how do i break the bed time habbit of lying down with emily till shes asleep

Suzanne - posted on 04/04/2010

Hi, I am going throough the same with Amelia. I sit in her room with her while she drifts off. I don't give her any eye contact or attention. My presence is all she gets. I use the time to read, so it is a bit of a win - win situation. With 4 kids I wouldn't otherwise get the time to enjoy a book. She is usually asleep in 15 mins or so. I am beginning to leave the room for just 30 secs, reassuring her that I will return, and I make sure that I do. I plan to stretch out the time I am out of her room. Good luck with it!

Orla - posted on 03/17/2010

hi there, been there and have the bags under my eyes to prove it lol. but to be honest i didnt find that goin from the bed, to the floor, to the door worked. now im not sayin it doesn't, it just didn't work for me

see ava wouldn't just stay in her bed, she had to sleep with mummy and stupidly i let it happen, so just randomly one night i sed "do u want to sleep in your big girl bed? ur a big girl now and u can't be sleeping in mummy's bed." and thankfully it worked. we've made it excitin and fun to go to bed, and i've also found a few teddy's to cuddle up to realy makes a difference, because when she looks for a cuddle off me she gets it from her teddys. so let emily pick say 2 or 3 before bedtime.

this has helped with a routine, a proper bed time and a good sleep all round. give emily say a 10 or 15 min warning for jammies, but do it excitedly and then once in jammies, either read a story in bed or have a cuddle on the couch. then when you bring her to bed, hugs and kisses and tell her what you'll do he next day and thats why we need a big sleep, ya know get up, have breakfast, get dressed, draw pictures. you know yourself. i realy hope that i've helped and not confused you x

Melissa - posted on 03/15/2010

I had the same problem. I started by taking baby steps. Just start sitting on the bed for a few nights. Then sit on the floor. Then at the end of the bed. Then sit by the door. Then just outside the door where she can still see you (or just part of you, if your room is set up where she can't see out the door, sit half out where she can still see your arm or leg but not your face.) This step might take a while before you can move on. The next step would be to move into the hall where she can't see you but knows you are there because you might half to talk to her a little bit. Finally, go into another room, but be sure she knows where you are and that you won't be going anywhere else. You might half to talk to her from that room once and a while. This process takes a long time but don't rush it. Remember you are her security, she needs to know that you are still there. The most important thing is to NOT lay down with her again after you have started this process. Even when she asks or crys. You would be completely be ruining what you have worked so hard for. This took my daughter a couple months to get to the point where I could go across the hall into my room. I started last summer. Even now, I still can't go downstairs and leave her. I have to stay upstairs till she is asleep. Well I wish you the best of luck with your new stage in parenting.

-Melissa