It started about a week ago. The littlest Trion (she’s 5) asked if she could sleep in her closet. The Mrs. and I said “sure”. We put down some blankets and made a comfortable area on the floor. We figured that she would lie there for a bit, then get up and get into bed.
Nope. She slept there all night. And she’s been sleeping there every night since (aside from the weekend when we were at a relative’s house).
We’re not actually concerned and are not inclined to make a big deal out of it. She not in any danger or anything. But it’s one of those parenting moment where you go “Huh.”
When I was about seven, I pulled my bed about two feet out from the wall, lay down in the gap between the wall and the bed, and pulled my mattress over myself, creating a tiny little space to sleep in. I slept this way for about a month or two, then erratically on the bed or in the gap for another year. Never really been sure why I did it, either.
She will eventually grow out of it. Kids love to have there own small spaces to call their own. i used to make plenty of pillow forts when I was a kid and sleep in them. I also remember sleeping in a power rangers tent for a bit too in my room.
I’d agree with **marochko **that your daughter is probabaly looking for a space to make her own, but if there’s a way to gently ask if there’s a monster under the bed, you might.
I don’t think she thinks there’s a monster under her bed. She knows that under her bed is packed with toys.
As far as scaring her with the monster in her closet is concerned, I doubt it would work. She’s only seen Monsters Inc. about seven thousand times. She’d probably go looking for Sully.
The idea that she likes a small space to sleep in sounds about right. She has had anxiety about sleeping alone in the past, but lately she’s wanted to be a big girl and sleep by herself. This is probably some kind of transitional phase.
I remember as a kid liking the feeling of being in a tightly enclosed space. It was what made me want to build forts out of cushions. And thinking about it, I’d probably have wanted to sleep in the closet if its ceiling was low enough.
You know, this would be the perfect time to perhaps get her some sort of superstructure for the bed to turn it into a fort/castle/spaceship/confined space … get her to design it…
I always wanted to have a cave room - my mom had this book of decorating from the wierd late 60s early 70s and some guy took chicken wire and plaster, and made a room look just like a cave with stalactites, stalagmites and niches for stuff. Very reminiscent of something the Madonna Inn would have.
This advice makes a lot of sense. I wish I knew where to look, but I remember reading about an experiment that designers did with small children. They wanted them to describe/design their favourite bedroom setup, and all of them wanted rooms with a small, covered, secure sleeping nest of sorts. Not one of them opted for a traditional bed in a bedroom.
I still sleep with blankets over my head, and that still helps me fall asleep easily. Yeah, and I’m over 60.
Google “bed tent” and you will see many examples. My kids had one when they were small and they loved it. It fit on a twin sized bed, but I saw some for double beds too.
I was forced to watch some show about that a few times. Pimp my Kid Pad or something like that. A couple of girls would design a bedroom for a couple of boys, and the boys would do the same for the girls. They came up with some wild stuff.
I’ve slept on all kinds of beds, futons, rollaways, pretty much anything designed for sleeping. Know what my favorite, most comfortable place to sleep? Nestled down along the back of a couch, like a pocketful of old coins. Wedged into that angle, with the arm of the couch providing support for my pillow, is the most secure and comfortable way I know of to get a good night sleep. Maybe your daughter’s closet is answering a similar impulse.
Also makes me think of Temple Grandin’s hugging machine.
I remember being probably 6, and seeing a picture in a book of a bed that was in a small cupboard in the wall. The mattress was right on the floor of the cupboard, and there wasn’t much space above the mattress. I wanted a bed like that. Eventually I grew out of wanting a bed like that, though.
I wanted a kitten, too, at that age. But that I didn’t grow out of. Now I have two cats.
I had a weird closet when I was a kid. My room was very tiny and up in between the A-frame of a 2nd story bungalow, no dormers, so no windows. Really, my closet was more of a tiny cubby space, with a curtain. It would’ve made an awesome place to sleep if it wasn’t so jammed with all my Transformers, GI Joes, Star Wars and drawing stuff.
If the time comes where you need to encourage her to go back to sleep in her bed, try telling her she’ll stop growing in the closet. It’s the bed that makes you grow. Well, that and your veggies…
