Getting out of bed

[momtonb&ab]

hey 1sttimemamma

our guys tried to get out of the portacrib, but were never successful.  but when i put one of them into the portacrib, i stayed right there and said gently (or sternly if they kept trying) 'it is time for lying down and sleeping, if you use  your good manners and go to sleep tomorrow you can try sleeping in your big (boy/girl) bed tomorrow.  beds are for laying down and sleeping'

then i would leave, and if i heard them stand up i would go back in and do it all over again.  the key for us was consistency - because we really stuck with it it only took a few days.  we didn't change tactics and honestly, dd was only back in the pc once, ds took about 4 days to realize what he was missing. 

as to rewards, my experience at this age is that it has to be instantaeous, so a sticker now.  stickes here are only good if they can put tem on their clothes or on the backs of their hands - a chart is nothing to them.   

good luck!

[Colin Macs Mom]

So for stickers - can you explain more how to do this? Like - I give him a sticker, or put it on some sort of chart? Do I offer a big reward if he gets so many stickers. The issue is that he cannot get out of his room - so what do I reward him for - like, I can't give him a sticker for staying in his room because he has no choice. My previous reward was that he got to watch his tv show if he didn't knock on the door. Didn't work.

Yeah, if you make a big chart/grid sort of thing on a big piece of poster board or paper, then he gets a sticker for doing (or not doing!) XYZ. Some people will add extra incentive by getting LO a special toy or some other treat when they get a whole row of stickers. BUT if your LO isn't really into stickers yet it might not be too exciting for him.

[1sttimemamma]

So, he's still sleeping on the floor. Should I just let this happen?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Can he tell you why?

[1sttimemamma]

Nope. He doesn't really communicate like that. I tell him that it's time to sleep on the bed, big boys sleep in the bed, it's ok to sleep on the bed, etc - - still sleeps on the floor. I think he's looking for me under the door and he falls asleep.

He never stays in his bed. Hops out before I even shut the door. He plays around (w/no toys - just will open/shut closet door, talk/sing) and then falls asleep.

I bought a toddler clock - it's blue when it's time to sleep and yellow when it's time to wake up. It does songs, etc. That hasn't helped. I say "we stay in bed when it's blue" - nope.

[Colin Macs Mom]

I personally would let him keep sleeping on the floor. It may not feel like it right now, but you have made big progress. Maybe it's just going to be a long process for him to make the big bed transition. I mean, he's not hurting anyone by sleeping on the floor, and I bet that as soon as he feels more comfortable he'll stay in bed.

[1sttimemamma]

Should I maybe put the mattress on the floor? He is just not getting enough sleep. He's up so early and sometimes doesn't go back to sleep and his naps are short. He can be terrible during the day. This is really frustrating.

[Colin Macs Mom]

TBH I'm definitely not an expert on the matter - Colin never did anything like that. You may want to start a new post about this in particular...?