I told my son that if he comes out of the room, I'm going to have to lock the door shut. The first night he came out right away as usual. I took him back in the room and locked the door with a little latch I installed on the outside. He went crazy - knocking on the door, screaming & crying. I let him carry on for about 2 minutes and then I opened the door and told him that I'll leave the door opened all night as long as he stays in bed. He went to bed and never tried to come out again after that! Of course, the first few nights, he was a bit anxious, "Don't lock the door Mommy, O.K.?" and all that stuff, but that only lasted a few nights. He's fine now and just stays in his bed all night - I love it!

My toddler likes to stay near me when she falls asleep but she takes about an hour to fall asleep and I don't have the time to sit with her for an hour. So I told her she can stay on the sofa in the living room near the kitchen when I'm cleaning up at night as long as she falls asleep within a few minutes. If she's still up, then she has to go to her bedroom by herself and fall asleep. It may sound strange, but she's learned to close her eyes and drop off to sleep within about 10 minutes. Later on, I carry her to her bed.

I tried some advice that a friend used: every time my toddler got out of bed, I would take him by the hand and put him back in bed (without saying very much). The first night I had to take him back about 10 times! The next night was a bit better. By the third night he seemed to get the point (it was getting boring I guess). And that was it. Now he stays in bed.

Wow! I wish my kid did that. He just laughs at me or shrieks and runs around the house like a madman. He's definitely not the docile type. The only way that I can get him to stay in his room is to get really mad at him and scream at him. I know this isn't the right thing to do but he doesn't care about anything else. If someone has a good suggestion for a wild little guy, I'd like to hear it!