We regularly hear parents complaining about their puppy still sleeping with them after a year. This is a usual challenge for most parents, although with some easy steps at the beginning you can make sure your French Bulldog sleeps alone. Read our step by step guide and your Frenchie will be happy to go to bed on their own.
Start on the first day you have your Frenchie
It’s normal that on their first days after leaving the farm, they will miss their mates, and cry. They need some time to get used to the new place and their new family and it’s natural for them to want to cuddle in your bed.
Let them do it once and you’ll have a very hard time to get them out of your bed. The main thing is to be consistent from the beginning. To make it attractive for your Frenchie, follow the below steps.
- Prepare a very comfy, fluffy pup bed for them that they will like from the first moment. It should be a cuddly, soft place, positioned a bit higher than the floor.
- You can place here a piece of your clothes. Puppies have a very strong sense of smell, and it helps them feel you close.
- There are special soft toys that you can buy at puppy stores that some French Bulldogs like to sleep with.
If your family decided not to let the puppy sleep in your bed, this should be agreed upon and reinforced by all the family members.
What to do if your Frenchie doesn’t stop crying, or doesn’t want to stay in his or her bed?
Frenchies sleep easier if they are tired. Make sure your French bulldog spends time outside and has enough activities. If you challenge them and schedule training and play before you want them to go to bed, they will be eager to have some sleep.
Be consistent with using the same commands sending him or her back to their place: “Go to bed.” and show it with your gestures. Remember, that the tone of your voice matters more than what you say. Repeat it until they do it, and don’t let them end up in your bed.
If they cry, make sure there’s no other reason for it than maybe missing their brothers and sisters. Use a command, like “stop crying” and repeat it until he or she stops it.
Start feeding them or take them to your bed, and they will learn that a little cry can go a long way, and they will keep doing it every day.
If you can’t find any other reasons, and your Frenchie still doesn’t want to stay in the puppy bed, you might experiment with a different type of bed: a cushion, or a bigger crate. Read our article about how you can crate train your Frenchie.
It only takes a couple of days, a lot of patience and persistence from you, and your French Bulldog will happily sleep in their bed.
Read here our general tips to follow for successful Frenchie training.
You can also visit our webshop to find some great dog beds from Chewy that we recommend for your fur baby!
The article was written based on the experience of the TomKings Puppies Team. TomKings Puppies have been breeding French Bulldogs for 10 years on their farm. All the pictures in the post belong to them and show a puppy from their breed. Check their available puppies here, or if you have any questions or comments let us know below the article.
15 thoughts on “How to train your Frenchie to sleep in their bed”
When Mitch arrived he slept in his bed since the beginning and no cry at all, I actually wanted for him to cuddle into my bed and he will just won’t stop still,, so I guess he didn’t like it..
Thanks for sharing this. Every puppy has their own way:)
Each pup has his or her own character, and this is how we love them each:)
What if I love sleeping with my Frenchie?? How bad is that for them?
Hi Dave, that’s absolutely fine, if it’s good for both you and your puppy. Every parent liked it differently, the article helps those who want their Frenchie out of their bed and struggle with that.
Where can I get that bed for my frenchie?
Thank you for your question! 🙂
We bought it 4 years ago on eBay.
Do you know the type of bed this is please. I can’t find one as nice.
Thanks.
We’ve asked TomKings Family Members where do they get accessories from for their furbabies:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2149832885108427/permalink/3597052513719783
I hope this helps 🙂
Avoid getting him excited by having a riotous play session just before leaving him in his bed. Save this session for another time: now it’s best for your puppy to relax as the pace of activities around him slows down and everyone in the house is getting ready for bed.
Hi Ryenne, thank you for the good words! 🙂
A relaxed, balanced and happy Frenchie is the best kind of a Frenchie 🙂
Our Frenchie is almost 8 months old and up until the past few weeks, she has slept in her crate in our room. We started “snuggie time” with her a couple months ago where we would allow her to get on our bed and fall asleep. We’d put her in her crate and she’d sleep all night. NOW she has decided she’d rather sleep in our bed all night and if we pick her up and put her in her crate within two hours max she is crying and whining to get out and get back on the bed. She won’t just cry herself to sleep either – she is persistent until we give in and put her on the bed. We really don’t want her on the bed because she snores so loudly neither my husband or I sleep well (or at all). The only alternative is to put her in her crate in the kitchen which we really don’t want to do only in case she might actually need to go out. Our current situation is just not ideal for anyone and we are exhausted! Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!
Hi Lisa,
We always tell our Frenchie Parents not to put their Frenchies in their beds if they don’t want them to sleep there. After that it’s very difficult to have them sleep in their crate again. They always want to be close to you so they get used to being in your bed very easily. I would suggest to stop snuggie time in your bed, instead do a day time nap on the couch or something like that to make her understand that your bed is a no-go. It won’t be easy now but you need to get her used to sleeping in her crate again. Also, if you put her back into your bed after she is crying, she only learns that if she cries then she achieves what she wants. You can put her crate into another room if you cant’t sleep other way and put her crate back when she is used to sleeping in it again.:)
I hope it helps. 🙂
Hi!! I have a brand new Frenchie puppy and he has slept in my bed the past few nights- but I think I want him in his bed as he gets older. Is it too late? I have only owned him for 4 days. How do I let him sleep in his bed if he isn’t potty trained? What if he bites a wire or something? I want to know he is safe in my room without getting into anything! Should I lock the crate from now on- he does love his crate and rests in it during the day but the one time I tried to close it he freaked.
Hi Paige,
Safety is the number one priority when it comes to puppies, so we definitely recommend putting him in a play pen for the night. Set up the play pen in a completely safe area and ensure he can’t escape from it.
A play pen is also a good choice for pups that are not potty-trained yet since you can put a few pee pads in.
I hope our tips will be able to help you with your pup! 🙂