Help! 2.5 Year Old Getting up 3-4Am Every Night Lately!

I feel your pain. My daughter is 2.5 and she has being waking up in the middle of the night for months!
She doesn't sleep during the day since 5 months ago and she still waking up in the middle of the night.
Sometimes when she sleeps with a diner full of protein she sleeps all night but is not always.
I would give her a nice diner like chicken, rice and broccoli, not much just little.
I also would put a night light.
If this doesn't work I may try the cry out loud but I also would be open to co-sleep with her. I am not big fan of co-sleeping because both moved "a lot" and neither of us could sleep, but in your situation maybe is an option until you are totally settle.
PS: I would bring some cookies to the neighbors, if they have kids they will understand.

We're going through this right now too and I have to think it's a phase. My daughter has slept from 7pm - 7am from since she was about 3 months old. That doesn't mean every single night she does this. She has phases when she has trouble staying asleep, or going to sleep, or waking early.

Right now we're in a 'wake up at night' AND 'wake up early' phase and it's brutal. I can't figure it out and her language skills aren't developed enough where she can tell me. I'll ask if she's hot and she says, 'yeah'. I'll ask if she's cold and she says, 'yeah'. Sometimes she'll say 'tummy hurts', but doesn't really act sick.

So, I don't have anything helpful to contribute other than to tell you that you're not alone and hopefully it's just a phase.

I never had this problem with my kids when they were that old, so I am not sure how to help you. Both of my kids went through the waking up at about 7-8 months and we did the crying it out thing. All I can suggest is that you try going in to her as soon as she wakes up, before she starts yelling. Don't take her out of the crib, don't hold her. Just go to her and comfort her by talking softly and telling her to lay down and go back to sleep. Then sit quietly in the room and see if she will settle down. Then you are there if she tries to take off her diaper. Try this on a weekend and don't worry about getting any more sleep yourself, but stay with her until she settles down. Be firm and don't give in. Stay calm yourself and hopefully that will settle her down. Possibly even set your alarm and go in before she wakes up. It may take a few nights, but you have to be consistent and NOT allow her out of her bed. She cannot receive any positive reinforcement (playing, jumping on your bed, etc) for being up at that hour. Don't even talk to her much, just stay in the room and be calm. You could also try changing her schedule a little. Put her to bed later or shorten her nap. Something to break the cycle. Good luck and know that this too shall pass.

I don't have any advice but am offering my own zombie mom support. My ds is 29 months also born 9/12 and has been getting up every night for the past 2 1/2 weeks now. Usually a few hours of up and down between 9:30-11:30 and again around 1-2am! Although he is usually crying as he wakes and wants to go back to bed but keeps waking up.

We have no ideas what is causing it either! But I am a working mommy who has to leave the house by 6 AM and this not sleeping thing is killing me too. I hope you get some advice and I will be curious to see if it helps.

((HUGS))

From a fellow zombie mom.... my two year old did this too. He gets up @ 5:30 or 6:00 now, but used to get up @ 4:00-4:30 and he was up and excited to start his day. Unfortunately, he started climbing out of his crib at 20 months, and just runs around the house or screams at us at the edge of our bed if we dont get up. Its like living with a wild little demanding monkey.

The only thing that helped at all was making his room pitch black and shutting his door. But it still has not made him a late morning sleeper.

We cope by 1)going to bed earlier - I go to sleep around 9:30 and 2)Letting him watch cartoons in the morning. I put the tv on and he sits still and I can ease into the morning easier.

And, look at the good side - you wont have trouble getting her up and ready for school when she is 5! :)

I feel for you so much, I have been in the same boat for several months now. My 3 1/2 year old use to be the best sleeper, down easy, sleep through the night and up with no nap. Well that has all changed. She goes to bed in her own room then wakes up around 3:30-4:00 and comes in and wants to cuddle, she falls right back to sleep the minute she is laying by me, so I know she is tired still. I am a light sleeper so once she does this I am awake with mommy brain, thinking of everything I need to do the next day then right when I fall asleep my 18 mos wakes, not fun, I feel like a grumpy mommy due to lack of sleep. I learned from this same site that most 2 and 3 year old do this, this is when they start having real nightmares and real fears. Once I realized that I didn't get so frustrated with my daughter but it didn't change my zombie like feeling the next day and everyday after that. Thank God, the last two nights she has slept through the night. I asked her what I can do to help her sleep through the night, I told her how hard it is on me when she wakes me up every night, she told me to leave the bathroom light on which she can see from her room, not sure why this light, not her own light or her night light but whatever, it worked so far. I know at 2.5 it is harder to know what your daughter needs. I hear this is a stage so hang in there. I wish there was a foolproof answer so we can get our sleep back. It will get easier, something will work and she will grow out of this. hugs!!!

I wonder if she's having dreams? It's typical although exhausting! Also, do you think she could shorten her nap? Maybe this would help. It's always a mystery... maybe you and your husband could take turns at night going to "sleep" in her room w/ her when she wakes - at least you wouldn't be up every night. Best of luck!

When my son was about 2 he started waking up in the middle of the night crying. My husband works nights so he would only be asleep for 2-3 hours when my son would be waking all of us up crying. The next morning, I had to go to work so my husband had to get up with him. I felt sorrier for my husband since he was getting even less sleep than me.

What I did was shorten his nap during the day to only one hr. After about a week of this new adjustment he was sleeping through the night again.

Just a thought =-)