When he was still in diapers but old enough to sleep in a normal bed we had a child lock on his door to keep him out of trouble. We took off the safety knob soon after he started using the potty (that was over a year ago). It didn’t happen immediately but slowly and moreso over the last few weeks he’s coming into our room at 10p, 12a, or even 3a. It’s usually stuff like a “monster in the closet”, “I’m out of water”, “I can’t find my stuffed animal”, or “my music box turned off”. Telling him things like “turn on your light and see what’s there”, “monsters don’t exist”, or “the bathroom is open and you can refill your cup” he’ll eventually have the same problem and wake us up again.
Is this just a phase he’ll grow out of or is there a better way to help him solve more of these problems on his own?
I have found that mentoring through these moments helps. So I’ll blearily get up and walk with the kid to the kitchen and make sure they have access to a cup for the water, and coach them through getting some water, and heading back to bed.
Sometimes it’s just an excuse for some time together, but usually it’s a real teachable moment. (A teachable moment which invariably repeats five or more times because their little brains aren’t developed yet.)
For the stuff that is just an excuse to spend time together, I try to ramp up my “time together game of chicken” during our bedtime routine. That is, I try to spend more time at bedtime, but with the goal of both satisfying that need, while also being the least interesting person on the plant (at least during bedtime).