My 2 year old is still getting up 1-3 times a night and I am lost as to what to do. I have read a few different books and tried many different things but to no avail! We are stressed out and so tired! Does anyone else have 2 year olds that have problems sleeping. I am beginning to wonder if he has insomnia?? He takes great naps and we recently got tubes for his ears and adenoids taken out, so I really do not think this is a medical issue. We have also tried to cry it out and he throws monster fits that last hours! He does not really act that day during the day so I think he is just so tired that that behavior comes out. Any help/advice would be appreciated!
Well I thank everyone for the great advice! I have done a few things to help my son sleep. First of all, we have added a night light in his room, we also have been waking him up 1/2 an hour earlier from his nap and lastly we have been really trying to get as much activity in as we can in the evening. So far the past two nights he has slept from 9ish to 5:30 and then after a drink, he sleeps until about 7. This is a lot better than before, so we are happy! Hopefully, it will continue to get better. Thanks!
Don't allow him to take a long nap but put him to bed at night instead. Put him in bed by 7pm, nap no later than 1pm. Up at 3, down at 7. Work a schedule very rigidly and then he will settle in.
Get the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. It will tell you what pattern is appropriate for his age!
You will probably get a ton of responses on this and ideas how to help. My daughter (3) still wakes up each night and because she got used to cosleeping with us since she was born, she now just comes into our room. Sure, we could try to walk her back to bed, have her cry it out, shut the door or gate her room, but we've found that everyone sleeps better (and longer) if she knows she can get into bed with me in the middle of the night. Sometimes it's 1030pm, other times it's 5am.
Your son is probably just not sure 'how' to fall back asleep. Can you sit in his room with him when he wakes up? Rub his back? Lay with him? I do not think the 'waking up' is an issue, it's 'not knowing how to fall back asleep.' I don't care if people say their children sleep 12 solid hours through the night. At SOME point they wake up, but they go back to sleep on their own - either because they always have or because they cried it out in the earlier months and just learned to self soothe or whatever, they still wake up.
Not sure what else to say...I've been through this and we do what works :) I actually like when she crawls into bed with me as my husband doesn't come to bed until about an hour or two before I get up (different schedules) so it's nice to have someone in bed with me!
How many naps does he take a day, and how long is each one? At the age of 2, he should be able to make it through the day on one 2-3 hour nap. I would absolutely not cut out his nap, as someone else suggested - 2 year olds need one good nap a day. At 2 years old, my son's daycare had him napping from noon until whenever he woke up on his own, which was anywhere from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., depending on how tired he was.
When he wakes up in the night, does he want a bottle or sippy cup? My now-3 year old did that until he was well over 2, even if he'd had plenty to eat earlier in the day/evening. If your son is just waking up and wanting attention (you to read to him, hold him, etc.), I would just try leaving lights off and rubbing his back, stroking his hair, etc. and talking to him quietly until he's able to fall back asleep - no real stimulation, just gentle touches.
If you try this and/or things other moms have suggested and they don't work, you should probably talk to your pediatrician about it. Unfortunately, some kids just aren't great sleepers; I have one of them myself ; ) It does get better in time, but it sure is trying, isn't it?!
Best of luck to you and your little one.
My son (2.5 yrs) just recently started to wake in the middle of the night too. Is your son crying? I read that kids this age often have wild imaginations and get scared b/c of what they see on tv and then they exaggerate it with their imaginations. So try limiting the shows that your son watches. Even Finding Nemo has Nemo screaming for help as he's separated from his father. Toy Story has scary looking toys and Sid the neighbor kid blowing them up.
So perhaps this is something he'll grow out of if indeed he's waking up from a nightmare.
I know it will be hard on both you and your son for a while, but maybe try reducing the amount of time he naps or eliminate it all together. Some kids just don't need a lot of sleep (my daughter is one 9-10 hours a night, less if she naps). Also, is he waking up at the same time every night and does he eventually go back to sleep? You could also try pushing his bed time up by 30 minutes or so and see how that helps. Good luck!
My daughter takes melatonin to help her fall asleep, but she is almost 3 and has rarely ever slept through the night. My older daughter did not sleep through the night until almost 6 yrs old. I don't have much advice, but just telling you that it does depend on the child.
Also, kids with autoimmune disorders (which you made me think of by mentioning tubes, because often repeated infections mean an autoimmune disorder) have a harder time making melatonin too.
There is a great ped. sleep dr we used at Dupage Hosp. if you would like for me to find her name.
my son did this until we cut out the naps.
You don't say exactly what he's doing (is he getting out of bed; is he waking up crying; is he having trouble falling asleep), so it's hard to give really specific suggestions. But maybe some of this info will help.
Some kids need more sleep than others. It could actually be that instead of getting the sleep he needs at night, he's getting it during the day with naps.
Between 1 year and 18 months, most kids ditch 2 naps and go to just 1. If he's taking 2 naps, cut it back to 1 per day, and don't let him sleep for hours.
I have found that it also helps a lot to keep our little guy very active during the day, and right after dinner, we go outside for another 30 minutes to an hour of outside (physical play). Then we come in and read some books, take a bath and get him ready for bed.
Our little one needs a lot of sleep, so he'll sleep from 9 pm till 7 am and then nap in the afternoon from 1 pm to 3 pm (sometimes longer, depending). Not all kids need this much sleep; some need more, some need less. (He takes after me, LOL).
Try keeping a short diary, including foods/meals, activities (the activitty info doesn't have specific), and his sleep times for a couple of weeks. You may see a pattern emerge or some clarification on what is happening.
We are working on this ourselves. she was sleeping through the night then got a snuffy head cold where coughing woke her up. Now when she wakes up naturally overnight she doesn't want to go back to sleep without "help".
I'm finding that a single hour nap taken early (1pm-ish) helps make sure she is tired and her body adjusts to keep her asleep longer. I also would recommend turning off the tv completely. NO evening SPROUT! Playing in the evening wears her out and I believe gives her brain something to work on overnight.
Ours is very picky about eating. And meals are a challenge. TRY to get her to snack a little before the bedtime toothbrushing. Easy on the stomach items! Helps keep her full overnight.
Some nights it works, some nights she gets up 1 time. It's getting better again.
Like everything - life with children runs in cycles.
We never bring her to our bed. Sometimes we do resort to caving in and giving her a cup of milk when she wakes and she hasn't eaten much. That is my next problem to get rid of. I have started watering down the milk to get rid of that also. Regardless, she needs to drink it in her crib.
We held her during her head cold and back to crib only was the first step. We have also never done the CIO method. That makes our progress slower but we do push progress! Good luck!
This was happening to us as well and her pediatrician thought it might be night terrors. We realized that when we turned on her light she would calm down, so we put a night light in her room and she magically started sleeping through the night again. We also got a sleep clock with a red & green light on it so that she knew that if the red light was on she had to stay in bed with her sleepytime lovies, but if the green light was on she could come and get us. Good luck! I feel like we tried everything too and she is fianally letting us get some sleep!
I also agree with the post below about limiting tv watching. Limit tv watching before bed and make sure there is nothing in the shows that could scare your child.
