When It's Time: How to Make Your Child Move to A New Room

The moment your child was born, you sleep together. You sleep with him or her because you love to be close to your kid. You love to lock up the child in your arms and caress him or her until the morning light. All you want is to feel that your child is safe while hoping that he or she will have a good night sleep.

Some parents grimly despise parents who want to move out their child from the bed and transfer to another room. Taking a step to help your child gain “Sleep Confidence” should not become a misconception. If you are considering this step to be a problem that will upset your child, you should not stress out. There are a lot of advantages in considering this stage.

Your children’s transition to owning a bed or a bedroom can build overall confidence without breaking their trust. In fact, there’s a new study that shows that the sooner babies get their personal sleeping space, they tend to sleep longer than average. Through survey analysis of 230 first-time mothers at Penn State, Dr. Ian Paul concluded that the babies sleep for a longer period.

However, no rule commands every parent to move a child out of the family bed. When you think it’s time, make a change as a parent for your child who is ready to undergo the transition. Ideally, how should you start the transition phase?

When it’s time

The transition process needs timing. Start with few changes without drastically telling your child to move out. Letting them understand is vital for the process to succeed. Don’t let your child feel unwantedness.

• Practice sleeping alone

If you still require your child to take naps, it’s time to start practicing in a separate room during daylight hours. At night, you can prepare a separate space like a cushion or a mattress on the floor in the same bedroom where you sleep. Let the child think it is a special bed. In that way, you can give the sense of security while preparing them to sleep independently.

• Give comfort object

Sometimes a child may throw tantrums of not wanting to sleep alone because the world gets scary for him or her. If that’s the case, try to give comfort object like a stuffed toy and encourage them to sleep together with it. It will help the child to make a final move to a new bedroom because he or she is not afraid anymore.

When in the new room

Don’t forget to monitor your child when he or she starts to sleep in the new room. Ask some questions about how he or she feels, or is there something wrong with the place. Simple questions will surely matter to a child. Do it before bedtime, after lights-out, or the next morning. It will let them think you still care. Don’t forget to remind the kid that you are only one call away. 

• Stay and listen

It takes time for children to sleep safely and soundly on their beds. When they wake up at night, it’s only natural. Perhaps, bad dreams and fears continue lingering on their minds. Deal the difficulty through “Stay and listen” to reassure the sense of security despite the jitters.

Another alternative

Jodi Mindell suggested that you may also move your child straight into his or her room. Sleep with your baby for a week or two until he or she conformed to the changes. “Once she's sleeping well in her new space, move out very gradually,” as Mindell stated.

Start from lying down to your child, then sitting beside him or her. And then, sit on the floor until you can move from a floor and walk out from the room.

Takeaway

Children have lots of fears, and they use physical closeness to keep themselves protected. It’s not easy to be one. All they want is to play along and love you dearly. But when you stress out, they will just keep their distance from you because they can't fathom the situation. For them, the world is loud, fleeting and erratic, that’s why they get easily sad and afraid.

In the transition phase, be consistent to let your child know what to expect. There is no silver-bullet way to make your child move to a new room. Don’t rush, slowly but surely as they say. Always remember, “It's best not to make your child deal with more than one change at a time if you can help it.” – BabyCenter Sleep expert Jodi Mindell.

A legal researcher for five years, Philip Sandler is a budding blogger and a freelance writer. He finds glee in engaging with the readership populace through his blogs about health and parenting. During his free time, he checks out for clearance sales and product reviews on Beds Online. As a father of two kids, he loves to take his family to amusement parks and bond with them.