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My 2 yr. old is refusing to sleep in his room. He would rather sleep on the couch. HELP!!

Lori - posted on 06/27/2010 ( 6 moms have responded )

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He has never had a problem sleeping in his room. About a week ago he started crying when we put hime to bed and when we left the room he would start to scream and cry louder and harder. Then he would fall asleep and wake up and do the same thing. We tried sitting next to the bed and calming him but it doesn't help, when we leave the room he screams and cries louder. He has been getting out of his bed and going to the couch and sleeping in the middle of the night. When we catch him we take him back to bed but the fitting ensues. Any ideas of how to stop this? Is he just testing us or is something really wrong. How long should he be allowed to cry before we go in and check on him? Any suggestions would be sooooo greatly appreciated.

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Brandi - posted on 06/30/2010

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My DS who is 2 1/2 years old FINALLY started sleeping in his own bed in his own room about a month ago. When we had tried to get him to sleep in his room he would do the same thing as your son cry and scream if he did fall asleep in there he would only sleep for about 1-2 hours and then wake up crying and would eventually end up in our room. To make a long story short what I found worked are fish.. We went to the pet store and let him pick out his fish. We came home set up the tank together and then put the fishy on his dresser. When it was time for bed we told him that he needed to sleep in his room with the fishy because the fishy would be lonely if he wasn't in there. To my surprise it worked!! He has been sleeping in his room ever since. Hope that helps. Good luck!

Renae - posted on 06/30/2010

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Personally, let him sleep on the couch until the phase passes! It might sound ridiculous to some, but a rested child who sleeps on the couch is better than a tired child who spends half the night screaming.

Also have you tried monster spray, or monster light or whatever variation you think your child would go for? Monster spray usually works. You get a water spray bottle, put some water and something that he can smell in there (lemon, essential oil, whatever) and explain that you bought it at the special shop where only mummies can go (they usually ask if they can come too next time) and that it keeps all the bad things and monsters away, then spray it around the room before bed.

If his problem is not fear, some kids feel like they are closer to mum and dad when they come out and sleep in the house rather than in their room.

I would just go with it. I think we sometimes focus too much on fixing things that aren't really broken. Most of these things are just phases and they grow out of it all eventually.

Mizanne - posted on 06/27/2010

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A bedtime routine should help. Bathe, Read a book or ten, make sure he has his favorite toy and stay with him until he is asleep.

Lori - posted on 06/27/2010

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Thanks for the response angie. We thought a bad dream too but we put a lamp on a low setting and it makes no difference. Just trying to be patient. Thanks for the advice/

Karen - posted on 06/27/2010

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maybe he had a bad dream, or there are shadows in his room that are scaring him

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