Sleeping in the litter box

Question from my sister--- Anyone have ideas on how to encourage a kitten not to sleep in her litterbox? She is being "crated" at night (big dog crate) until she is old enough to be safe alone at night loose in the house, and she has a really nice soft fleece-covered crate pad but she chooses to sleep inside her litterbox instead! I suggested getting a nice bed so she got the crate pad but this morning she found the kitten sleeping in the litterbox again...

most kittens do this for a while especially when they are kept in a smal envirnment. best way to discourage the behavior is to take her out of it put her in her bed and praise her or give her a little catnip/treat. but really that's only if taking her out of the closed envirnment isn't an option. best thing is to get her into the open house. one room at a time and put litter boxes upstairs and downstairs if she is still small. that will keep her from having accidents. the more she is used to her boundries this young the better she will be later. they learn quick as youngsters.

They live in an apartment so it's just one floor... They let her loose whenever they are around to keep an eye on her, but at night after they go to bed and if they are leaving they put her in the crate for safety... So far she will not go into the bedroom or the kitchen even though they didn't block it off or anything! Not sure why...but at least that makes it easier to keep an eye on her.

how about some catnip and toys in the bed area and maybe a covered litterbox?