Four Year Old Won't Go Back to Sleep!

My 4-yo daughter wakes up between 1:30 a.m. & 3:00 a.m. at least 2 nights a week. I think she wakes up because she has to pee, but is not recognizing it yet. When she woke she used to come out into our room (a loft type setting) and get into drawers & make a huge mess before one of us woke up. Then I found the "Tot Clock"! Check it out! Since we started using this she understands that she MUST stay in her room (she gets a small reward of some kind) when the clock face is blue & may come out only when the face turns yellow. This has relieved a lot of stress for all of us. If she does not go back to sleep, it is ok (although she is tired the next day), but she must stay in her room & be quiet until the clock is yellow. Hope this helps.

We tell my son that he can't get up and go downstairs until it begins to get light outside. Even if he wakes up, he has to lie in the bed quietly until the sun starts to come up, unless he has to go to the bathroom. I've even let him play quietly with a toy in his bed if he really has trouble sleeping (a quiet toy!). However, almost every time he goes right back to sleep after about 30 minutes of lying quietly in his bed. If he doesn't do as we ask, he gets in big trouble, simple as that. Hope this helps!

There are a couple of possible things at play here. First, is he wearing a pull-up or something at night, or just underwear? The reason I ask is that if all the sheets and such need to be changed before he can return to bed, he may just honestly be fully awake and can't fall asleep again. Nightime pull-ups until no accidents for 3+ months should do the trick. If that is not the issue than he is just being stubborn.
Talk to him during the day about what is expected if he wets in the night. If he is uncomfortable he can change his pull-up or whatever (at 4 he should be able to do this quietly by himself) and get right back in bed. That's the deal. If he cries and throws a fit there will be consequences. Make sure he knows the issue is not the wetting. Wetting is no biggie at all, but throwing a temper tantrum about following the rules is a big deal. The rule is we all sleep quietly in our beds until morning. If you disobey that rule you will not be happy. Figure out what the consequences will be ahead of time and let him know in advance. 'Tonight if you have an accident and don't get right back in bed after you clean up X will happen.' (since what he wants is tv, taking away tv for the next day is a good option) I would also have more consequences if he escalates the behavior. 'If you don't go right back to bed you lose tv for the next day, and if you cry and wake up your sister you will will also lose dessert (or a play date, or video game if he has them, or whatever). He needs to know that he is responsible for his behavior and that if his behavior makes life difficult for other family members he will have difficulties of his own. :o) At four years old he is fully aware of obey/disobey and is making choices about which he wants to do. As parents we have to do our best to make that an easy decision! I always tell my girls that I can't make them obey, I can just make them the saddest girls in town when they don't. :o)

Good luck on your continuing adventure in parenting!

just hug her or he and then give them a cup of warm milk all do the tick sometime singing a song will help to sometime they have to feel warmth and love it could by that they just want attion and to leave a dime light on so they wont feel alone

Could it be that he takes a nap to late in the day? Earlier morning, earlier nap in the daytime might help. My other suggestion would be, a later bedtime... Good Luck!

Why not let him sleep in pull-ups? That way he's not wetting the bed and his pj's. That would be the first thing I tried.
At 4 you can certainly have a discussion with him that if he wakes in the night he will need to go back to sleep and that if he doesn't there will be consequences. And follow thru with what ever it may be that you decide will be the punishment. All this should be discussed well prior to bed and then him given a reminder at bed time that we stay quiet and in our beds at night.
And I'd move my bed back into the bedroom. The kids are old enough to understand that they are not to get food out like that. And that there are consequences for their actions if they do.