my 2 years son does not want to goto bed without me
kirtimom posted on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 05:12
my 2 yr old son does not even want to goto bed unless i go to bed with him. And then he wants to either hold my hand and pinch it or put his hand in my stomach. he does not want to sleep alone. even with me here it takes an hour for him to get sleep. and all this time he continues to pinch me. sometime he even pulls my hairs.
is this common?
i am completely confused since i want him to have a good sleep. what am i supposed to do?
kirtimom, first of all I would like to tell you that your son is 2 years old so you should start teaching him to go to bed on his own without you. If you continue putting him to sleep with you it may become more difficult for both of you.
About pinching and touching this way your son is just trying to make sure you are with him and it might be a way to show his affection. He may not have realized that pinching hurts you. You have to let him feel that pinching hurts and if he does that to you, you will not be next to him.
Once you have helped him get rid of pinching thing try to work out on his sleep process without you.
I agree with eva. Definitely a 2 year old cannot pinch you to hurt he is trying to show his affection. As a mom kirtimom you need to tell him that it hurts and what are the right way to show ones affection. May be you need to pinch him once but plz don't be harsh. Then you need to teach him ways to show affection like hugging, kissing etc.
As far as the sleeping thing is concerned you need to set a routine and proper environment. Maybe every night after dinner, give your son proper wash and then have a story telling session, not more than 15 mins. Then switch off the lights to set the proper environment say goodnight to your son and put him on bed. Please do not go to bed with him and pat or sing for him. Let him be on his own and let him try to go to sleep.
In the beginning he will resist, he may cry or run out of bed but do not give up. Just hold his hand and put him back to bed, and get out of the room. Repeat this everytime he comes out or cries. Slowly increase the duration at which you go to console him. He will learn to sleep on his own within a fortnight.
Hope it helps.
have you tried to either transfer him to another bed or you moving to another bed after he is asleep.
it is possible that he needs someone to be by his side when he goes to bed. in that case you just have to sit beside him when he tries to sleep. you don't have to be on the bed with him. your presence may give him the comfort he needs.
Most kids are afraid of dark. So when you try putting your son on bed in a dark room and try leaving him, he will of course not be willing.