My son will be in August and to get him to go to sleep in a fight. He scream's bloody murder for about an hour and I had to put a child proof door knob on the inside of the bedroom to get him to stay in the room. I dont know what else todo. The whole block can hear him when he is screaming. Im lost on what I else I can do to get him to go to bed. Mosty of the time he doesnt go to be until like 10 because he cries the whole time. I put him in his room at 8 to go to sleep. Has anyone gone through this or have an ideas on what todo?

Hi,rachel!I have two sons who drove me nuts when they were toddlers about sleeping in their own rooms or just going to sleep in general.I had to handle them both differently.My oldest who is now 9 had the problem of just wanting to sleep with me so I strated him in my bed then on a blow up mattress next to my bed,then across the other side of the room,so on until he was fine just going to his own room.My youngets is just,well,a spazz who is 4 and still gives me a hard time so I do one of two things.1.)I take him for a long ride in the car and he's out almost immediately or 2.)I lay turn off all the lights and T.V and lay next to him until he falls asleep.I also stopped him from taking naps any later that 10:30am.Some kids I find with my sons,neices and nephews just need security and will give in if you are right there.It may take time but eventually you will find a way to get him into a routine.
I also am a huge fan of bed time stories with a dim light or candle on.It works wonders for all 4 of my nieces!And late baths with a little lavender oil in them.lavender oil has amazing relaxing qualities. Good Luck. shellee

My son is 4 and bedtime is one of our biggest fights. I have learned that the best ways to get him to sleep are:

1. Warm bath with lavender in it then strait from bath to pj's and into bed, a story read at barely over a whisper, his eyes will be drooping by the end.

2. No naps after noon

3. Let him run! Sometimes if I see that he still is full of energy and its an hour til bedtime, I will get him involved in a physical activity, like riding his bike or even just letting him run laps thru the house to let out the pent up energy.

4. Don't give him sugary foods like juice, fruit snacks, or "treats" if its less than an hour until bed time. My son will get wound up off a glass of juice with his dinner (we eat late, just before he goes to bed) and end up staying up until 10 or later, making me extra mad, and making morning time a nightmare because he's so tired.

5. If all else fails, sit in the room with him. If I've learned anything, the trick to getting my son to sleep is getting him to STOP MOVING for ten minutes in a row. Sometimes just sitting in the room and making sure he doesn't sneek out of bed, or even sit up, will get him to sit still long enough to pass out.

Hope these help! Let us know how its going.

quote:

Originally posted by Rachel W:
[qb]My son will be in August and to get him to go to sleep in a fight. He scream's bloody murder for about an hour and I had to put a child proof door knob on the inside of the bedroom to get him to stay in the room. I dont know what else todo. The whole block can hear him when he is screaming. Im lost on what I else I can do to get him to go to bed. Mosty of the time he doesnt go to be until like 10 because he cries the whole time. I put him in his room at 8 to go to sleep. Has anyone gone through this or have an ideas on what todo? [/qb]

I have a 3 year old who at this rate is going to be sleeping in my bed until he is in college. Good topic !

Drew

quote:

Originally posted by Drew76:
[qb]

I have a 3 year old who at this rate is going to be sleeping in my bed until he is in college. Good topic !

Drew[/qb]

tell me about
I feel the same way with sleeping in the bed thing

woo wee, I didn't sleep the first 3 years of my sons life. He is now 4. I don't know if what I did is "right or wrong", but either way, it worked. I bought a 13" tv/vcr combo on ebay for roughly $60 including shipping. Everynight, I let him pick a "sleep friendly" tape like "Goodnight Little Bear" or "Care Bears". I set the vcr to auto replay so it rewinds and plays over again. He is now excited to go to bed, watches the tv until he falls asleep, which is usually before the movie ends, and if he wakes up, there is both light and something for him to do. Ahhhh, the luxery of a good nights sleep. Remember though, do not let him watch the tapes during the day, only at night. Good luck to you

quote:

Originally posted by Rachel W:
[qb]My son will be in August and to get him to go to sleep in a fight. He screams bloody murder for about an hour and I had to put a child proof door knob on the inside of the bedroom to get him to stay in the room. I dont know what else todo. The whole block can hear him when he is screaming. Im lost on what I else I can do to get him to go to bed. Mosty of the time he doesnt go to be until like 10 because he cries the whole time. I put him in his room at 8 to go to sleep. Has anyone gone through this or have an ideas on what todo? [/qb]

We've had terrible times too. When my son was around 18 months old, he suddenly stopped being able to go to sleep on his own, it would take 2 to 3 hours to get him to sleep and in the beginning he would only stop screaming if I was in bed with him and holding him.
What has helped me is to record the changes, and to realize that the really bad phases were only a few weeks long, and after 3 months he was back to normal.
Well, right now he has a phase (he's 25 months old) where he gets up about 20 times from his bed, and comes and gets me in the living room, by the hand, to put him to sleep again. It's a ritual.

So, remember it will get better. Think of a strategy and stick to it, that's the best advice I can offer I guess.

I got him to go to bed easy now by putting a night light on and turning the radio, the only bad part is we live at moms so we share a room and if i turn off the radio or night light he wakes. I cant wait he has is own room. Thank you everyone for your help.