Parents struggle to get toddlers to sleep in their own rooms

“Hey! I need some tips, tricks and advice for my sweet girl who has no issue napping but struggles to fall and stay asleep. Let me start this off by saying I have a 5 year old, who was always a good sleeper (minus a few regressions). My 3.5 year old has never been a great sleeper, but never used to be this difficult with it. Every single night it is a fight to get her to sleep. We do our routine and once it comes time for a kiss and walk out she cries and screams. We have tried so many things to”

“I’m currently 8 months pregnant, and have a 2 year old that co-sleeps with my husband and I. We plan on having our newborn in her basinet next to my side of the bed. I’m worried with how bedtime is going to work out, because my husband works until midnight-3am depending on the work load. Who do I put to bed first? If I get my newborn to fall asleep first in her basinet and then try to get my 2 year old to fall asleep in our bed, I’m worried about him waking up the newborn because he loves to bab”

“We have always coslept with our kids, it worked great for us. As they got bigger we put them into a double bed together as they didn't like being alone (fine, who does?) and we always cuddled them to sleep which I loved. They are now 5 & 7 and won't go to bed without being cuddled to sleep by ME. It goes up and down but we are in a phase of them screaming fucking murder anytime their dad tries to put them to bed. They mess around, scream for me, won't lie down, go out the room et”

“Need advice as myself and spouse are at the end of our tether. Our eldest daughter (now 2.5 years old) began sleeping entirely through the night at 2 years old. One day, the sleep training just worked. PJs, brush teeth, stories, cuddles, lights off, shut door, see you in 12 hours. It was such a luxury, especially seeing as our second child came along in June. To be able to shut the door on one LO and turn our attention to the other was a privilege. Then, about a month ago, our eldest got a stoma”

“She turned 4 in August and bedtimes usually consist of one of us in her room for AN HOUR until she winds down and falls asleep. Whenever we try to leave she screams and panics and tries to follow us out. Tonight was a dream. submitted by /u/N0bodyGetsOutAlive [link] [comments]”

“My 7 month old son has outgrown his bedside bassinet but he falls asleep better when his dad or i lay in our bed next to him. The crib is obviously too small for one of us to crawl in with him & he loves to roll around in his sleep. Another problem w the crib is his legs getting stuck between the slats. Ive looked into the mesh slat covers but the dont look like theyd work for him. We just got a full size mattress for his room in place of the crib & i plan to put mattress bumpers so he w”

“Turning to Reddit again for some parenting advice/tips! lol. My son is about to turn 1, and his whole 1 year of life, he’s been a contact sleeper. We have fought it and struggled with it since the day he was born—no exaggeration. We’ve always struggled getting to him to sleep in his bassinet or crib or anywhere by himself. I tried so hard and spent so much money trying to make the bassinet work. especially the first 3 months while I was on maternity leave. But after that, I had to go back to wor”

“Hi Dad's! I'm a full time stay at home Dad. Our daughter is 14 months old and has been cosleeping with us since she got sick at 9 months. We really want to transition her to her own room/crib but she tends to have a hard time sleeping and need support 2-3x a night, some times more. I know the first step is naps in her crib, get her used to the room and bed, and after that I was thinking putting her down to sleep in her crib each night and when she wakes up at midnight or 1, bring her int”

“TL;DR 2yo is waking up in the middle of the night and I can’t take it any more. I need help dads. For about the past 4 months, since we switched my two year old into a toddler bed, he has been waking up between 3 and 4 am almost every night screaming crying. Some nights it’s an easy pop in, calm him down, and lay him back in bed but some nights, like last night, that little boy is AWAKE. Like ready to play and get into shenanigans awake. It is absolutely destroying his mother and I. I am a liter”

“Any advice or products for when we transition our baby girl to her own room? She is 4 months and she is just sooo loud! I won’t do it quite yet but maybe 5 months I will move her but would like to know. submitted by /u/NextFee2923 [link] [comments]”

“My 2yr 2month old is amazing but she is like something possessed when it comes to bedtime. The minute she is out of the bath mayhem insues. Any tips or tricks are welcomed. submitted by /u/dasgutyah [link] [comments]”

“My daughter is 14 months old and has always been a terrible sleeper. When she was only a few months old, she could stay awake for 6 hours at a time (I know that sounds hard to believe). She wasn't even necessarily fussy or crying—she'd just be awake and chilling. She's always had a serious case of FOMO. She co-sleeps with my husband and me. I honestly hate co-sleeping and have always felt like a bad parent for doing it, but it's the only way we've been able to get any sleep m”

“9:30pm. Sunday (last night). I was downstairs watching TV. Wife was already upstairs in bed. Bedtime routine with only child (6 yo) usually starts around 8:30 on weekends and 7:30 on weeknights. Last night we let her stay up a little longer because we had a friend over who is a teacher and wanted to do some extra reading and playtime with our daughter because she doesn’t get to see her a lot. Normally- We read books and do normal nighttime activities and say our goodnights and most of the time s”

“My husband and I are trying to transition our 6 month old to sleeping in her nursery and it is not going well. She's been a fantastic sleeper since she was born other than when she's been sick. But she does not like sleeping in her room alone. She'll randomly wake up and cry until one of us goes in, makes sure she has her pacifier, and either rubs her back or snuggles her. We've been trying to spend more time in the nursery so she's more familiar with the room, but other than”

“Alright. My toddler just fell out of the toddler bed while asleep. First her head was hanging off for a bit, then her arms and upper body were off, and then she kind of just slipped all the way down to the floor. It’s a toddler bed so no higher than maybe 8 inches off the ground plus a 4 inch mattress. And she was already most of the way off when she slipped. Should I be worried? She didn’t wake up and cry. I went in there and actually moved her mattress to the floor and plopped her back on. She”

“Looking for some advice and suggestions on what I need to consider. I have a 4 month old sleeping in a snoo bassinet and an almost 3 year old (she’s 2 years and 8 months to be exact). We also have a 2 bedroom apartment. I’m looking for advice on cribs and a toddler bed. My oldest is still in a crib. My baby is outgrowing his bassinet. The goal is for the two to share a bedroom but we won’t know how they will sleep at night in the same room. I’d like my toddler to sleep in a toddler bed and the b”

“Looking for some positive feedback/advice in regard to transitioning kids to sleeping together…my husband and I have always wanted our boys to share a room eventually (currently 2 and 4). Both our boys were originally sleep trained but it went to crap when they hit the age of 2. I have have been sleeping with my 4 year old for the last year or so and my 2 year old has been progressively getting needier at night which is really a nightmare for my husband. We are considering putting them in a bed”

“Esteemed dads, help a brother out. My daughter is 3.5 and we have always struggled with sleep. For 6+ months, my wife slept in her bed to get her through the night. We managed to extract her from that over the course of a few weeks but the issue is that my daughter wakes up several times a night and demands my wife come into her room to help her back to sleep. Sometimes she just needs to go to the bathroom. She is perfectly capable but acts helpless at night. Other times she is ‘scared’ or can’t”

“My son is 5 months old and currently me and my partner have not moved out yet but that means that, because we primarily sleep at my house, with everything being set up there for my son, I feel like out of obligation we have to stay at his house too, and honestly I don’t want to, not because I don’t like his parents, his parents are great people. But it’s kind of expected that we stay there multiple times a week. I’m kind of worried that my son is going to get to a point where it will be confusin”

“So since the beginning my baby has been refusing to sleep on his own so we have been co-sleeping. I am with the baby on one side of the bed, and husband on the otherside. It's working GREAT except for one issue, the constant snooze button. Seriously, i am going crazy. It is at least 5 times in a row when he is free from work or work in the evening. I don't know how many times he does it during morning shifts because I usually sleep through it. The problem is that I some nights wake up li”

“We could only get our baby (almost 5 months now) to nap via contact naps, so we got a sleep consultant in who encouraged us to try putting him down for naps in his cot in a pitch black bedroom + white noise machine. It worked. He now goes down for naps very easily, gets himself to sleep no problems (and is subsequently now sleeping 11 hours overnight with no wake ups). No complaints, we are thrilled with this and know we are very lucky to get this overnight sleep. But he has 3 naps a day, and it”

“I have three children, and they have two bedrooms between them. Currently 6f and 3f share a bedroom, while 6month old is in her own room for now. Probably before the baby turns 1, we will have her swap with 6f and then she will share a bedroom with the middle child. I have a monitor in both rooms. The one for the big girls is mainly for the younger one (though at this point it’s arguable she doesn’t even need it). In any case, there will be a time in a few months when 6yo has her own room and sh”

“Hey guys, I’ve been trying to parent my 1 year old daughter the same way I did my 3 year old son in terms of sleep. Our son was a co-sleeper, but our daughter wants her own space so we got her a cot. Now she won’t fall asleep when she wakes up for her 2330 feed, and instead I find myself up until around 0200 getting her back to sleep. Obviously this isn’t great for my professional life. Last night we had a revelation, and after she tore a chunk of my wife’s hair out getting her to sleep after go”

“Hi all, apologies if this is the wrong forum! My SD(7) since she was 3.5 has been sleeping in her own bedroom in a bunk bed. She got a bunk bed to help ease the cosleeping as my partner could no longer co-sleep with her. Since then, bedtime has been hit and miss, we have always had some problems, but for the most part it's been manageable. For the last year or two, she has been sleeping in her own bedroom with a routine of upstairs at 6, and telly / iPad until 7pm and then bedtime. Recently,”

“Hi all, My SD(7) since she was 3.5 has been sleeping in her own bedroom in a bunk bed. She got a bunk bed to help ease the cosleeping as my partner could no longer co-sleep with her. Since then, bedtime has been hit and miss, we have always had some problems, but for the most part it's been manageable. For the last year or two, she has been sleeping in her own bedroom with a routine of upstairs at 6, and telly / iPad until 7pm and then bedtime. Recently, she went away for a week and a half w”

“What’s your advice on floor beds? Currently we have our 1 year old in our bed to fall asleep however she wakes on every transfer to the crib and sometimes it’s ruining nap time. My only worry is her waking in the middle of the night and trying to get out (we’d prefer one that has a rail)- all advice & experiences are greatly appreciated! submitted by /u/wowpeoplearecrazy [link] [comments]”

“My family figured out the solution to the kids nighttime sleep issues. I commented this in another thread and people found it helpful so I figured I’d share. When my kids (M4 and M1 at the time) moved into their room together, they would not stop messing with the lights. Ceiling light. Night light. Lamp. Other lamp. Any light you could think of, their little feet would patter, and then BOOM so much light. We tried everything. We set expectations, we redirected, we had consistent consequences, ev”

“My two year old we put into bed, say good night and leave. But for my 5 year old we have to lay on the floor until he’s asleep. There was a solid time between 2-3.5 years where we could just say goodnight and leave him but since then he wants us to stay with him until he falls asleep. Part of me thinks it’s not a big deal and one day I’ll miss our little chats in the dark, but as I type I’ve been laying in here for an hour unable to leave and it’s driving me nuts! submitted by /u/FIt”

“Me and my husband have recently been thinking about switching our baby from our room into her own room. I wanted to get other people’s insight on when you switched your baby to their own room and what baby monitor you used, if you did. For some background info - we are first time parents and my baby is currently 3 months (14weeks) old and EFF. She is also a happy spitter and on a partially hydrolyzed formula. For the first two months of her life we actually slept on the couch in our living room”

“I’m not sure what else to do but I’m really spiraling. We have three kids, an almost 4 year old boy and twin girls who just turned 1. Our son has always been a difficult sleeper. Super long bedtimes, waking up all night, difficult to get back to sleep. We had a one bedroom apartment when we first had him and he spent most of his night in our bed. By the time he turned we moved into a house and had his own room but my wife spent most nights sleeping in there with him. Before the girls came I talk”

“Hi everyone, we've got a 8m old (in cot next to our bed) and a 2yo old (in her own bedroom). How old are you kids when you move them out of your room and into a bedroom? Did you put them together into the same bedroom? Or separate bedrooms? Cheers appreciate it 🥰 submitted by /u/RecognitionMediocre6 [link] [comments]”

“Desperate to see if anyone else has overcome these particular bedtime struggles. I have a 4 yo, 2 yo and 5 month old. Oldest 2 have always needed to sleep in my bed all night and have me sit there with them to fall asleep. They take HOURS! To fall asleep, no matter how exhausted they are. They wake up multiple times. They’re up for the day at 5am, earlier if they’ve fallen asleep late (after rolling around for hours trying to fall asleep) I cannot possibly stand it anymore. We’re all so tired. I”

“Help! My one and a half year old is struggling so bad to go down for naps and bedtime. I’ll start from the beginning. She is a “half night co-sleeper” if that’s a thing? She co-slept as a baby and never sleep trained and was EBF (no more bottles or breastfeeding now, only a sippy of milk offered before bedtime and 50/50 if she takes it). She typically would take 10-20 min to settle with rocking then transferred to crib where she napped perfectly and would sleep half the night. Now going down for”

“Just as the title says. At what age did you decide to move your baby into their own room instead of the basinet in the bedroom? How did you know it was time? And how did it go? submitted by /u/boraboralt [link] [comments]”

“Since starting grade 1 our son has been acting out. He’s fine throughout the day but as soon as bedtime hits he throws a fit about sleeping alone. Sometimes the crying begins over not wanting to go to school the next day. We never co sleep and he has been sleeping fine in his own bed in his own room for 3 years. We get him down at his usual time but he won’t fall asleep. He keeps coming out of his room constantly . Its always “I need to say good night again” or “I just miss you” etc. we’ve tried”

“And maybe why did you stop? I’m not sure it’s the right move but we’re considering it. When we started it was a necessity due to sleep deprivation. We never planned to be forever cosleepers and we’re not sure how much longer we should continue. submitted by /u/geedeebee22 [link] [comments]”

“Mum of a 13 month old here - just curious, not delusional (!), but what age did your kids start going to bed easily and sleeping through the night consistently? We’re pretty lucky over here with just the odd wake up during the night, but some of our friends are still up all night. I’m sure the next regression is just around the corner for us though 😂 submitted by /u/CalsMum25 [link] [comments]”

“I’m currently pregnant and refuse to repeat anything I did with the first one in regards to sleep. Am paying for it currently as she has been in my bed for months. I love her so much but she’s gotta goooo Question for parents who didn’t transition until toddlerhood (she’s 23 months) - how did you get them to sleep on their own? My girl religiously cuddles my arm until she sleeps and will sleep on top of me if she can. She also asks me for water each time she wakes up. - is it best to keep their”

“I posted a couple days ago about having a mental breakdown because my son wouldn't go to sleep. A lot of people suggested taking him to his pediatrician to rule out a medical reason for him not sleeping. So I called and got him an appointment for the next day. He felt a little warm when I called and they told me if he spikes a fever before his appointment to take him to urgent care. Later in the day, I took his temperature and it was 100.1 so I gave him motrin and took him to the urgent care”

“Both my kids were sleep trained but that flew out the window when they transitioned to beds. My 7 year old daughter cannot fall asleep without someone in her room and then inevitably comes to my room at night to want to sleep. My 3.5 year old has recently moved to a toddler bed. Wakes up at 10:30 screaming, comes into my room at 1 am becuase he also wants to get into my bed, I end up walking him back and sleeping in his room. He's then up at 6 and has been acting out at daycare. Daycare drop”

“Hi! Random one, but my nearly 5 year old has started (this last month) sleep walking out of his room, on to the landing, pulling his pjs down and weeing on the carpet. I’m not sure what to do about this, as he’s clearly in a very very deep sleep when he’s doing it and thinks he’s in the bathroom. I was just wondering if there’s anyone with any advice for this, I appreciate it’s slightly random🫠 submitted by /u/anonymoususerLfc [link] [comments]”

“Well as the title says, my two year stint sleeping with our toddler has ended as of tonight. Kiddo slept alone until age 2 and because she didn't take to her new mattress well, I slept with her on the mattress on the floor for 2 years now. But it's time to give it up. She is excited about her bed but there was lots of tears before bed about sleeping alone, even if our room is only 3 steps from hers. We got her a new bed frame that is her favorite color, put all her favorite stuffies in i”

“Expecting our second in 6 months. Our toddler will be just shy of 3 years old by then. We live in an old farm house - master bedroom is up a flight of spiral stairs (that we've somehow managed to convince our toddler to not go up without Mom/Dad) and we have 2 bedrooms on the lower level. One is our toddler's room and the other is my office/guest bedroom. Our first started sleeping in the crib at 2 weeks and I slept in the guest bedroom for the first year to BF/be close. My plan is to ke”

“My three year old has always been inconsistent with how and where she sleeps. I breastfed her until 16 mo and she on and off co slept literally on the boob 5-16 months. Shes only slept through the night in her own room a handful of times. Before we could do dinner, bath, and read a story with her before leaving her to fall asleep on her own. In the past year she cries and cries and gets out of bed when we leave. After adding another child when she turned 2, I kind of gave up on sleep training. N”

“Hey dads. I'm scared of what's happening with our bedtime routine. Our daughter is turning 2 this month, and up til now, she's slept through the night the vast majority of the time since she was born (we've been quite lucky!). But now, she is suddenly demanding all the lights be on at bedtime, even the main light in her room. I need help from other dads to work on a plan to manage this. She has a sound machine with a light in her room, but that's nowhere near good enough. She”

“My babygirl just turned one August 25th, and since then she has literally tossed sleeping out the window. It’s gotten so bad that me and her father have had to stay up all night with her and we literally aren’t getting sleep until 8-9 am. She then sleeps until 5-6pm some days. We are so exhausted we sleep with her. I made it my mission to stay up and wake her up by noon and keep her busy hoping it will reset her biological clock…it didn’t. She was a nightmare whiny mess by 5pm and I couldn’t kee”

“It started a few weeks ago during summer vacation. We've tried comforting him. Leaving his door ajar. Putting night lamps. For the moment he sleeps with several small nightlamps. His room has a cozy glow according to us. The outside also never gets really dark because we live in a suburban area were the streetlights are on during the night. Yet during several nights already he has come to our room during the night, complaining his room is too dark. Any of you have been in a similar situation”

“I'm a SAHM who still contacts my 14 month old. He was down to one nap (was doing it for about 6 weeks) but after having back to back illnesses is actually back to two naps a day. He's always been a relatively good sleeper (although medium to low sleep needs). He sleeps in his crib well at night, usually only having 1 or 2 wake ups. Most of the time he is able to connect his cycles/put himself back to sleep. To put him to sleep for the night and if he wakes up we walk and sing him to slee”

“My son is 12 almost 13 months old. He's never slept through the night. Still wakes every 2-3 hours. He's been so hard to put to bed lately. He doesn't let me nurse him to sleep, and the last 2 nights he's refused to even drink his bottle of milk. I try to rock him, bounce him, play lullabies, and all he does is scream, cry, hit, kick. Most nights I end up taking him on a car ride to put him to sleep because he just absolutely will not go to sleep any other way. He's not like”

“I have enjoyed our time on this ride, but how do I get off? We didnt co-sleep until 11 months, and technically he is in a side-sleeper bed attached to our bed. After his 3rd birthday at the end of September, I would like to transition over the next 6 months with him sleeping in his own room, and quitting nursing at some point. I am also pregnant with baby #2, and I would love a break, even a 2-3 month break. Even a 1 month break! What did you do to get your older toddler to wean, also while tryi”

“Maybe it's just me but, Ive been single since my oldest was less than a year old. As such, I have slept with one or both of my kids for going on 12 years. I don't like to sleep alone and they don't either so we've always slept together. It's convenient too because I have a two bedroom apartment but only one air conditioner for upstairs so we all are comfortable in the summer! My youngest sleeps on a full size mattress with me and my oldest has a twin like a foot away with a t”

“Little back story, we're currently living with boyfriend parents until house is done. The house is almost done!🎉 Currently i have an 18mo boy but he's very active! This kid would stay up 24/7 if it was his choice. I currently have him in a crib but we're considering to start potty training when we get into the new place. I've read that kids are best in s crib until they climb out or are ready for potty training. He hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib but he's”

“Hey all! My little one turned 1 a few weeks ago so I know I still have time. When did you switch them from a crib to a toddler bed and how did you get them to stay in it? My boy moves so much in his sleep is worry he’d fall out, or see the toys/stuff in his room and not want to play. Right now he sleeps in his crib that is at the foot of our bed and we put on lullaby’s on the tv (nothing bright or distracting. And I’ve tried absolutely everything else to get him to sleep and this is the only thi”

“Has anyone successfully transitioned their toddler into their own bed from co sleeping? If so, can you please share how you did this or any tips. Would appreciate as much advice as possible 😅 submitted by /u/Rose1993__ [link] [comments]”

“Hi everyone, Our daughter (almost 5 years old) really wants to share a bedroom with our son ( almost 2 years old) our son adores his sister and her room so I’m sure he would really like it too. But currently he still sleeps with us and wakes up frequently at night. So until that gets better the situation stays as it is. But it does make me wonder if it would work once our son sleeps better at night. Does anyone have a similar situation where young kids share a bedroom? What are the pro’s and con”

“How do I get my toddler into a bedtime routine? She has been in my bed since December 2025 I know it's not ideal but now I need to get her into her own bed and tried last night and it didn't go well. We gave her a bath then I read books in her bed then after a while she suddenly didn't want any books, she threw her things and ran for the door! Help! I can't do this every single night! submitted by /u/rawraw34 [link] [comments]”

“​Hey dads, just needed to vent a bit because I have a massive knot in my throat right now. ​My daughter just turned 5. Over the last 3 years, she’s had brief periods of sleeping in her own room, but eventually, co-sleeping became our norm. Tonight, my wife went out with friends, so it was a dad-and-daughter night. ​We’ve been talking to her recently about transitioning back to her own bed. Tonight, after brushing her teeth, I took her to her room. We set up her bed with all her favorite stuffed”

“So silly of me, but I'm a first time mom to a 7 month old baby girl and sharing a room with her is resulting to progressively worse sleep. I have a feeling being in her own room won't fix the problem but will significantly help. My husband has slept in the living room this whole time because of his snoring and we obviously miss each other. We plan to trial her in her room tomorrow night. I'm just anxious and can't seem to get perspective. She's healthy, formula fed, very acti”

“Both of my boys have been the BEST sleepers as babies. Both were alone in their own rooms only months after being born. Our five year old is great, with the occasional nightmare and trip to mom and dad's bed. Our 2.5 year old is EVEN better. You read him a book, sing him a song, put him down in his crib, and he's asleep before you make it to the door. Just 4 nights ago, we put him down as usual and everything was normal. After maybe an hour or so, he woke up screaming bloody murder. We c”