well I would like to thank everyone here for there suggestions, I got home after my ante-natal appointment today to put Damian in his bed but forgot to remove the things from his dresser he could reach from the bed and kept hearing plates clanking together to go and investigate to find he had found my only 2 display plates which were still in original boxes, the boxes ripped apart and the plates on his bed beside him. 2 minutes late I hear a crash followed by a scream, he had pulled down his cd player speakers onto his head. Hopefully that will teach him not to play with things on his dresser lol.

We have just put our baby into a bed - she is 21 months. Each time she gets up we put her back and tell her that it's time to go to sleep.  We have been doing this for 2 weeks and even though it is annoying she now falls to sleep in her bed and stays there until about 4 in the morning when she wakes- probably because she is cold and comes in So a big improvement from when we started. The key is to be repetitive. Something else that also helps is to have the same bedtime routine each night. We have dinner- Tv- Bath- Story and then bed. They know when it's time to sleep.

Probably best to leave the door open he will probably get out at first but he will get used to the idea you may have to be patient for a few days. If you lie with him this may end up becoming a habit but if he is a kid that goes to sleep quickly you may only have to lie with him for a few minuites just avoid getting into a conversation or he probably won't go to sleep. Just say mummy"s going to sleep now too then you can get up when he falls asleep.

Hi, i have the same problem with my 2 year old. Try making the room abit darker at nap time. Like making sure the curtains are closed, lights off. So he associates a darker room with nap time. close the door 3/4 of the way. I wouldn't close the door all the way for safety reasons. If he needs help you need to be able to hear him at all times. good luck....

This is a recent transition, correct? Kids take a while to adapt to change, so be prepared and be armed with patience.

The importance of bedtime routine is going to be important and because your little one is now going to sleep on a bed, your routine will differ a little bit with most things staying the same. Perhaps a bedtime story is in order  to allow him time to wind down for the day and possibly get him drowsy.

Also, it may be a good idea to get to him to run around during the day and do a lot of physical play to make sure he burns off a lot of energy. Though I must say whether this will work depends on your child. You may either have an extra tired child at the end of the day that is ready for bedtime, or you may have an extra tired AND cranky child to doesn't want to go to sleep.

My son is almost 4 (he didn't warm up to his own bedroom until he was 3) and his door remains cracked. He has night light in his bedroom and he also has music playing. I started all my 3 kids with music at bedtime so they sleep with it on.

hi i have just put my lil man in a bed aswell!!

i was goin 2 do it ages ago but i've bin waitin on a bed my step father is makein (still not done grrrr its been almost a year) anyway i got sick of waitin and now my lil man is on a mattress on his floor

the first day that i tried him on the mattress didnt go well.... i put him in bed and tucked him in for his lunch time sleep and read him a couple of books then told him that he was such a big boy in a big bed and i went 2 leave and he cracked it

this went on for almost 3 hours that i'd read to him and as soon as i got up he'd spitt it... i kept goin back into his room after like 20mins or so to comfort him and eventually i had enough and decided that he'd get tired soon and i left him

eventually he went to sleep half off the mattress then when he woke up i tol dhim how good he was sleepin like a big boy and then  the next time i tried him on the mattress he was good as gold just accepted it!

and another time is that my son doesnt have ANY toys in his room as that room is only for sleepin in... he has books so he can read if hes not quite ready to sleep but no toys because he get distracted and keeps playin

anyway good luck with it

xoxo jade

Hi there,

I remember going thru this phase with a few of my kids.. I think in the end i got one of those rails that go across the door that they couldnt climb over and left the door open so they could hear me and vice versa.. To begin with i think they went to sleep mainly on the floor beside the bed LOL, and I picked them up again and tucked them in neatly once they are asleep.. Eventually got the idea of it and found them in their bed one day instead.. no sweat.. I think just trying to think of ways of keeping him in the room until he goes to sleep is the idea without spending hours trying to settle him, perhaps a routine nighttime book and then a kiss goodnight and tuck in as we call it. Kids just love routines and if they know you are going to read to him then leave , remind him you are just in the lounge or in the other room, might make it less stressful for him. Night lights are also a great hit if they are worried about the dark. the book and tuck in is going to take alot less time, remind him what a grown up boy he is to have his own bed etc..It wont always work the first time, but you will find if you do the same thing every night, he will learn to love his story time and tuck in into his own 'big bed'

Wishing you all the best of luck with it

Cheers from Mel xx