did not create a bad habit, like you would think, but it just helped the stage to pass. Usually when they go through stages like this, just some extra attention and nurturing seems to help a ton!

The Lada Family said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Lada Family said...

Molly has been doing so much better! She hasn't gotten out of her bed for several nights in a row. We just make a really big deal when she sleeps in her own bed all night. We call grandma and we tell the dog and we make Dad clap etc. She gets so excited! Also, when she says her bedtime prayers I add to it and make her repeat after me "please help me to sleep in my own bed all night, and help me not to be scared, thank you for keeping me safe". She's been doing awesome. Just the other day she slept in until 8. I went in her room to check on her around 7 before I got in the shower and she was on the floor with her comforter! I guess she fell out and just decided to go back to sleep :-) I'm going to blog the pictures tomorrow.
As for advice for you... I'm giving you the same advice that I think I give you on everything... STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT!! Time will most likely solve the problem.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Texas Aggie in FL... do the super nanny thing. Otherwise, I have no clue. We had a little longer with Bubbie before the new baby. We switched Bubbie into the big boy bed because he had just turned 3 and he was getting very interested in climbing out of the crib. My Bubbie loves the crib/ playpen and still sleeps in a playpen at Nana's house. My MIL use to keep him in in while she watched him. I left both beds in his room for a few days and let him pick which bed he wanted to sleep in. I hope you find a solution. BTW, since you're breastfeeding, get your Hubbie to get up with Grace. I had to do this with Hubbie and Bubbie. If Bubbie wakes up, I get Hubbie to put him back to bed or talk to him about his nightmares. It helped me!

The Lada Family said...

Let's see a picture of your short hair!