Topic : Where Should Your Child Sleep?

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to feel guilty and allow that to change the way you parent. Also just because you ex does one thing at his house does not mean you have to do the same at yours. Children are alot smarter than people give them credit for. They will understand we do this at daddy's and we do this at mommy's. This is not to say that they will instantly understand this, but you have to do what you believe in your gut is the right thing to do and stick to it. DO NOT let guilt or any other emotion change that. And here's a thought that you might want to consider. We start learning behavior at a very young age. Do you want to teach your child that it's ok for her to live with her boyfriends? Because whether you like it or not we lead our children by example. Every action your child sees you do they are going to learn it and think it's the right thing to do because their role model (parents) are doing it. And telling them to do what you say and not what you do won't change that.

Here's what I did with my daughter when she went to a toddler bed. Find her most beloved character in her life. Exa: My daughter LOVESSSSS elmo more than anything else. So the toddler bed I bought was an Elmo toddler bed. She loved the idea of sleeping with elmo on her bed. And on the rare occasion that she didn't want to sleep in the elmo bed, instead of letting her sleep with me, I layed beside her bed holding her hand until she fell asleep. I only had to do this 3 times and she's been in her Elmo bed for over a year now.

Alright, so i have a 14 month old and i am having the hardest time getting him to sleep in his bed. He shares our room with us and it has been hard getting him to fall asleep in his bed and just as hard to get him to stay in his bed. When he wakes up he can throw such a terrible fit! Leaving him in his bed to cry it out is hard because we live with other family, who need their sleep and he can cry forever! It seems that way. sometimes i have to walk outside our room just to get him to calm down.

Trying to get him to sleep in his bed is hard. We can't lay him in his crib without him crying. When he falls asleep, we have to be careful when putting him in his bed because the second he wakes up and realizes he's in his bed he throw that fit again until we pick him up and put him in our bed to fall back asleep.

Any advice, whats helped you?

Hi! I don't know if this advice with help, but good luck with it if you try it! Do you have a nighttime routine with your son? Like reading him a bedtime story, tucking him in, etc? If not, maybe you should try that. How about a nightlight? I have a 16 month old and luckily I don't have any problems with her sleeping on her own.. but there have been a few nights where she just didn't want to sleep and I give her a few toys to play with .. She has a little jukebox music thing thats in her bed with her.. maybe you could try something like that with your son. Good luck and I hope you can get him to calm down.. :]

Read Dr. Levine's new book, "Break the Co-Sleeping Habit" to learn how to teach your toddler or preschooler--or older child--to sleep independently.  You can learn how to become a leader for your children and set better bedtime boundaries so that everyone in the household can get good quality sleep and function better during the day.  VIsit amazon.com or my website www.breakthecosleepinghabit.com