4 Year Old Waking and Staying up for Hours at Night

You didn't mention if he is taking naps during the day. If he is then skip the naps and see what happens. He probably doesn't need a nap anymore at that age.

Another thing may help is having him eat a snack before he goes to bed. He may be getting hungry during the night. Make sure he is getting enough liquids during the day especially during the summer. He could be getting headaches from being a little dehydrated or hungry.

If it continues then talk to your doctor. There may be something to his headaches.

My kids get headaches often but they seem to get them when we are very busy and may be stressed out from all the activities of going all the time. I also encourage them to drink more water especially if they have been getting them 2-3 times a week.

Maybe he needs that quiet time during the day? It sounds like he just enjoys having quiet alone play time. Maybe set aside a couple of hours during the day where the whole house takes some time as quiet individuals.

My daughter did the same thing. Wasn't a great sleeper and then would not sleep much at night. So, I took her to the doctor and made sure nothing was really wrong. When we found out there was nothing, my doctor told me was perfectly fine to give her Melatonin.
So my suggestion is go see a doctor but secondly, know you are not alone!

Just to be on the safe side, I would take him to the doctor just to check him out. A co-worker's child had a brain tumor and headaches were the first sign.I'm not trying to scare you but you owe it to yourself and your child to find out if the headaches are real or not.Good luck and God bless!

I have a 4 1/2 year old also and this is what works for me--keep him on a schedule and take away all liquids after dinner. No water means no potty wakes up at night. Of course, make sure he pees before bed. When I keep my son on a schedule (and I still make him either rest or nap at 1pm--never more than an hour) I can see how much sleep he is getting and that makes a big difference. And I can't let my son sleep alot during the day or he won't sleep well at night. You didn't say if he was on a regular schedule or not, but that might help.

There are so many things that could be causing this, most of them not serious at all, and I am sure you will get lots of ideas from the smart moms on this site.

I keep going back to the headaches, though. I just have a feeling he has some dry sinus issues. It's pretty common, in adults as well as kids. Especially if you are doing a lot of swimming, and if you have a good air conditioning system at home.
Ask you pediatrician to check for any problems,
then get a saline nasal spray meant for children. We use one called "Little Noses". You can use it several times per day to keep him from getting all dryed out in his nose and sinuses. Also, put a cool mist humidifier in his room. Run it day and night, but especially at night while he is sleeping.
If he will tolerate it, you can even put a little of one of those menthol rubs (we use Vicks) on the end of his nose. Not much, though. It can be pretty strong for a little guy.

Be sure he is staying properly hydrated during the day. Some kids hate to drink water. If you have one of those, give him Kool-Aid, popsicles, whatever you can get down him. Less sugar would be better, but some kids just won't drink water, and it is more important to get the fluids into them than it is to worry about a little sugar in Kool-Aid.

One other thought ..... does he have tonsil problems ? Are they large and cause him to snore when he sleeps ? If this is happening, he could be having periods of not getting enough air when he sleeps. (Similar to what happens to a person with sleep apnea) When this happens, it causes the child to wake up (to gasp for air) then some children aren't very good at going back to sleep. They just figure that if they are awake it is time to get up and play.
This lack of oxygen will also cause headaches.

Just a couple of things to check for. They are easy to check for, and pretty simple to cure.

Good luck ! Let us all know how things turn out, please.
:o)

Could he be getting too tired during the day, Too much playing and I know swimming wears them out.

He could just have his days and nights mixed up? I would get his headaches checked out because that would wake him and keep him awake. Poor little guy, I feel for him

My oldest daughter never slept more than 6 or 7 hours a day from the time she was born, and that continued into her now adulthood. (Although now that she is pregnant she IS sleeping alot, LOL)
At 3 and 4, she didn't take naps, wouldn't sleep but would lay quietly for an hour or so and not sleep. So you would think she would sleep good at night. NOT>
It may be that he's just got shorter sleep patterns. I would suspect that except for your indicating he's cranky during theday. Which actually is a sleep deprivation sign, so it is my opinion that he's trying to stay awake to play.
Take the toys out, or lock them away at night. Minimize the stimulation he is receiving at bedtime. Starting at about suppertime. No tv, or exiting things after supper. Do your bedtime routine, bath, tooth brushing, potty every time.
Cap off his liquid intake after supper. This is NOT DEPRIVATION as long as he is being hydrated through the day.
If he says he has to potty after he has already done this during the bedtime routine, allow him to go but do not interact favorably with him and make him think it's fun or ok to be out of bed.
You might want to check airflow in his room, sometimes stagnation of air in a small area will cause headaches, in my experience. But you might want a check up on his ears, and sinuses, cause that can be the source of headaches as well.
Good luck with whatever you choose to try.

Hi, J.. Sleeping problems are the worst to deal with, if you ask me. It effects everyone in the family. Have you tried putting him to bed a half hour later? Does he still nap during the day? I would recommend that if he does, take some of that time away first. When he wakes up and plays at night, does he go back to sleep on his own? I would not even go in his room if you know he is safe. You don't need to lose all your sleep, and he may like the fact he gets to see you in the middle of the night if he wakes up. Good Luck!

My 4y/o just recently started waking up in the middle of the night and wants to either crawl in bed with my husband and I, or he'll lay on the floor outside of our room (door is open) and go back to sleep. His reason is always that he is afraid of the dark. I moved the night light closer to his bed, that seems to help. Your son's sleep deprivation is a bit more complicated.
As far as the headaches go...I would take him seriously. Is it only at night? Could it be sinuses? Could be anything and that should be addressed by your ped. I wouldn't wait for them to get worse or more consistent. Whatever it is that's causing them could very well be the reason he is up in the middle of the night.
Best of luck to you and your little guy!

My 3 year old was doing that for a while also. But unlike your son, he kept calling me, or coming to get me. He wouldn't seem to need anything, just wanted company I guess. The only advice I have is to wait it out. His passed after several weeks of waking nearly every night. Yes, we had to deal with a crabby kid, and it seemed like the nights he was awake, he didn't nap well the next day either. But it did pass, and he sleeps well now. All I can guess is that something was on his mind, whether he could express it or not, but it was affecting his sleep. Hang in there, he should go back to normal sleeping soon.

Dear J.,
First, I'd take your little one to the doctor, just to make sure there was nothing going on, especially with the headache thing. If he checks out fine, it might be he is just over tired. Make sure he has some "quiet" time during the day. He doesn't have to sleep, but maybe just allow him to look at books or play with a few quiet toys in his bed for about an hour. Hope this helps!

Your son may have allergies since you said he's never been a good sleeper. Doctors often don't diagnose allergies until children are older.

Try benadryl at bedtime, it may make the difference. If he's having trouble breathing due to allergies, it may help him sleep longer every night.

I suspect he woke up on reward nights but tried harder to go back to sleep for the racecar. Sounds like he wants to sleep through the night, and you're doing a good job trying to help train him, but since he's still having trouble it may be a health issue that he can't control.

If it's NOT allergies, try putting his favorite stuffed animal in charge of him. If he doesn't sleep all night, the stuffed animal gets a "scolding from the parents" and timeout out of his room in plain sight for the day and gets another chance at bedtime the next night. This takes pressure off your child and on the animal for both of you to relieve stress by being upset and scolding it for the situation that's disturbing your son's sleep. "He must be waking you up" tell the animal "You have to sleep all night or son is tired when you keep waking him at night" "We want you to have a great day, so sleep all night" "You'll get a timeout if you wake my son tonight... it's your job to help him sleep and you're not doing your job!"
Tell your son "I'm really sorry Elmo keeps waking you up, I've figured it out now and I'm going to stop him from waking you at night" "It'sElmos's job to help you sleep at night not wake you up. He's got it all mixed up... you play during the day not at night silly Elmo"

first ask you doctor about this but i know that i had to deal with this when my son was that age and then we ask doctor and he suggested having mental health look at him. we did this and found that he had ADHD and he is 6 now and he is on medicine to help him because he is so busy during the day and would not know how to wind down. he was doing this in the middle of the night he would get up to go potty get drink, and not go back to bed and would be playing in his room quietly in the middle of the night.

You are not alone. My almost 4 yr old is doing the exact same thing. He does not have the headaches, but is waking numerous time a night. Going to the bathroom and them playing. We had to take all of the toys out of his room. I am not going to let him sleep anymore during the day, just have some quiet time. I feel your pain, and good luck.

I personally would consult his Pediatrician on this one, just to rule out anything medical. You might try not giving him the bottle of water at night, perhaps it is what is causing him to have to wake up to use the restroom. It could be related to his nap also, some 4 year olds especially very active ones still require a nap. Nap time is a very sensitive thing though not long enough and your kid is cranky and up all night, too long and they are just up all night. My daughter never sleeps as good at night if she doesn't have a nap, it's like she takes a 3 or 4 hour nap at bed time and then wants to play at 2 or 3 in the morning, and she will be 4 next month. I would consider those 2 things. If neither of them work right away I would consult the Doctor, mostly just to rule out Juvenile Diabetes, as all the things you mentioned are symptoms, but they could also be nothing, it is very easy to check for and treat, but should not be ignored. Hopefully it is nothing, but my motto is it is better to be safe than sorry, it definitely isn't normal for him to be waking up so much during the night. Good luck hope it is nothing serious.
M.

J.,
Try going to Whole Foods and buying Melatonin. This is a natural sleep aid that helps reset your sleep and wake cycles. I have an autistic son who had problems getting to sleep and my Doctor @ Childrens Mercy recommended we try it. It works for our son. I buy the orange flavored liquid form.