2 Year Old Still Not Sleeping Through the Night - Austin,TX

I constantly see the same concerns, and everytime I notice the parents are continuing to pick up the child and have them sleep with them. The only way to achieve this is to stop picking him up and bringing him too your room. The older he gets the harder it is going to be to break him. Therefore, next time he wakes up do not pick him up and bring him to the room, he needs to learn that bed time is in his own bed. He is going to cry and throw a tantrum for a few days, and believe me it will be hard on you, but in the end, it is worth it for him to achieve independence when it is time to sleep. The show Supernanny has really good tips on this. As several parents on that show have had the same problem. She has very good techniques. By bringing him to your bed is making it hard on you and him, you all need to get a good sleep everynight.

We have never brought our son in the bed, don't get me wrong it has been trying sometimes, and picking him up out of the bed seems like the easiest solution when your soo tired, but now he is 20 months, and sleeps from 7 pm to 7:30 am and has been since he was 6 months or so. With no problem, it took consistency and patience, but it does work.

I hope this helps, and I don't sound mean.

me and my husband have the same problem. we have a (almost) 3 year old and a (almost) 2 year old and they fall asleep in their own beds and in the middle of the night their both on our futon w us. i have major back and hip problems bc i am always sleepin on my side and thats if we sleep at all.

Are you and your husband on the same page as far as wanting a solution? If so, then starting tonight-Put him back in his bed when he gets up. He is going to scream and cry. He may get up a hundred times. He may only get up a few times. It could take anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks. You guys could take turns and one person sacrifice a nights sleep one night, then alternate. Like Denise said, just pat, minimum eye contact, no words other than 'Night, Night". Does he have a white noise machine or a projector on his crib? Both of my boys had a Fisher Price soothing sights and sounds machine on the side of their crib.I understand that some times it is just easier to give in than put him back in bed. I guess it just boils dowm to how bad you wnt your bed back! I agree that a nap and eating schedules are a key to happy children. I hope you guys get a great nights sleep soon! God bless!

You may want to read these blog posts on children and sleep for your 2 yr old. Good luck!
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2010/01/09/...
http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/2009/10/30/...

You're right--he has you trained! LOL
Sleep begets sleep. Keeping a kid up later NEVER results in a full night's sleep.
Keep naps consistent. Maybe O. afternoon nap and not past 4:00!
Have you considered doing Cry It Out? Is he still in a crib? If so, it will be easier. It will be a tough 3 or 4 nights but it will work. Go in to comfort only, don't talk, do NOT pick him up. Soft music or white noise, night lite. Make sure he's full when he goes to bed.

We were in the same boat until my son was born about 6 months ago. Before then, my daughter would just end up in our bed because when she cried/woke up in the middle of the night, it was just easier to put her in bed with me than to try and get her back to sleep.

After our son arrived, she no longer wanted to nap or come into bed with me/us most nights. For the most part now (she's 2.5), when she wakes up, she's up for the day (whether it be 4, 5 or 6am).

That being said, we moved her brother into her room about a month ago and that is when she started SLEEPING THROUGH the night - something she has not really done since birth. She goes to bed between 7-8pm and sleeps through the night (waking up maybe 1-2 times a week) and will sleep through him crying, lights being turned on in the hallway, etc. I don't know if it's because she knows she has company in her room, or if it's because we started leaving her door open (she used to sleep in the pitch black with her door shut) or if it's because she's started falling asleep on her own (I sit in her room for a few minutes after books/songs and then tell her I'm leaving and going into the living room). Now she'll get comfy, sometimes I hear her whispering to her stuffed animals and then she'll fall asleep.

We, too, have a queen sized bed and a few times in the past six months have had an infant, a toddler and my husband and I in it - I'm 5'8 and my husband is 6'4....so I understand being squeezed in tight!!

The problem (it sounds like) is that unless he has you guys, he cannot get himself back to sleep. If you don't want him in your bed, I suggest when he wakes up to go into his room and rub his back / tell him you'll sit with him. You may even have to tell him something like "daddy is sick so you can go in there" or something to deter him from crying/fussing about not being able to go to bed in your bed. If he has a regular sized bed, I'd suggest laying down with him.

it is the normal instinct that children cause waking up every 4 hours to check if the parents are still there. It is a survival habit. So, not easy to break. Since I know this, I relaxed about it when our 2 year old did it. Meanwhile she is almost 3 and sleeps through the night. Therefore I can only recommend to wait the situation out. It will pass soon eventually. Immediate help would be to buy a king size bed, Hahaha
What also I did, carried her to our bedroom and turned arount to go back to her room again. While doing this she fell asleep on my shoulder and by the time I arrived at her bed I put her back in hers. Normally she continued sleeping mostly longer than she would do with us because our "snorring" seems to wake her up earlier than we liked it.