Several questions abt my 18mth old! Advice/Suggestions Needed/Wanted/Welcomed!!

Rosetta - posted on 03/19/2012

My hubby and I have 3 children (they are ALL adults now; 26, 24, and 19, all with kids of their own). To say the least, I'm no "expert", but I can tell you from experience that having a child to be allowed to sleep in your bed at any given time, could create a problem (whether its legally, immorally or mentally attaching). The problem here would be the child will feel "secure" enough that they will not want to sleep in their own bed so you wouldnt want them to get use to sleeping in your bed at no given time. IF they "think" they are going to "sleep" in your bed, you would get up and put them back into their own bed but while doing so, stay with them until they fall back to sleep (the "security" is still there). We have put our children to bed by no later than 9pm, even if they fought us on the topic of going to bed.They also started out sleeping in a bassinett then to a play pen (as what we called it back in the day, where now they are a pack n play). We didnt believe in a crib as we "thought" crib death was caused from sleeping in a crib, (sleeping in a crib does not cause crib death). Once they outgrew the "play pen", they went right into a toddler bed or a twin size bed.



Now, our 18 month old grandson (will be 2 on Sept.13 and our 19 yr old daughter's son), IS NOW sleeping in a toddler bed (Most Dr.'s prefer that by the time your child is 15 months old) that they should be starting to sleep in a toddlers bed so they get use to sleeping in their own bed. On another note, The most reasons for toddlers not to sleep through the night is that they are allowed to take long naps (my daughter has a habit to allow my gson to sleep a long time for naps which causes him not to want to sleep through the night. We thought too, that our gson would be in and out of his bed once he was in his toddler bed but he actually stays in his bed wthout commands of staying in bed as he knows that is his bed and knows its for sleeping in; so really, it all depends on the child as to when they are ready for the transition, just like it is when it comes to being bottle-broke, potty trained (generally, when they start pulling at diaper, undressing themselves, walking), etc. Let the child help you decide when its time. Its less stressful this way. Hope this helps :)

Jenny_D - posted on 03/18/2012

We started our oldest in her big girl bed at age 2...a queen size bed and she does great. I have been reading a lot about attachment parenting and it talks a lot about the benefits in the long run for children who are very attached to their parents and when the parents try to meet all their childrens needs. Maybe when it comes to sleeping at night, she might do better sleeping with you? I personally didn't believe in this before but we started having problems with my oldest about 7 months back and ever since then, she comes to our bed at some point in the middle of the night, but at least she feels comforted. As a matter of fact, as I am typing this, my husband is in her bed with her and they are sound asleep. She sleeps great when we allow this, but if we try to fight it, it turns REAL ugly...!!!

Sarah - posted on 03/18/2012

omg this post sounds just like my 17 month old daughter, she still wakes up for milk bottles and nappy changing during the night.. its not even the milk she wants its the teet as ive tried putting her milk in her cup.. and yep they are toddlers now, we just moved her inot her own room her own bed, no more cot.. we moved her cos she was wanting to sleep in the bed everynight i didnt have a problem with that but didnt want to get her into that habit either so we thought it was time for her to have her own room

Anitta - posted on 03/15/2012

evey mistake you can make with babies are made on your first, my son didnt sleep through until he was 2. i had trouble getting him out of my bed and he was also very clingy. eventually i had to get tough with him, the bottle was the first to go, i threw them all out, he was unsettled for the first few days but by the end of the week he was fine. it was then that he slept through the night because he wasnt waking up for a bottle, i would get rid of the bottle before i put her in a bed so she is used to putting herself too sleep. good luck and try not to give in....those little darlings are very good at getting their own way cause they are so cute!

im pretty sure she would be classed as a toddler