What to Do when Your Toddler Refuses to Sleep Alone
There comes a time in every life when sleeping in the crib becomes far less than desirable. Usually, this time is a bit earlier than most parents are happy with. Thus, the sixteen to 24 month mark becomes a particularly tricky struggle for control.
There are issues that most parents need to take into account. For one thing, it is around this time that kids ramp up with the teething and nightmares. So, even if they had no problem at all sleeping on their own, now they truly need extra comfort at night.
However, this is also the time when they become master manipulators. While it is important to go a little softer in times of need. Sometimes, it is hard to tell when they really need you or when they need to own you.
It is all too easy to give up and accept that your bed for two is now a bed for three. Worse yet, if to get half a decent night’s rest one of the partners finds themselves either in the guest bed or on the couch, and that’s not even the worst case scenario.
Some parents, with the best of intentions, end up sleeping on the floor beside an unused toddler bed. In the meanwhile their little darling has taken over the full width of the king size bed! So, what to do?
Nobody likes to hear their baby crying all night. For one thing, it’s really tough to get any shut eye that way. Also, they’re crying all night. Still, it is better to let them cry for a night or two than surrender all sanity. The most important thing is to first make absolutely certain that they are not crying for any reason other than just because they want to monopolize you.
For many parents tough love is a tough sell. Then again, many people secretly like getting to cuddle with their little bundle of energy all night long. There is something to be said for watching a ball of boundless excitement settle down for longer than a nanosecond.
Well, but at some point all parents need to take back their bedroom. Doing this takes careful planning, conniving, underhanded tactics, and positive reinforcement. Kids are smart. Parents have to be smarter.
Step 1: Don’t go for a cheap mattress
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