how do you get your 3 year old to sleep?

[raymark]

You could rock her to bed - caveman style with a real rock

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

[neonalee]

My 3 yr old moved to his own bed and room this summer. We continued staying with him until he fell asleep until a couple weeks ago. At first there was every imaginable excuse for getting up. I allowed going potty twice, even though he always goes right before bed also (he PLd last November but still wears cloth pull ups to bed). Occasionally I'll allow some more water, but since that encourages more potty breaks I try to make sure he gets enough during the day instead.

Now every time he gets up after 1 potty break I take his hand lead him back to his bed, tuck him in, say good night, kiss, leave. Absolutely no other words (well, sometimes "I love you"). As many times as it takes. Some nights I have to carry him back to his room :-P. Usually it only takes a couple times now but in the beginning some nights it was 10 or more times. So frustrating. Occasionally now I can just tell him to go back to bed and he does!!

ETA he still naps over an hour daily, wakes at 7am and in bed by 8. Not giving up the nap until I HAVE to.

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[kanga1622]

We started out at 18 months with this issue so I sat in his room facing away from him. Every other night I would move a little farther away until I was in the doorway. Now we can tuck him in with a kiss, turn off the light, and walk out.

Now at 3.5, he never gets out of bed but does sometimes call for us. He actually goes to sleep quite well if we stick to our routine. Now that he is occasionally dropping his nap, he is allowed books to read if he isn't ready to sleep when we put him to bed.

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