My 3 year old is in our bed! Help me stop this habit!

My 3 year old DD has been acting petrified when we put her to bed in her room. We have tried leaving a light on in the hall, door open, a night light in her room, constantly reassuring her there is nothing scary, etc.. She will not fall asleep in there. If she falls asleep in our bed, we pick her up and walk her back.. But at 330/4 am every day she is crying for daddy and he is bringing her back to bed. What can we do to fix this situation besides leaving her in there... Do we have to CIO again? (dreading this waking up my 1 year old!) any advice is needed and welcomed!!!!

Re: My 3 year old is in our bed! Help me stop this habit!

Wish I knew. Went through the same thing and sort of still going through it.
When my son was getting his 2 yr molars he was screaming and a nightmare to get to bed so we did the same thing... He fell asleep with us in the bed then out him back and would wake up screaming. We also have a baby so we brought him in our room not to wake his brother.
Went on till I just decided to make a bed on the floor for him. When I left my job in May I was going to end that.
I stopped hid naps b.c he wasn't going to sleep at a good time. He turned 3 in May as well.
Started to get him excited off his room and then he was going to sleep at 7 b.c he wasn't napping. Had his door open, put on the sound machine again and left the hall light on for him.
He still gets up sometimes to come to our room so I keep a blankie, pillow and comforter in the closet to throw on the floor for him. This way he goes to sleep in his room and feels if he's scared or gets up he can come to our room. I just didn't want to make his room a punishment since he's finally going to sleep well in there then yelling that he has to stay in his bed.

Re: My 3 year old is in our bed! Help me stop this habit!

I think it depends on the kid. My ds also tried the, "There's a snake/snail/monster in my room" bit. I go on a "hunt" to get rid of all the bad things, then I tell him I'm going to do magic to get rid of them (I say, "No snakes, no snakes, no snakes!" while waving my finger around like a wand). This seems to work for him. But I also don't think he's really scared, I think it's his way of keeping me in the room. He also tells me that he's hungry, he's thirsty, he's going to miss me, he has to make pee pee and on and on. I just give him a kiss good night and walk out of the room. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, it's usually to pee. After he goes, I rub his back and then again give him a kiss and walk out. For him, consistency is key. As long as he knows he's going to keep getting put back in his bed, he eventually stays put.

My 3 year old is in our bed! Help me stop this habit!

I haven't gone through this yet, but my mom said she slept on the floor in my bedroom for a few nights when I transitioned to a big girl bed. Good luck!

Re: My 3 year old is in our bed! Help me stop this habit!

We had to set up a reward chart to get DS back in his bed. He got a sticker for each night he stayed in bed. But the trick was, not only dd he need to get 3 stickers to get a prize, but they had to be 3 consecutive nights.

Re: My 3 year old is in our bed! Help me stop this habit!

try to rectify this asap.its not easy. we used to bring in our DS ,and when he feel asleep we would cary him as quietly as possible back into his bed. We';d stay for a few minutes just in case he awoke and we would comfort him back to sleep.make sure he is changed and dry.You might have to put up with a few nights of crying but in the long run it is well worth it. WE love our kids but you don't want them sleeping in your bedroom at 5, 6 or 10.