I have a 3 year old daughter. She refuses to sleep in her own bed. It’s just the two of us, so I let her cause it’s just me in my bed if she doesn’t. I would like to start weening her into her own bed. She has this thing, that she’s done since she was a little baby, that she plays with my hair to go to sleep. She always screems “I want your hair” when I try to make her lay down in her own bed. She has a night light, and I’ve tried to give her a doll with hair to lay with. Nothing has worked.
Update:
I tried decking her bedroom out, I did all spongebob for her b-day, she loves spongebob. She has slept at my sisters house, and to get her to sleep she let her play with her hair. I’ll try the bed in my room thing. Thank You.
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Nothing IS going to work because she hasn’t learned to self soothe. You’ve given her everything you can think of except for one thing…discipline. Set up a bedtime routine. Bath, tooth brushing, hair brushing then to bed with a story, cuddles and kisses, lights out (night light is fine) and walk away. If she cires LET HER CRY, if she screams LET HER SCREAM. If she gets out of her bed take her BACK to bed tuck her back in and turn around and walk away. You will probably have to do this a few times every night for awhile but eventually she will get the hint that she doesn’t have control of bedtime any longer.
I have a friend who had the some problem with her son. Only, he wanted to play with her hair ALL the time. Finally, she told him he had to have a hair time. She set a time in the day for him to play with her hair and that was it.
I think your daughter is old enough to grasp the concept. Just stick to the rules and tell her no more hair at bed time. Mommy`s hair want to go night night too. Instead, tell her she gets to play with it while watching spongebob before bed (or something along those lines).
Maybe try by setting up a small toddler bed in your room for her, just to begin weening her away from being directly in bed next to you. Another suggestion, although a bit drastic, is for you to get a really short hair cut, that doesn’t allow for her to really play with it as much, and instead chooose her doll or even a wig/ hairpiece. How does she fall asleep when with a babysitter/ grandparents or have you never been away at her bedtime or naptime?
You can try this get a cot or a small bed that you can put in your room. She sleeps there and gradually move the bed from yours to hers a little each night. You could do the tough thing and just go cold Turkey and let her cry it out (its harder on you then her). Or you could make it an event buy a cool comforter “Hannah Montana works with most girls I used spongebob for my nephew” and make a big deal about it how she is a big girl and that she needs to sleep with “Hannah, sponge bob,Dora etc.” because they are not “big girls” so she needs to sleep with them. you can also put a baby monitor in her room so that she feels safe.