Sleep Issues! Those who have jumped this hurdle please help!

My DS is 20 months and climbs out of his crib. We tried the tent and he was able to get out of it as well! He is a strong and determined boy who is now sleeping in my bed as I can't leave him alone in his crib because he is a master escape artist. This is a kid who in thirty seconds while you answer a phone will be standing on your kitchen table trying to hang from the fan. He loves to climb!

He has always had poor sleep habits (reluxer who cried for months until we figured it out) and I really think a pattern of bad behavior has developed.
He does not know how to fall alseep on his own....every night I need to stay with him or he will not fall asleep. Plus, he wakes up a few times everynight crying "mamamamaama" Most of the time he falls back to sleep on his own then..the hard part is getting him to settle down and go to bed. We do the routine, bath, books etc. I have read a few books including "Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Child" but these books seem to deal more with a child who will stay in their crib.

What can I do to teach him to fall asleep? How can the CIO work when he is mobile? Is there anything else to try?

I am hoping someone can help me who has "been there , done that. "

Thanks ladies!

Message edited 1/30/2010 10:57:48 PM.

Re: Sleep Issues! Those who have jumped this hurdle please help!

If he is clmibing out, try a toddler bed or regular bed. That way he is closer to the ground. If he is sleeping in your bed, then he may be looking for a bed now.

He is old enough to sleep train again. Whatever you may have done with him beofre (CIO, etc.) may have to be done again. Or give him something to put himself to sleep with: a special book, a music machine, etc.

Good luck!

Re: Sleep Issues! Those who have jumped this hurdle please help!

Does he have anything with him in his crib? Maybe a few books in the crib will keep him busy and then he can fall asleep?

Re: Sleep Issues! Those who have jumped this hurdle please help!

I had a reflux baby and whew, i went through some serious torture in the sleep dept..i had to do CIO and that was when she was 9 months..i was told once they are a climbing, lol, try the regular bed...some parents put gates (baby gate) so they stay in the room and no toys or anything stimulating when doing this..(i hired a sleep trainer and this is what i was told) after all this , my DD sleeps like a champ and get this, she had a ear infection in each ear and still didnt wake up or cry...now that is a trooper!

Re: Sleep Issues! Those who have jumped this hurdle please help!

I agree with trying a bed. If he keeps getting out, you may just have to keep putting him back in until he knows you mean business. It might take a while, but it works.

Re: Sleep Issues! Those who have jumped this hurdle please help!

A friend recommended this to me--if he's getting out of bed and coming into your room in the middle of the night, get one of those door handles covers that prevents him from turning the knob from the inside of his room. May sound cruel, but it'll send a clear message that it's the middle of the night and he needs to stay put in his room.

Re: Sleep Issues! Those who have jumped this hurdle please help!

Thanks for the suggestions. I really wish I would have been able to deal with this before he began climbing out of the crib...but who would have thought he would become a gymnast at a little over a year old? Not me.

I think we are going to have to get a big bed. He is a very wild sleeper and I think the toddler bed might be to small.....He is already 30 pounds!

I had hoped to hold off on the big boy bed until he was old enough for a bunk bed. Are ther any bunk beds that are apporpriate for this age?