Thats what I was hoping that he would outgrow it. Maybe when he turns seven and is in 1st grade he will start staying in his own bed, we can hope. He and his sister who is four have twin sized beds and share a room together. My 4dd has never slept with us and prefers her own bed.

Oops! Double posted.

There are a few options to try

(1) Try to get your little one to sleep on a cot or exercise mat in your room and then slowly work towards moving to the bedroom

(2) Try an incentive program. Start with 1 night an reward it and slowly move up to more nights. We have a little prize bag with stickers, tattoos and such for rewards. Occassionally we will offer a big reward like sleep in your own bed for 4 nights and we will take you to see a movie.

(3) Try and incentive program along with disipline
We will praise our daughter and give her small rewards for sleeping in her bed all night but found it was not working as well. So we have a rule that if she wants to watch tv or play on the computer she has to sleep in her bed all night and if she does not she loses it for the day. She still recieves rewards for success.
When she comes into our bed at night we remind her what she will lose if she stays but still give her the choice to loose tv for the day but most of the time she just asks for a few cuddles and will walk herself back to bed. THIS IS WHAT WORKS FOR US MOST OF THE TIME NOW!

All rules go out the window if she is sick. We always let her sleep in our bed when she is sick...unless she has the stomach flu..then one of us will sleep on the floor in her room.

Or one last option start with 1 or 2 nights a week that your child has to sleep in their bedroom all night. Say it is a rule that all kids their age have to sleep in their bed that night...I heard this works sometimes.

Jen

My son slept with me since he was about 2 1/2, when he was about 3 1/2 - 4. I battled with him to sleep in his own bed. (got a toddler bed and we even went out and he picked his own bed set) He slept in his bed the first night (his bed was in my room) Just so he can get used to it. Finally after a few weeks we moved his bed into his own room. Usually nightly he'd get up and would want to sleep with me. I got out of my bed and put him back to bed. Its a long, tiring process and eventually he will sleep in his bed. My son is 6 1/2 now and he only wants to sleep in his bed. But it was hard work to break him of mommys bed.
Keep working on it and eventually it will work. But there are occasions where my son somehow snuck into my bed with me and dh without us knowing.

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Alex & the spider monkey

I like the incentive program idea. I will have to try that. I know the cot in the room with us will not work because he wants to sleep next to someone (I mean like right up against you). When I leave the bed in the morning he is right behind me.
Thanks for the ideas!

Is there a night light or a light on in the hallway? Could he be afraid of the dark? We leave the bathroom light on so my son can see if he wakes up. He does sometimes come into my room and if it hasn't been too consistant i'll let him sleep with me. If it's happend more then twice in a row i take him back to his bed and tell him to stay there. He usually does.

Another thing we have done is give him an alarm clock. He likes that he has it in his room and that he sets it every night. We tell him that when the alarm goes off is when he can get out of bed. It helps him stay in bed when he wakes up and it helps him get up for school in the morning. Maybe try getting him a cool alarm clock and that might help.

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Jodie....Wife to Andrew (1995)
Mommy to Riley (2000) and Wyatt (2003)

If he likes to cuddle with someone, you might try getting him one or two body pillows to put in his bed. He can sleep between them and still have the feeling that someone is there to cuddle with.

I'm dealing with the same issue right now! Thanks for asking the question.

amy

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Amy B.

My daughter has a Rescue Pet alarm clock. It is a cuddly dog that has an alarm clock collar and he wakes you up by barking. It's made by MGA and you can usually find them at Target.

Jen

Oh I also like the alarm clock idea! Thanks Jodie! I just mentioned it to him and he sounded excited!

This sounds really cute! Both my kids will love it! Thanks Jen!