Sleep Problems-almost 4 yr old

[epatterson23]

My son is almost 4 and I'm due to have a baby in less than two weeks! Every night for almost a week he comes in my room in the middle of the night and wants to get in our bed, or wants me to sleep in his bed. One time I said no and he started crying, I didn't know what to do! I have been giving in but I'm getting stressed this is a long phase. I asked him what's wrong and he always has a different answer, or no answer at all. He said there's a cow in this room (he has said this for about 6 months, but never interfered with sleep) he also said it's dark, (there's a nightlight) and that the closet scares him. I don't know if he's acting like this because of the baby, but I really don't know how a tired kid can wake himself up in the middle of the night for no reason. Any advice???

[joyreagan]

I can understand where you are coming from. My son has been doing the exact same thing since just before Dominic was born about a year ago. At first I let him do it because I was selfish. I needed him because I was scared about sharing my love with two children. Then the baby came and I did it for two reasons. The first was because I felt guilty and wasn't sure I was giving enough attention and the second was because who wants two screaming babies in the middle of the night. Now it has become a really bad habit. Like all bad habits breaking it is proving difficult. I would say do not allow any behaviors that you are not willing to keep up with. We are trying to phase this out. I have given him the choice of sleeping in his own bed or on the floor in my room. At firt I felt terrible about the floor thing, but honestly he flops like a fish and my husband and I do not get any sleep at all. And secondly I want him to be a little uncomfortable so that going back to his bed seems like a good option.

[Jemma2]

My daughter used to come in like that too for quite a while. She'd always start the night in her room and end up in ours. I kept a small pillow and blanket under my side of the bed and she'd go back to sleep there. Sometimes I wouldn't even know she'd come in until the morning. Sleeping on the floor isn't a big deal for a kid (now for my old bones it'd be a different story). She got the closeness she needed at night and I got sleep because I wasn't fighting with her during the night. Eventually she just stopped coming in and slept through in her own bed.