2 year old awake for hours at night??

[xQuinnx]

I'm really hoping I'm not alone with this!

My little girl turned 2 less then a month ago and on and off for the last year she's awake at night for hours at a time. She doesn't cry, she's not upset in fact she's very happy talking to herself, or making noises, grunting, laughing to herself but she's so noisy she's keeping everyone else awake! Sometimes she shouts for me or her dad but in a playful way it doesn't sound like she's upset.
We've tried ignoring her, makes no difference, we've tries settling her but still makes no difference.
Her bedtime routine seems ok, story, teeth, cuddles and then down to sleep. She usually goes to sleep fine on her own it's just the waking in the night that's becoming an issue. She usually naps for between 1 and a half to two hours in the middle of the day.

Anyone else experienced this? Is there anything I can try or is it a case of riding it out? :-/

 

[xQuinnx]

Bump

 

[BunnyN]

DD went through a phase that she would be awake for hours if she woke up in the night. It happened more if she wasn't feeling well or something but happend frequently anyway. Eventually she grew out of it.

Maybe try cutting down on her nap? We stopped DDs nap at about 2.5 because she slept better without it. Before that she struggled without a day time nap but 2hrs was too much. We gradually cut it down until it was only about 30mins.

 

[broodymrs]

My little boy has been like this for ages, he's three now. It maybe started around 18 months/2 years but he's never been the best sleeper. I do find now though, often when he wakes up he's awake for hours. He won't entertain himself though, he shouts for us, cries, wants various things bringing. As horrendous as it sounds he does sleep through most of the time now, and if he does wake up he's not always awake for hours. It was definitely worse a few months ago. TBH I think it's just time and perseverance. I just try to stay calm, no eye contact, no talking. He has an incentive system for good sleep too. That's on my good days. There have been occasions where everything has gone out the window, and I've been tempted to throw him out too 😉 Those are the nights he's been in our bed, had extra stories, even the iPad one night 😱

We've got another baby due in March and I'm dreading the sleep situation then TBH

Good luck to you!

 

[Boo44]

I would cut down on her nap for sure

 

[xQuinnx]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Will give it a go, glad I'm not the only one.

Broodymrs - I know that 'out the window' feeling very well! ��

 

[MindUtopia]

There is often a lot of sleep disruption around 2 because it's a big developmental leap. We definitely had it around that time, but it was more a matter of struggling to fall asleep at bedtime and waking frequently, not necessarily for long stretches, but hourly, etc. It might be one of those things that just goes away when everything settles down and her brain isn't so active during the night.

You might consider cutting down on her nap and seeing if it helps, maybe not cutting it altogether, but shortening it (waking her up after 45 minutes to an hour). Definitely by about 2 years 3 months, sleep was a challenge again and it was obvious it had to do with the nap. Mine only napped an hour at most at that age. We cut the nap completely by 2 years and 4 months and her sleep was great again.

 

[BunnyN]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Will give it a go, glad I'm not the only one.

Broodymrs - I know that 'out the window' feeling very well! ��

Yeh, a lot of things go out the window at 4am, lol.

 

[xQuinnx]

Cut her nap down yesterday, thought about doing it gradually so from 2 hours to an hour and half, maybe bit less yesterday and she slept through until 5:30! And even then could be coaxed back to sleep for another hour. She was a bit of a nightmare towards the end of the evening/bedtime though but that might have been us missing the signs that she was tired

 

[gingmg]

My almost two year old does this too, not all the time, but a handful of times a month at least. Sometimes he goes back to sleep really quickly while other times he's up for hours. Hes been like this for as long as I can remember. The difference now is I'm not up rocking and nursing him for hours. Now he lies there quietly and eventually falls back to sleep (we cosleep so I'm always aware that he's up even if he's quiet).

 

[broodymrs]

Cut her nap down yesterday, thought about doing it gradually so from 2 hours to an hour and half, maybe bit less yesterday and she slept through until 5:30! And even then could be coaxed back to sleep for another hour. She was a bit of a nightmare towards the end of the evening/bedtime though but that might have been us missing the signs that she was tired

Yay! We've just dropped the nap too and you do find early evenings they are really grouchy until they readjust. He still probably has a nap once a week to tide him over so you may find this happens

 

[BunnyN]

Glad its working! I found cutting down on the nap made DD a bit of a nightmare by the end of the day but it was worth it because she slept better. After a few days she got used to it and it wasn't too bad.

 

[Wilsey]

My daughter went through this, around the same age, and it was just a phase, probably linked to development. Hopefully it's just a phase for you too

 

[harveygirl]

Sorry I have no real advice but my dd who is now over 5 and a half, was exactly like this. Can't remember what age she started at, but just as you describe. She would wake for hours in the middle of the night happily chatting to herself! It was like her mind was so active it wouldn't shut down. Very infuriating when you can't sleep as you are aware she is awake. She improved herself over time but there wasn't any one thing that we did that had a magic solution.

 

[xQuinnx]

Shorter naps still seem to be working although there gas been the odd bad night where she's been really excitable...like she's woken up from an epic dream of something lol!
She napped for over 3 hours today (thanks to my husband) but was still knackered at bedtime so will see what tonight brings...