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Every parent has struggled at one point with getting their kids to sleep at night, and these tips for getting your toddler to stay in their bed at night are going to save the day. I only wish it didn’t take me 6 kids to figure these tips out.

How to keep your toddlers in their own bed without pulling your hair out.

 Whether you have transitioned to a toddler bed, or your child is just finally moving out of your room to their own, you can manage to keep them in their room with ease.  This leads to better sleep for everyone, and newfound independence for them.

Amen or what?

7 Tips For Getting Your Toddler To Stay In Their Bed At Night

Create a bed time routine.  Give your toddler a routine to look forward to.  When you get into a set bedtime routine, they know what to expect and are less likely to wander out of their room at night.  Start with a warm bath to get them clean and calm.  Instead of television, spend time listening to soft music like classical or a lullaby.  Read a story and snuggle in their room.  Tuck them into their bed and pray for them, or wish them good night.  Create a simple routine that is done every night so they know it is time to settle and go to sleep.

Put them to bed earlier.  Many toddlers are still in need of 10-12 hours of sleep a night, plus daily naps.  Sometimes the best way to get your toddlers to stay in their bed at night is to send them to bed earlier when they are already beginning to get tired.  If you wait too long and they are overly tired, they will get up more frequently and be restless in the night.

Give them comfort items.  Not only will they need their existing comfort items like pillows, stuffed animals or a special blanket, but you can also provide them with new comfort items.  If they are transitioning into their room for the first time, you can let even a young toddler help you pick out things for their room.  A child who has transitioned to a toddler bed from a crib may want to add something new and “big kid” to their room.  Give them a comfort item that makes them want to stay in their room.

Use a bed rail.  Many toddlers fall out of a toddler bed and thus wake up and come to your room. When they first begin sleeping in their own, it is a great choice to install a simple bed rail that will keep them from falling out and waking up should they roll around a lot in their sleep.

Skip the bedtime drink or snack.  Many times the bedtime drink or snack can actually keep them from sleeping well.  This is especially if they aren’t potty trained.  They will tend to wake up with a wet diaper in the night and get up to come to you.  This makes it harder to get them to go back to sleep in their bed.  Stop giving snacks and drinks at least an hour prior to bedtime if at all possible.  Don’t send your toddler to bed with a sippy cup of juice, water or milk.

Use aromatherapy.  The benefits of lavender, peppermint and chamomile to soothe and promote sleep are well-known.  Whether you use the bath products that include it, or you use a diffuser and oils in their room, aromatherapy can soothe and help calm them for sleep.

Figure out why they are leaving their room.  This is really the most important factor in getting your toddler to stay in their bed at night.  You need to find out why they don’t want to.  Some children are afraid of being alone.  Others have a difficult time soothing themselves to sleep.  There are a lot of reasons, and you can figure those out by asking, observing and even using a video monitor to see their behavior after you leave the room. Once you know what the root cause is, it is much easier to adjust and create a healthy bedtime routine that works.

These tips for getting your toddler to stay in their bed at night may not work for every situation.  Just as mentioned in the last tip, you have to understand what is causing your child to get up and work on fixing that.  Once you find that root cause, you’ll all be sleeping easy at night.