re: Any Tips for a 4 year old who won't sleep in his own bed?

Cut the head of his twin off and mount it on a bedpost. Tell him if he doesn't sleep, the same thing will happen to him.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have a defective product there. You're probably best off returning it. Fortunately, God saw fit to give you a spare. Good luck

We've had a similar issue w/ our 4 yr old. You're not alone. Gummy melatonin 15 mins before bed and then read a book until lights out. Helps to lay in there until he falls asleep. Maybe leave a few lights (closet, bathroom) to keep him happy and not spooked if in fact it's the dark/monsters he's afraid of. If he gets up one of your has to play goalie and block him at the foot of the bed and walk his arse back to his room. Maybe you have to spend the rest of the night in there with him but under no circumstances can he be allowed in your biscuit. It'll take time but before long he'll snap out of it and this will all be a distant memory.

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Definitely do this. Picked them up from daycare yesterday, got a milkshake only for the good one.

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Damn, I was mostly kidding. That's rough on the poor guy.

5 year olds are pretty good at communicating, even if without any logic. Have you asked him what the problem is?

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MSMHater

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I mean, billions of kids learn to sleep in their own bed, and other behaviors, through other means.

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Wait. Did I say something that contradicts this? Pretty sure I didn't. So did you change the subject or did I?

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But if that's the only method that works for you, or at least the only one you know how to implement, on your 4 year old, I guess do what comes naturally.

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If you think reason and logic will work more quickly than negative reinforcement on a child with a total cognitive development outside of the womb of approximately 48 months for an issue this trivial and easily correctable via negative reinforcement and you'd like to invest the time and effort-which is exponentially greater than negative reinforcement-that it would take to "timeout" this child's way to better behavior, then get at it.

To use an analogy, I could listen to you explain to me what the clouds looked like on a lazy southern afternoon as the sun sets. I'm sure that you're fairly eloquent and well-spoken.

Or...I could walk out of the front door of my house and see it for myself. Either does the trick.

Me personally, when it comes to behavioral modification in a child whose clearly-and I'd love to hear you argue it-not intellectually capable of the application of reason and logic to modify negative behavior, I'm gonna go for pragmatic solutions that are proven effective based on experiential historical data I can personally remember myself, other siblings, family and friends undergoing without any weepy years of my adulthood spent in therapy addressing the deleterious effects of.

But hey...do whatever you think will make your wittle bitty baby sh!t rainbows into his Pull-Ups, Super Nanny Jo. Me personally I feel like there will be plenty of time to teach children right from wrong using other tools. But at that age, for that behavior, the time investment necessary to accomplish what you might advocate versus negatively reinforcing through spanking-or as I call it, beating a kid's arse-is just ridiculous.

But don't let me stop you pumpkin. You go right ahead with your deep conversations with a 4 year old and creating safety spaces and reward toys. If that's what comes naturally to you, good luck and have a great day

Your child is currently insecure and frightened.

Frick, let him sleep with you, if you punish him and force him to sleep where he is afraid, his fear will just be manifested by a different, maybe worse method.

He will change back to sleeping alone in a while, be patient, especially with the influence of a twin that sleeps by himself.

He's in a new environment and he's 4. give him some time to adjust. Meantime, make a pallet on the floor next to the bed and let him know that's his spot when he comes to your room to sleep until he gets use to it or tell him to go to his twin's room to sleep.

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5 year olds are pretty good at communicating, even if without any logic. Have you asked him what the problem is?

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He says he's scared, but not much else.

Let him know he has his bed and you have your bed. You don't sleep in his and he don't sleep in yours. Everyone had to go to sleep to be ready for play or work the next day. If he gets out of bed the first time bring him back to his bed and let him know I he leaves his room again to come get in your bed he's going to get a spanking. When he gets up spank him put him back in. After a week of this he will get tired of soanked every night. The first time he sleep in his bed all night with no trouble then celebrate and give him high gives positive encouragement. He will enjoy that more than whippings and you'll break him. If this doesn't work after two weeks of doing this then you let your wife handle. I'd give her a stern talk as well. She's making things harder