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How to get toddler to sleep in their bed?

We are getting my 18 month old daughter a toddler bed today. She has gotten into the habit of sleeping in our bed. (I made the mistake of letting this happen because she got sick a while back, and I wanted to have her close so that I could watch. Paranoid first time mom that I am.) However, it is time that she be in her own bed. Any suggestions to make this work. We HAVE to make it work! Thank you.

Public Comments

1. If your daughter doesn't want to sleep in the bed, simply put her to bed, let her watch her favorite movie, such as, Cinderella or something. Then read her a quick bed-time story. Get her a nightlight if possible, it really helps them sleep. xx

2. Its best not to have them addicted to falling asleep with the TV on. But you can't just tuck an 18 month old into a new bed and just walk away, and expect them to stay put and fall asleep.

I think its best to tuck them in, read some books, turn the lights down or off, and just stay there until they fall asleep.

3. We told my daughter that all princesses sleep in their own bed, and that she was a big girl. Only little babies sleep in their mommies bed.

That worked, but normally she's very easy to handle.

4. Every time she gets up and walks into your bedroom (to get into your bed), immediately march her little butt back to her room and put her back into her bed. Continue this every time she enters your bedroom until she finally realizes she must stay in her own bed and she is NOT welcomed in your bed anymore.
In her room, place a sound machine that plays 'nature sounds'. The nature sounds are calm and soothing which will help with her sleep.

5. There are lots of ways to make it work, it just depends on what you want to do. Whatever you decide to do make sure you are consistent, that is the key to making it successful. I would start with explaining that she gets to sleep in her big girl bed now. Let her know that she can't sleep with mommy and daddy anymore, so she understands what you are expecting from her; to stay in her bed.

Whatever method you choose make sure you start with a sleep routine. Something like books, songs, cuddles, then in her bed. After the sleep routine, this is where it is up to you what you guys want to do. One method would be to leave the room and let her fall asleep on her own. If she comes out of the room then tell her it is bed time and walk her back to the room. The next time she comes out say nothing and just walk her back to her room; repeat until she falls asleep in her bed. When she gets up in the middle of the night continue the same process.

Another method would be to put a baby gate up in front of her door. This would keep you from having to continually return her to her room when she wakes up and would also keep her from wondering at night without you knowing.

Another option would be after the sleep routine put a chair in her room and sit in there until she falls asleep. Don't interact with her, but just sit there. She knows you are there and she is not alone, but it is bedtime. As the nights go on, you would just move the chair closer and closer to the door, until you are out of the room.

Like I said there are many different ways you can go with this, but as long as you are consistent after a few rough nights, she should be sleeping through the night with no problems in her new big girl bed!

6. This is a really common problem. Even if you were transitioning from a crib, you would probably face some resistance.

One thing to keep in mind is the wide range of ages when it's appropriate to move your child to a toddler bed — most experts agree this can occur between 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. So, your daughter is at the youngest end of the spectrum.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't try to get her used to a toddler bed now, just that you should understand that it might not happen overnight.

Some tips:

Put your toddler bed in the same place her crib was. This will help it seem more familiar to your daughter and make it easier to adjust.

Even if it's a little too small, let your daughter sleep on her crib bedding set (or, in this case, some of the bedding from your bed) for the first couple of nights to make the change less radical. After that, you can switch to toddler bedding.