HELP!! My son will not go to bed!! Long vent and begging for suggestions...

[dvcfamily41801]

I am paying dearly for our little get away weekend last weekend to WDW just DH and I Our son went to the ocean with my mom for a few days and they shared a room and now he WILL not go to sleep in his room.

He promises over and over he will stay in his bed and as soon as we walk out of his room, he follows us out and just STARES at us and will not go back in his room. We start off for the first 1/2 hour calmly talking to him and telling him everything is fine, etc etc and then after 2 hours its not so calm anymore. He just refuses to sleep in his bed (he is sleeping in the hallway as I type this) Last night DH was at the Springsteen show so it was just Matt & I and he was PERFECT going to bed, I was so proud of him The night before I was out and DH put him to bed and he was fine...tonight its both of us home and awful. I will be curious, DH works tomorrow night to see how it goes.

We had a lighter version of this a few months ago, he just would keep getting in and out of his bed, not like what we are going through now where he just totally does not listen and climbs in our bed, keeps getting out, etc, and we started putting stickers on his calendar every morning he woke up after a great night of going to bed..he LOVED it. So I decided to maybe try the similar route but maybe make him a reward jar..after 3 days of stickers he can pick something...an extra book at bed time, a 2nd short movie (we ususally watch a Blues Clues) maybe making cupcakes or cookies, he loves doing that with me...but we can not seem to get anything going.

Has anyone gone through this...the only thing I can attribute this to is us being away for the few days, but we talked to him 2 or 3 times a day and he was FINE....all the sudden he does not like his room anymore, says everything in it scares him or he just doe not like it. I am just looking for any suggestions or tips on how to get our groove back. I have complete anxiety over bedtime anymore. I know he is a typical almost 4 year old but he is so "strong willed" I believe is the new term at times and I just want to scream!

Thanks for hanging in while I vent..and for any info!

 

[WebmasterAlex]

two words.... duct tape

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

when my older dd was 3 1/2 she would not go to sleep unless I was sitting in the room. I'd find myself sitting in her room for 20-30 mintues until she fell asleep.

this is how I cured her of it.

the first night, I sat for about 15 mintues, then excused myself and told her I'd be right back. I walked out of the room for 2 mintues, then came back. the next night, i walked out for 3 minutes, then 5, then ...within a week or so she was falling asleep before I got back to the room.

 

[floridaminnie]

I had this problem with DD a couple of nights ago, but it was 100% my fault. (she's also 4 yrs old). She was begging me for two days straight to watch The Wizard of Oz. She finally wore me down to where I thought how bad could it be, it is rated G and she's seen "scary" scooby episodes before with no problem. Well there is a big difference between a cartoon and humans in a movie. That night she thought our house was going to fly away and there was a witch outside and our house was going to fall ontop of the witch. I was so tired, I just let her sleep with me that night. I told her is was for that night only. The next night before she went to bed we had a little talk. How many houses fly in our neighborhood. None. How many witches has she seen outside her window. None. I explained to her it was all made up. It was on TV. She asked a couple of questions to basically verify my info and she was ok. She still took longer than normal to go to sleep, but she went to sleep. Now tonight we lost the power for awhile, when it was time for her to go to bed. So guess what. Tonight Grandma is sleeping with her. Who knows what tomorow night will bring!

 

[Pembo]

Oh do I feel your pain! My now 7 1/2 yo ds is the KING of avoiding bed and has been practicing this skill for quite a few years.

As I read your post the one thing I can say is let him sleep in the hallway. In the end it doesn't matter where he sleeps, as long as he sleeps ALONE!

We just went thru a battle recently. DS was EXHAUSTED but now that he can tell time, told me it wasn't time for bed. He fussed, fumed, kicked the wall, etc. I had to remove him from his room because he shares it with his 4 yo brother. I finally told him I didn't care where he slept or if he slept but he WOULD not make noise and wake the other kids. So I left him in the hallway and quickly he was sound asleep, in a little ball. We carried him to bed awhile later. Wanted to make sure he was good and asleep.

Our ds is strong-willed, difficult, whatever you want to call it.....also he is ADHD.

My advice, stick to your rules, don't give in and try not to yell (the hardest of all for me). Good luck and remember, this too shall pass (in about 20 years DanMurphy assures me)

 

[Planogirl]

My son has slept in various places over the years including on a pallet next to his bed for quite a while. He's 10 now and sleeps in his bed regularly. These things do pass.