Answer
In this counseling answer:
•Regarding your second question, your son is of pre-school age and there is a lot of educational material that suits his age.
•Try to get toys that interest his mental abilities and stimulate his urge to learn. This way, he will use the toys to build objects that are more complex when he feels he has reached a satisfaction threshold.
•Hide all the toys except a few and then rotate them weekly. Sometimes, you may take away all his toys for a couple of days if he misbehaves, this may renew his desire to play with his toys.
Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
All praise is due to Allah Most High and peace and blessings on His Messenger Muhammad, his family, and Companions.
As for your first question, I would say that it is quite normal for your son to request your presence beside him through the night. Having last seen you in his room, he assumes you will be there through the night. This, of course, is what we need to change.
Your son has to grow more independent as he grows up, and to train him to sleep with a degree of independence is achieving just that.
First, you should not spend all the time before he falls asleep in his room with him. You should put him in his bed and read a story to him, some Qur’an (get him to practice some as well) then leave him to sleep. You need to leave when he has not yet fallen asleep and if he asked you where you are going, tell him that you have other business to do such as some housework, study, whatever.
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He must be trained to sleep early and wake up early, say, maximum 8:00 p.m. This will help him manage his time and energy from a very early age and give his parents time for themselves.
If he wakes up in the night with a bad dream, then embrace him and put him back in his bed again, reassuring him that it won’t happen again. Give him a reason such as we did not read enough Qur’an tonight at bedtime.
This training may be a bit hard for you as well. He will cry (at the beginning) when you leave him, so let him cry a bit, but explain to him that he is a big boy now and he must sleep alone. You can also get him to take some cuddly toys to bed.
Regarding your second question, your son is of pre-school age and there is a lot of educational material that suits his age.
Try to get toys that interest his mental abilities and stimulate his urge to learn. This way, he will use the toys to build objects that are more complex when he feels he has reached a satisfaction threshold.
He may be too intelligent for the toys labeled for his age. Your son may have too many toys, so he gets bored quickly. In this case, hide all the toys except a few and then rotate them weekly. Sometimes, you may take away all his toys for a couple of days if he misbehaves, this may renew his desire to play with his toys.
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