FROM: molfox
CATEGORY: Sleep
SUBJECT: transition to a new room
Need some help, we are expecting a baby in 5 months and have moved our 3 year old to a new room, as the nursery will be for the baby. He has the same bed and bedding, yet his room is not attached to ours anymore it is on the 1st level and is much larger.
It has been 4 nights and it is a fight and cry out every night…we have trouble getting him to go to sleep and then he is up anywhere from 3am-5am at our bedside refusing to go back to his room. We have tried a few things with no success, any good ideas? We are all very tired, including my 3 year old…I feel like I have a newborn again, already!
Hi Molfox,
Do not despair, it is exactly what your heading into, the transition into the new room. Just because you mentally have made up your mind that this is where he is going to sleep, it doesn't mean he is going to settle in the same amount of time.
Remember there are two things in play here, not only has he moved to a new, larger room not attached to the security of his parent's room, he's also on a different level of the house! And, so, one has to have realistic expectations of how long this will take — and four nights is unrealistic!
The good thing is, you have done this five months away from having the baby, which is fabulous. Here are a few tips for you:
Put some toys in his bedroom and spend time with him there playing during the day
Invite a play friend around and let him show off his new bedroom to his play date
Give him at least 3-4 weeks to get comfortable with filling in the "boots" of this bigger space.
Do the sleep separation technique with him.
Optional: Put a baby monitor in his room and tell him this is where mommy can hear him and that she's not that far away.
Night, night! 🙂
xJo
