My 3 year old son used to sleep in his bed all night. Somehow he started creeping into bed with us at 2:00 am. Now this occurs every night. We would like to get him back in his room. Do you have any suggestions?

—Sleepless in the morning.

Sleepless,

Start by showing respect and taking your son’s needs and concerns seriously. Have a friendly chat about the situation and find out what is going on for him. If you're lucky he might be able to tell you what he needs, in which case supply it. Remember that he might simply be transitioning from toddler hood to childhood and this developmental change could be manifesting by his wanting to be closer to you at night. Think back to when he started creeping in, was there a significant event? Was he sick? What changed in his life to initiate his wanting/needing to be closer to you? Get to the bottom of the issue and address it. Tell him how you feel about it and ask for his help in finding a solution.

Make sure to schedule special time during the day so that he feels significance and belonging and is getting his attention needs met. Set up a sleeping bag on the floor next to your bed so that he can climb into that to be close to you. Have a camp out in his room and you sleep in a sleeping bag on his floor from time to time. Be sure to keep discussing it with him, both his and your concerns and needs and more than likely he’ll phase out of this in no time.