How to keep a toddler from getting out of their bed at night

My two kids are complete opposites.  My daughter enjoyed sleeping by herself when she was a toddler and never tried to get out of her bed.  My son, on the other hand, loved to play the "get out of bed" game.

When he was small, we put him in his crib, said goodnight to him and went out to the living room.  Within a few minutes, we were surprised to see him come running in to see us with a big smile on his face.  

We took him back to his room, placed him back in his crib and asked him to show us how he got out. He happily showed us how he climbed up the side of the crib, threw both legs over and dropped down to the ground.  We were laughing at how this small child could climb those tall rails but our smiles soon turned to tears as this started a time of him getting out of bed every night.

We tried everything that we could think of to get him to stay in his room, and we read almost everything we could find online about how to keep a toddler from getting out of his bed.  It took a while, but with a little patience, here is what finally worked for us.

We continued with his normal, calming bedtime routine (pajamas, brushing teeth, reading a quiet story, singing a soft song) to prepare him for sleep.  Before he went to bed, we tried to eliminate any reasons for him to get up.  Getting him a glass of water.  Making sure he went to the restroom.

• The first time he would get up, we would take him back to bed, give him a hug and a kiss and remind him that it was time to go to bed.
• The second time he got up, we were a little more firm and made the hug and kiss brief.
• For any additional times, we would not say anything and just lead him back to bed.  We would leave the room without a hug and kiss (which was hard for us).

It was a very frustrating time for us.  We gave up some nights and laid down with him until he slept (which only made it worse for us in the long run).  We lost our anger other nights and yelled at him (which again only made it worse).  But eventually, we were consistent and he realized that we were serious and that he would not get any additional attention from us by getting up.

So, if you are having a hard time keeping your toddler in bed, try to stay consistent.  I know how hard it is but it is worth it in the end.