Sleep issues again

[Khyan & Sahria's mum]

This morning I found Khyan balancing on the top rail of his cot (one leg in the cot and one leg out of the cot)  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Now, I had been playing with the idea of a big boy bed and now I'm pretty sure that our next pay day is going to have to include Khyan's new bed (this is in 2.5weeks)

So now I have a tough decision to make and I was hoping for your help

Khyan has always been a problem sleeper and at 21 months still needs me to be with him to fall asleep and most of the time he needs me to be touching him till he closes his eyes this can be anywhere from 2 mins to 45 mins approx.

and naps well... most days he falls asleep in the car on the way home from an activity/shop but if we are at home it take FOREVER to put him to sleep as it isn't dark enough to block out any stimulus - which may even be a dot on the wall  :evil: I have to admit I wish for him to fall asleep in the car sometimes.

I have been thinking of doing walk in/walk out to sort out his nap and independent sleep issues but have been holding back alittle as he was sleeping thru the night and I was in the mind of "if it aint broke - don't fix it ! " and I was loving those 8.5 hours of blissful sleep

But I now know that things are going to be really tough once in a bed because he can get out and find me  :shock:

So I have decided that I need to do something

Here is my question (yes I know it took me a long time to get to it  :wink: )

Do I do walk in/walk out now in the cot for 2.5weeks and then move to the big boy bed and deal with what ever occurs then

or

Do I get move him to the bed and just keep putting him back in to the bed when he gets out, until he gets it    :?:  :?:  :?:

TIA

[Seona1973]

My dd moved to a big bed around this age as she was getting increasingly unsettled in the cot and we thought a change to a big bed would help.  The first few nights were fine and then we had a few nights with 2 or 3 night visits - she just got carried back to bed and tucked in again and then we left the room again.  She still sometimes comes in once a night but is taken straight back to bed and will go back to sleep with no problems.

It would probably be easier to do one set of training i.e. in the big bed, rather than do one set in the cot and then maybe have to repeat it after the move (which would probably be the case as moving over can cause a bit of upheavel - not least because they can escape from bed easily!!)

Re: naps - I dont get my dd to go in her bed for her nap. I normally go out somewhere in the morning e.g. shops and then time my going home to dd's nap time - she falls asleep in the car and then when I get home I transfer her into her buggy and she finishes her nap there. On the 2 days I work, my mum takes her out in the buggy and she has her whole nap in the buggy.

I dont mind her napping like this cos it has not affected her ability to go to sleep and get back to sleep in the night.

good luck whatever you decide to do.

Seona

[Noelle]

If it were me, I would move to a big boy and train all at once 

[Wilsmon]

If it were me I would buy a crib tent and leave him in there as long as possible!

That is what I am planning on with ds.  We moved dd at about this age and spent months taking her back to bed with alot of crying.

Just my opinion and my plan with #2.

[elfin]

I agree with Noelle, and would do it at the same time.

[sacmommy]

It looks like I'm in the minority, but I had MAJOR problems once I moved my not-so-great-sleeper 2 1/2 ds to a big bed. I think it just provides them with so much freedom and yet they're too young to fully understand limits and consequences. I'm a big fan of keeping them in their cribs longer, so that once they do move you can reason with them better if there's problems. A month or 2 after moving my ds to a big bed, he started getting up at bedtime in excess of 50 times a night!!!! It took a long time to break that new digression.

If you're having trouble with your ds climbing out, consider a crib tent (the only problem is that it can provide them with a distracion - my ds spent lots of time trying to unzip from the inside out!) and also a sleep sac, as then they can't really get their legs high enough!