How to Get Children to Sleep in Their Own Bed

Video Transcript

"Hello, I'm Dr. Deborah Wheeler, I'm the vice president of academic affairs at Argosy University on the Salt Lake City campus. I'm also a clinical psychologist and today's topic is how to get your child to sleep in their own bed. This is one that parents often struggle with because either the child is not wanting to go to their own bed or climbing into your bed in the middle of the night. How do you handle this? First you make sure that your child has a routine. Going to bed should be a routine as part of their evening. They need to take their baths, get comfortable and settled, have their little snack, visit the restroom, all of those things leading up to nighttime and going to bed in their own bed. Now if you have a child who comes and joins you in the middle of the night, unfortunately you're going to need to get up and make sure they're returned to their own bed. If you get them in the habit of sleeping in your bed, you'll have many, many sleepless nights ahead. Make sure that even though they might complain or fuss that you don't cave in on this one, you'll have much more restful sleep if you make sure they're in their own bed. Make their bed a pleasant place for them, maybe they can pick out their own bedding or their stuffed animals that they have with them, make it a pleasant place for them to return to but make sure that you have it part of the routine and a nice way for both of you to end the night in your own beds. If you would like more information on this topic or any others that we can help you with on parenting, please contact us at argosy.edu."