Toddler Sleepless nights support thread

[pixielmh]

My 2.3yr old stopped night waking after we took her bottle ( she used to wake for a drink) after 2 weeks she stopped waking, 1 week ago she startef refusing to go bed ( took an hour of back and fourth to room and crying) she then got up several times at night and then up at 4am well for past 3 days its taken 10-20 mins to get bed and no crying and nothing but maybe 1 night wake and up at 6. No idea why she done this, but im thinking she wanted me in bed as she kept opening covers for me lol. She always been an early riser at 5-6am with 10hrs sleep

 

[soozys1902]

Hey Everyone

Well my son is now 3years 4months and still wont sleep.

Both me and my partner have tried near enough EVERYTHING and we still cant get anywhere.

When DS was about 1 year we sort of knew that it wasnt right and he should have been sleeping a good routine. We have been to the doctors numerious times since then due to his behaviour aswel. He's very bouncy all day, can be quite aggressive at times (towards us but not other children or people) he has the worst attention span, we can't take him shopping due to constant tantrums and running away and of course the big one, HE WONT SLEEP. The doctor seems unwilling to help us as he has not started nursery yet. (He is meeting all of mile stones tho)

When we put him to bed at night it usually consists of a book, some back rubbing and a book. He gets a bath in the mornings now as it seems to be 10 times harder settling him at night, plus he hates a bath at night and the tantrum can go on a good while But then it's time for me to go downstairs and he will scream the house down (so much it annoys the neighbours) he will throw stuff etc, so latley ive been staying with him but it still doesn't work, the throwing of stuff seems to work.

I have no idea, me and partner are the two most laid back people and DS is a completely different kettle of fish.

Anyone else going through the same thing?

S

 

[cakeyface]

Hey Everyone

Well my son is now 3years 4months and still wont sleep.

Both me and my partner have tried near enough EVERYTHING and we still cant get anywhere.

When DS was about 1 year we sort of knew that it wasnt right and he should have been sleeping a good routine. We have been to the doctors numerious times since then due to his behaviour aswel. He's very bouncy all day, can be quite aggressive at times (towards us but not other children or people) he has the worst attention span, we can't take him shopping due to constant tantrums and running away and of course the big one, HE WONT SLEEP. The doctor seems unwilling to help us as he has not started nursery yet. (He is meeting all of mile stones tho)

When we put him to bed at night it usually consists of a book, some back rubbing and a book. He gets a bath in the mornings now as it seems to be 10 times harder settling him at night, plus he hates a bath at night and the tantrum can go on a good while But then it's time for me to go downstairs and he will scream the house down (so much it annoys the neighbours) he will throw stuff etc, so latley ive been staying with him but it still doesn't work, the throwing of stuff seems to work.

I have no idea, me and partner are the two most laid back people and DS is a completely different kettle of fish.

Anyone else going through the same thing?

S

Oh you poor, poor woman Firstly, well done for keeping your head and staying laid back. I'd be a gibbering wreck. I'm having a few problems with DD at mo and she is 3.3ish months so a similar age! I have not tried this but am going to tonight - a reward chart. If she goes to bed and goes to sleep without fuss she will get a sticker (I'm not tackling the middle of the night fretting at the same time; one step at a time!).If she gets five stickers she gets a reward - a ride on the "Dancing Horses" at Southport!! Her choice. I have no idea if this will work. But we've got to do something. I am also going to burn some lavender oil tonight to see if this helps. Will report back. I'm not expecting miracles but I am sticking to my plan for at least a fortnight. I am also going to sit outside her room and, without talking, take her back to her bed each time she gets out. I LIVE IN HOPE

 

[cutiecouture]

Hi

I am new to the site, my son is 3 and I found when the lighter mornings came he was awake at 5 and wouldn't go back off to sleep and then was tired all day and very naughty, I live alone and no much use at DIY (he already has blackout curtains) His bedroom is at the back of the house so I decided to tape some bin bags to the window to see if it helped.... Not the best interior designing but it did work!

If its not the bright mornings then maybe if you try a new wind down routine, I try to keep any cartoons calm like guess how much I love you and no toy playing for the last half hour before bed time

Good luck and I hope u get some rest soon!

 

[jennybaby44]

Has anyone ever had their child tested for sleep apnea? It can cause a lot of night wakings x

 

[stardust599]

Hi ladies

I thought I would introduce my LOs and see if I can pick up some tips and share some of my wisdom

DS is 16months and has been a crap sleeper since birth. He was born with a dysphagia (difficulty swallowing & aspiration) and severe reflux and that set us up with pretty terrible sleep habits. I was also a single parent until DS was around 9months old (I'm actually back with OH now) so I did anything and everything to get him off to sleep.

Fast forward to now and his sleep is still pretty crappy. He wakes 1-4times a night for a bottle of milk/a cuddle/a cry etc. He wakes early every morning (before 6am) and is overtired, cranky, clingy,, throws tantrums, rubs his eyes etc. most of the day. Now I'm a morning person and really don't mind a 6am wake up but when he clearly hasn't had enough sleep and cant enjoy his day because of it it's time to put my foot down and make changes! When he wakes in the night there is no way of getting him back to sleep without giving him a bottle of milk and 80% of the time it doesn't work so we are left trying to comfort him back to sleep while he screams at us. Quite often we eventually leave him and he usually cries for 5-10mins then gets back to sleep. DS naps not too badly - 30mins in the morning around 9am and 2 hours after lunch. I don't think his naps are interfering with his night sleep (maybe the morning one doesnt help his early waking though) because he goes to nursery 3 days a week where he only sleeps 30mins all day and sleeps worse than ever at night. The interesting thing with DS is that he doesn't have any trouble falling asleep on his own!!!

Needless to say we are all exhausted, me and OH are snappy and emotional, struggling at work, no energy

DD is 3 (well, 3 next week) and is a much better sleeper (phew!!!) Trouble is, she's really spirited and sensitive to noises, changes in routine, stimulation etc. and despite all my efforts I can't get her to sleep unless she is in her own room in the dark and quiet! Meaning she doesn't sleep at nursery either and nursery nights are pretty horrific - tantrums, won't eat, crying, wont go to sleep

So when DS wakes early morning the second DD hears him she is out of bed but not ready to get up yet so is in the same mood as DS.

After the past few days I have decided that none of us can cope with this anymore, we're all unhappy and it's time to make some big changes.

Last night DS woke twice but I don't know exactly what he did as it was OH's turn to get up. He cries really loudly during the night so we usually try to get to him as quickly as possible or he wakes DD. He then woke at 5.55am (again I wouldn't mind this if he was rested enough to get up!!) so I ignored him (he doesn't cry - just moans, shouts, whines etc.) but DD woke instantly, I made her come into my bed and lay down instead of getting up although we didn't get to sleep because our kitten (another story) wouldn't stop crying until I let it out of the living room then it came into the bedroom running around and making noise. DS was on/off quiet (kept thinking he was sleeping) until he heard DD or the kitten and would start up again. We gave up at 6.35am and got up all DS did was cry, throw himself on the floor, hit and headbut me and rub his eyes. So gave him a bottle (his 3rd that night I Think) and put him back to bed. He fell asleep around 7.15am and I'm not sure what time to wake him. If I don't he probably won't nap for me until really late and wont go to bed then be tired tomorrow again or he won't nap at all and he'll be really overtired and unsettled again tonight.

I think he might be teething (he's not really showing any symptoms except more night wakings though) so have been using gel/powder and nurofen but I might also get an amber teething necklace.

I don't know what to do about the kitten. We've had it for 2months and the problem is only getting worse although it's part of the family now. It seems such a trivial thing but honestly the lack of sleep and early wakings are ruining all of our lifes and we can't keep going like this. If I ignore it it just gets louder and louder until it's practically screaming and we are all wide awake (but grumpy!). I honestly don't know what to do, we bought it as company for our older cat (who loves it and was never like this as a kitten) but I really wish I had never gotten it now and it makes things so much worse although I don't think I could live with the guilt if I rehomed it over something as stupid as this.

Do you guys think I am doing the right thing with the kids? I am thinking of just taking a complete cold-turkey, zero-tolerance approach to sleep for 2 weeks and just riding it out. It would make so much difference to us if we could finally get on top of the sleep troubles

Edited to say - they have their own rooms but we live in a flat so we are all really close together (I have even considered moving to a house with 3 floors so I can seperate them )

 

[rocknrolla]

If it's not one thing it's another! Lo just got over a sleep regression which lasted 3 weeks and involved being awake from midnight to 5am every night, crying if we left her room and chatting if we stayed! After a few days where she was just gettin back to normal, she got a cold and found it difficult to sleep so a few wakings each night and trouble settling herself. Then she seemed better, slept well for two days and developed a cough and a neverending snot supply, cue not settling til 10 pm, not napping, and waking a lot.
Today she decided to throw a fit at nap time and it wasn't worth the fight, i hate no nap days as i anticipate a bad night. Thing is i thought she'd need the nap today as she did sleep most of the night but only from 10pm! Not the usual 7pm! Same wake up time. Now i don't know if iv made it worse by not persevering with a nap, but she was throwing such a fit she was hitting her head on the cot! Uh?!

 

[April76]

My 20 month toddler has just started again with the crappy sleeping. He didint sleep good until about 15 months then he hit 20 months and has started not sleeping. He goes to bed between 7.30 - 7.45 every night to keep to a routine and he fine until about 1.00am and it just goes downhill from there. I just dont know why he has started to be so crap at sleeping, to top it off i have a stinky of a cold!! I feel like SCREAMING!!!!!

 

[KatieB]

Louis is going through another bad sleep patch. I was up 5 times last night between 1am and 5.30am. I don't know whether it's down to final molars STILL cutting after months of agony with them, or what. Knackered. To make matters worse he refuses to nap these days and so by the time it's dinner he's completely exhausted and it gets worse from there really.

 

[KatieB]

Only 3 wake-ups last night, oh happy days! 12.30, 2 and 4.30am. Really upset too, breaks my heart.

 

[Lizi_17]

Hi I'm so grateful for websites like this can anyone help me my daughter is 3 in April she's quite a well behaved girl I'd say especially around other people her downfall is saying no after a packet of crisp/chocolate she wants more anyway for the past few nights when she's been tired she's had major tantrums she's just woke up about 45 minutes ago crying so I went in she looked at me started kicking me so I stood up tried ignoring her she started throwing herself about tupped her bed tupped her radiator then got out of bed n started throwing herself about all why doing a piercing scream my partner came in by this time she's getting more stressed we try picking her up cuddling her asking whats wrong she just carets on screaming her eyes went really big n she sounded like she was goin to throw up anyway all of a sudden she stopped n I managed get her back into bed n she went back to sleep its so strange and she never says whats wrong does anyone else's kids do this or does anyone have any advice please it upsets me seein her like that xx

 

[Lizi_17]

We literally had to hold her down to calm her down might ring health visitor xx

 

[Mummytobelora]

oppsy

 

[AC1987]

So exhausted from my 18 month old not sleeping.

 

[minties]

Sophie is having some sorta regression or something. Last night she let me sleep from 4:35am-5:30am. Tonight (it's almost 11pm) she's woken 4 times already. Now I can't sleep from frustration.

 

[LuluSS]

I too have a toddler who wakes up a lot. He wakes up anywhere from 2-10+ times a night. Some nights he will wake up 4 times by 11 p.m., like minties. His sleep is so unpredictable.

 

[CandyJ]

It is neceassary to understand the reasons disturbing child sleep tight. It can be teething or simply stuffy in bedroom and LO wants to drink. Maybe LO just wants to feel mummy nearby for restful sleep

 

[KatieB]

The last two nights in a row have been 4am wake ups, I go in, tuck him in and kiss him and he goes back to sleep. Get back into bed and 10 minutes later he starts screaming for his cup, aaargh. Go in and he doesn't want cup, start to leave room and he does. OH actually sleeps through all this

 

[forestfire]

I'm joining the club, had to take our cot side off, mayhem has ensued. Wakes up once a night but for at least 2 hours and will not go back into his cot! I am at a loss as what to do

 

[Mazzy17]

My little menace has not been sleeping since joining nursery in January. She sleeps 1-1.5 hours there and then when we get her home we try to settle her about 8ish with bath, bottle, poop. She starts to drift off then she is like "Hang on you trying to get me to sleep i think not!" So her energy levels go through the roof! Past 2 weeks she hasnt been going to sleep till gone 12 then wakes at 2-3 then again at 5. Not really looking for any answers, just grateful seeing that im not alone