How to Get Kids to Sleep in Their Bed

March 08, 2011, By William Browning 0 comments

Children can be little 'cling-ons' when it comes to sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed. The transition from being in a parent's room as a baby to sleeping on their own is one of the many steps younger kids take to becoming more independent. Here are some tips for Dads to help children look forward to sleeping on their own.

Age-Appropriateness

Our children were ages one and two when we tried the transition into their own rooms. We bought toddler-sized beds, new bedding, and basically made their rooms into dens of cozy comfort.

Once we got them into places designed for their age it was time to settle into new routines similar to the old ones. Eventually our kids got used to having a space of their own. WebMD reports up to 24 percent of parents have said their children may sleep with them at least part of the night up to school-age, about five or six.

Routines

We tried to keep bedtime routines the same as before to make the move easier. Lullabies and book reading were included. We maintained nightly routines as much as possible including the same dinner time, bath time, and then cozy time.

One thing I insisted upon was a lack of television at least an hour before bed. As a one-time boy myself, I remember television and other electronic stimuli keeping me awake for even longer. Proper amounts of sleep and normal bedtimes we felt were essential to our kids' growth and development.

Smells and Feelings

One thing my wife and I tried from the very get-go was to give our kids something which reminded them of mommy and daddy. Even when they were toddlers, our children had one of mommy's shirts in the crib next to them until they outgrew it.

When our kids were older we needed to have more elaborate tricks. One thing we did, as suggested by a parenting expert who appeared on "Good Morning America", was my wife or myself slept in our kid's bed for a few nights in a row. We figured psychologically it made our children want to be in their beds because mom or dad would be there.

We would also transition a favorite stuffed animal to their beds as well. We would start out with a teddy bear in our bed and then move it to their bed. The trick was to recreate the atmosphere of sleeping with parents only into their own rooms. It helped when the master bedroom was next door to their bedroom.

These tricks were not perfect but they got they job done after about a month. It helped when our son came along that we already had some stuff figured out from our daughter.