what would you do? bedtime related

[mommy06and09]

ds 6 prefers to sleep on the floor. he says the bed is uncomfortable. i have no problem with this. i just bought him that bed less than a year ago and their is nothing wrong with it. i cant afford to buy him a new one so hes stuck picking between the floor or his bed. the problem is when he picks the floor he rolls around and plays. i have made him sleep in his bed as a punishment for rolling but he screamed buckets and woke the whole house. what can a do?

[steelcrazy]

Simple, remove the toys from his room.  If there aren't any toys in his room, then he won't have anything to play with when he is supposed to be sleeping.

[Pukalani79]

If he's more comfortable on the floor, let him sleep there.  My daughter had a nice new mattress but it turned out that it was too soft for her and hurt her back.  What is it that he is playing with when he's on the floor? Can you maybe make him a pallet to define his "bed"?

[mommaFruFru]

How long does he play? In.the dark? My.boys stay up about 45min after I.put them in bed... So bedtime is atleast 30 min before I'd like them to be asleep :-)..

If they spend 2hrs talkong/playing they will be tired tomorrow! And when they do that o get them up earlier too! They learned!

[annelauer]

I agree that you should just let him sleep on the floor I'd that is where he is most comfortable. If there are toys right nearby his sleep area, they should be moved before bedtime.

[soymujer]

Well said.

Quoting steelcrazy:

Simple, remove the toys from his room.  If there aren't any toys in his room, then he won't have anything to play with when he is supposed to be sleeping.

[coolmommy2x]

This. And if you use the bed as punishment, he'll never sleep in it.

Quoting steelcrazy:

Simple, remove the toys from his room.  If there aren't any toys in his room, then he won't have anything to play with when he is supposed to be sleeping.

[M4LG5]

I agree with both of these ladies.  One....remove anything anything he can play with (or move it to another part of the room).  Two...if you ever want him to sleep on the bed, you cannot use it as punishment right now.  He will associate it with something negative. 

Quoting coolmommy2x:

This. And if you use the bed as punishment, he'll never sleep in it.

Quoting steelcrazy:

Simple, remove the toys from his room.  If there aren't any toys in his room, then he won't have anything to play with when he is supposed to be sleeping.

[aetrom]

My son nearly 8 now went through this at the same age!! He did not play.... It seems to be a phase and he seems to prefer beds now.

[corrinacs]

Hey!

We have somehow diverted these meltdowns, but ehre are afew peices of advice.  one of which may have contributed to our success.

1. Talk to your son about what specifically is the problem.  It may not be the bed at all, but that the sheets are bunched up, stink, etc.  You never know.  He could be too hot and gets sweaty.  Talk to him about it.  Of course, the floor is a good option too :).  Heck, in my Montessori books, they even suggest putting the matress on teh floor to encourage independence.

2. Don't fuss about him rolling around and playing.  That is unless he's not going to sleep on time for days at a time and being really cranky the next day.  My son does NOT have a fast rule saying he has to stay in bed at all!  We allow him to get up and read books, play with his action figures, etc.  The only rule is that he's not allowed to be noisy at all, and he's not allowed to bother us unless its NEEDED!

As far as helping him get to sleep better, see what could help him wind down at night.  Perhaps make the last hour about quiet activities like reading books.  Turn the lights down (or don't have as many on) and this will kick start his natural sleep cycle to start.

Good luck :) :)

[MJP76]

Buy a mattress topper for his bed.