Note: This post is sponsored by Brentwood Home.
Once upon a time my 3 year old was a baby and he had an adorable DIY black and white nursery. Little sister was born and we tried our best to have a shared nursery with 2 adorable red cribs. That didn’t work out so well. We gave our kids their own rooms, upgraded Maxwell’s mattress, and accidentally solved a big problem we had been dealing with: toddler sleep regression and getting Maxwell to stay in his own bed. I’m sharing 5 tips for toddler sleep regression along with pictures of Maxwell’s big boy room.
Why we gave our kids their own rooms
The short answer is we had the extra bedroom. So why not try.
The long answer is, we used to airbnb half of our house, specifically a bedroom, bathroom, and living room. We made a decent chuck of change doing this and we figured if we could keep the kids in one bedroom, why not continue making extra, easy money? To be honest, the kids sharing a one bedroom really never worked for us. What really went down was Mila slept in a pac n play in the living room and Maxwell was (kind of) sleeping in his toddler bed in their shared bedroom. He was making his way to our bed every single night sometimes as early as midnight.
We had to try something new
I mention the airbnb part because that’s how Maxwell ended up with the best mattress in the house! Seriously, it’s everyone’s favorite. It’s a queen size Oceano mattress from Brentwood Home. The Oceano Mattress is a hybrid bed that combines the best parts of a traditional spring mattress and the pressure relieving properties of modern gel memory foam.
We had a king sized mattress in our airbnb room, but the thought of giving a 3 year old a king sized bed seemed silly. We also wanted him to have ample floor space since his room doubles as the play room. Not to mention the king sized mattress was a 20+ year old hand me down.
5 Tips for Toddler Sleep Regression
I am no sleep therapist, but I can 100% say that these 5 things worked wonders for getting my then 3 year old son to bed and keeping him in his bed all night.
1. Bigger bed
When we moved Max from his toddler bed to the queen sized mattress it magically changed things. I did not expect this to happen. We only did this because we were giving our kids their own rooms and did not want to give our son a king sized mattress. I don’t know if his crib mattress was just uncomfortable or his toddler bed was too small. But, if you’re having toddler sleep issues, and your child is in a toddler bed, I would consider getting a bigger bed. Seriously, the very first night on his new Brentwood Home mattress he did not come to our room until 6am! Win- win!
2. Night light
This was also a game changer for Maxwell and getting him to sleep easier and faster and ensuring he stays in his own bed. Turning on the nightlight is now a part of the bedtime routine and turning off the nightlight is a sweet morning ritual he does withe Mila. Each morning, he asks Mila if she wants to turn off the nightlight. Mila always seems proud to walk into Maxwell’s room and flip the nightlight switch off.
3. Keeping routine
We have a very systematic bedtime routine even down to what happens after the parent leaves the bedroom. Maxwell likes to know that one of us in the kitchen doing dishes. By no means am I saying that you have to go do dishes, but be clear and let your child know what you will be doing. Maybe it’s watching tv or taking a shower, whatever it is, tell your child and do it consistently. It’s comforting to him that he knows exactly where we are and what we are doing. He tells me he even likes to hear us doing the dishes.
4. Leave the door open
This goes back to #3, he likes to be able to hear us doing the dishes in the kitchen and knows we are near. Plus it lets in a little extra light.
5. Sit outside their door
I did not have to resort to this method, but I like that I have it in my back pocket if I need for my daughter down the road. Becky from Your Modern Family goes into detail about exactly what to do to ensure that your child stays in their bed after tucking them in to bed.
I hope these 5 tips help your family battle the toddler sleep regressions and let everyone get a few more zzzz’s! 
The new mattress is the big change, but you will also notice we have the mattress turned funny. We did this to give Max the most possible floor space. We also moved Graham the glider to Mila’s new room and brought this yellow desk home from my parent’s house. Mila also got the large while dresser and we moved a few things around to give Max the smaller wooden dresser. The super fun, colorful window treatments are from Worldy Home.
Also, here are links to the DIY projects in Maxwell’s room:
- DIY ledge bookshelves
- IKEA Expedit hack – Shelves turned benches
I’d love to hear your tips and trucks for getting your child to sleep in their bed.
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