Sleeping on the Floor

My daughter is 2 1/2 and started not sleeping through the night about 6 months ago.  In February I had her adenoids removed and after a few months she began sleeping again as normal.  Now she is back to waking at least once a night.  She prefers to sleep on the floor than her toddler bed.  She tosses and turns all over the place.  I believe that the bed is too confining and may need a bigger bed, hence the floor is preferred because she has more room to move but it can’t be healthy for her.  What type of bed would you recommend I upgrade her to even at such a young age.

There seems to be two issues presented. This first is waking at night and the second is sleeping on the floor.

There are three common thing that will upset children’s good sleep habits - travel, visitors and illness. I definitely believe that her illness and eventual adenoid surgery disturbed her previous good sleeping habits. At 2 years old she should be sleep through the night. The recurrent wakings caused by her illness may have led to a habit of nighttime wakings. Does she fall asleep on her own? When she wakes up does she settle herself back down? You may have to let her cry it out to get her back to good sleeping habits.

The second issue is her sleeping on the floor. The sleeping on the floor is not harming her. She probably just prefers to sleep on the floor. At bedtime, read stories, say prayers and kiss her goodnight in her bed. If she chooses to move to the floor allow her. After she falls asleep pick her up and return her to her bed. My oldest son (who at two did not like to go to bed) developed a habit of falling asleep on the floor in front of his door. After 1 to 2 months of moving him, he eventually choose to sleep in his bed.

I do not recommend a specific bed. Our 2 year olds sleep in a simple twin bed with a safety side rail.

Written June 2011 by
Dr. Gordon, Orlando Pediatrician