2 Year Old and Sleeping Problems

I have read you can stack 2 gates up, one on top of the other so you don't have to worry about them climbing over. I would put the gates in the door of his room.
You could try a reward system for sleeping by himself in his room the whole night. Make a chart and give him a sticker for each night he sleeps by himself, then take him to the dollar store to get a toy after he earns so many stickers.
Hope this helps. Merry Christmas
L.

we put our gate in the hallway just past our daughter's room when we first had her in a big girl bed, but luckily, she didn't wander, except into our room. We leave a light in the bathroom and th CO monitor in the hallway has a little light on it, so she can make her way if she needs to.

The water trick sounds cute! I've also heard of people using "moster spray" (a spray bottle set on mist with water in it). I've heard that has worked well also. When I was little and afraid to go to bed, my mom used to pray with me and we'd ask God to send angels down to watch over me. I remember always asking for a certain number of angels, like 10 or 15 lol. Although I'm not sure how these would work with a 2 year old. My little guy just turned 2 yesterday, and I can't imagine him understanding that?

As far as gating the stairs at night... how about leaving his door open and putting a babygate (or 2 baby gates ~ one on top of the other, if you're worried about him climbing it) in his doorway. That way his door is open but he can't escape. =)

We use one of the plastic door handle knobs in our child's room. We have no problem since they are on all of our outside doors and she cannot open her door on her own. I was worried about having the gate at the top of the stairs and her trying to climb it. I have been able to sleep easier at night.

if your bedroom is on the same floor u can leave the door open 10 times out of 10 they are going to your room. as for the gate i would put the gate up at night just as a precaution he/she don't sleep walk. but the door open so they don't feel trapped once the door is closed. my little ones are 10 and 11 yrs old, i still leave the door open and the nitelite on, and sometimes they end up in my bedroom. LOL good luck

When I lived in a two story, I had a 1 year old and a 2 year old, both were walking. I put the gate in the hallway just past the room closest to the stairs. I felt safer that way because I could put it up about 4 inches, knowing they couldn't crawl under, plus it was pretty high for them to climb over. Also, I could always hear when they were messing around with it. I never had any scares.

Before you decide to do anything make sure you have the "plan of attack" be it from advice or from reading a book and stick with it. Being inconsistent or changing things around constantly will do absolutely no good!!!!

Regarding the sleeping, our pediatrician recommended the book "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber, MD. As long as you are coming to get him and sleeping with him in the spare room, I think he will continue to wake. Sleeping with Mommy is much more fun than sleeping alone! If you are OK with this, that's great. If you really want him to sleep in his room, you may have to let him cry it out some (I know this is a very controversial issue). We did this with our girls by going in at intervals (immediately, then five minutes later, then ten minutes later, and then every fifteen minutes) to reassure our daughter that we were there and she is OK but that it is bed time. Just pop your head in the door, but do not pick him up! This worked well for us, and both girls are now great sleepers (and confident, loving children--not scared for life by crying for 15 minutes a few nights!).

We have a monkey for a two year old who will climb anything, so I understand your gate situation. We have a gate at the top of our stairs. Surprisingly, she has never tried to climb this gate. We keep her door open at night, but we do put two pressure gates against her door frame. This way, her door has an open feeling, but she is safely gated in. Good luck!

I close my son's door and put a child safe thing over the knob so he can't get out at night. If he needs me, or wants out - he just calls me & i open the door to help him with whatever he needs.

Hi A.! I've always used a gate across my kids' bedroom doors as opposed to the top of the steps. More to keep the cat out, but it also keeps the child in. If you have the gate of his door, he will still be able to see out and might feel more secure in not feeling like he's all alone. I always have used a night light as well. You might want to try giving him something to sleep with to keep him "company" in his bed, like a blankie or a stuffed animal. All three of my kids have something to sleep with, and I think it's helped over the years. I wish you the best of luck! Hopefully, this will be a quick phase and the both of you will be able to get back into your own beds!!

I also have a 2 year old who has started having trouble at night. First off, I too, live in a 2 story house. I gate his room as the first measure (cheap wooden $10 gate). He can climb over with ease, but I sleep close enough that it wakes me when he's doing it. Secondly I gate the top of the stairs with a curved hardware mounted gate that he hasn't figured out yet (Babiesrus, $50). I make sure to shut all other doors (bathrooms, bedrooms) so that he isn't tempted to wander in. When he wakes up, I do take him back to his room, tuck him in, make sure the night light is on, and let him know that it's not daytime and he needs to be back in bed. If he's tempted to come out again, my husband and I will take turns sitting outside his gated room and putting him back into bed without engaging him in any type of conversation. It takes time, but he has learned that no matter how persistent he is, he will not end up in bed with us. Hope this helps!!

Hi A.,
I too also have the same problem. My daughter who is 21 months old will sleep in her room for her nap but at night is a different story. She will fall asleep and stay in her bed until usually about 1-3am. She usually wakes up crying but will start screaming sometimes as if something is after her. I will try and rock her in her room and she will fall back asleep. Well once I try to put her back in her toddler bed she will wake up and start crying up a storm. I have tried putting her backin bed about 4 or 5 times. So I end up putting her in our bed. Once I lay her down next to me she will go right off to sleep. (I'm glad that there are other people out there with the same problem. I thought she was the only one doing this.) I just wish I knew what was causing her to do this or act the way she does.

But I would either put the door knob protector on the door. They seem to work pretty good or you could do like we do..we still use the baby monitor. Hope this helps you. Happy Holidays.

I can certainly relate to your sleeping problems. I think what you describe is fairly common. But is your son's refusal to sleep in his room a new thing? Perhaps he had a nightmare or something else scared him and that is making him unwilling to sleep in there. My daughter had some problems after seeing a spider in her room and she's had some nightmares that have caused some disruptions. I myself believe that children want to sleep with their parents for at least three years for a reason: it's where they've slept for thousands and thousands of years and they instinctively know that is the place for them. However, that doesn't mean you can't help him to feel comfortable in is own room. I would try to figure out why he doesn't like it. Maybe you could stay in there with him until he's asleep for a few nights until he's falling asleep easily. Then every few nights leave when he's just a little more awake. If he cries, go back and sit by his bed until he's almost asleep and try again. this won't be an overnight fix, but it'll help him have a positive association with his bed and his room. Eventually you'll be able to leave with him wide awake and he'll be ok with that. As for the gate, unless you are going to be bolting it to the wall, gates are not meant for the top of the stairs. Could you put it in his doorway and leave the door open, so that way he's contained but doesn't feel so separated from you? Perhaps that will work. Good luck!

A.,

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays....
I certainly understand your dilema, when my son was that age, he never wanted to sleep alone. It was always something, he was scared, or it is too dark etc...
So I used a trick my grandmother taught me, everynight my son and I would get two glasses of water, one we drank together ( I know, people say not to let them drink right before bedtime, but he never had an accident) then the 2nd glass we put on his nitestand. I told him that if there were ghost or scary things in his room all they wanted was a drink, so we offered it to them every night, after about 2 months of doing this, it was just the glass that mattered, we didn't have to go through the routine of telling the "bad guys" about having a drink. (every once in awhile he would ask me to tell them for him) but it worked and he wasn't afraid anymore. I will tell you that he is now 20 and I believe he still sleeps with a glass of water on his nite stand, but if that is the worst thing he does in his life I am okay with it!!! Anyway, I hope that helps, as for the gate at the top of the stairs, put a bell on it, one loud enough for you to hear if he is messing with it or trying to crawl over. I did that as well and it worked great!

You sound so much like me (I'm even A. C. H.!) that I have to respond. My son will be 2 next month and would only sleep in bed with us. When my husband started getting kicked in the head in his sleep, we got our son a twin mattress for his room. At first he didn't like the change, but now he will NOT sleep with us, he only wants his room. He still wakes up at night, but I can usually get him back to sleep in there (except for last night, lol). Our next step is to try something that projects shapes on the wall to help him relax and fall asleep. He has a toy that does something similar that he loves to play with before bed.

As for the stairs, they worry me too because they are right next to our bedroom door. I put a gate up in the doorway of my son's room. That way he can call for us (I keep the monitor on, too) and he can see us coming. I worry about a gate at the top of the stairs in case he were to lean against it.

Hope that helps.