He won't stay in his bed!

One of the parents is getting tired of the lack of privacy. She told me her son will not sleep in his own bed. They have tried everything. Reward systems, anger, their locked bedroom door with a screaming child behind it.

I think we have all been there ... haven’t we?

Even when he still slept in his baby bed, our son would escape and crawl into bed with us. The sides were all the way up, and he would still get out. But he never cried, just quietly climbed out of his crib and into our bed.

Later, when he had a big-boy bed, he was still doing it. We didn’t even notice when he crawled in our bed at night and somehow he would always be between us. (I could never lock that door, except for a few hours of privacy)

One evening, after reading him a book and checking under the bed and behind the curtains for monsters, I requested once more, "Please stay in your own bed. You are a big boy now. Big boys don’t sleep with their mommy and daddy."

His answer, "But it is just not fair. You are both grown ups and YOU sleep together. I am just a little kid and I have to sleep all alone, with nobody to protect me."