My son has always been a great sleeper… He’s 24 months old, and hasn’t gotten us up during the night since for over a year. Up until the last two weeks or so, he’s gone from 10-11 hours at night and a 1-3 hour nap to about 8-9 hours at night and a 1 hour nap. I can handle short nights and I can handle short naps (or even no nap), but his body doesn’t seem to handle it. He’s tired and cranky all the time… eyes rubbing, yawning, etc. I know that many children are ready to give up their nap by this age, but I really don’t think that’s the case. He really seems to be struggling with the limited amount of sleep he’s getting, and I can’t see how he could function with any less.
He was sleeping approximately 8pm – 6am until a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve since tried some modifications to see what might work. I’ve tried putting him down as early as 7pm, but he typically lies in his crib and stares at the ceiling until close to 8pm. I’ve also tried playing with the nap times to see if that would help. I was putting him down after lunch (12 or 1pm-ish), but he can barely make it. This week, I’ve been putting him down around 10 or 11am or so, but it makes for a long (usually unhappy/tired afternoon). I know that he wakes up a lot during the night. He never calls out for me, but I often see him on the monitor sitting up, playing with his glowworm, etc., and he puts himself back to sleep. This happens quite a bit. I’ve always had sleep issues, and I’m wondering if some of this could be hereditary.
I can’t think of any changes that would spark something… no changes at home, in his room, no travel, no job changes, no eating issues, no family issues, he’s not on any medication, etc. Just to give you some additional background… He was born 8 weeks early, so we did have some issues with apnea and bradycardia for the first month or two, but nothing since. He’s in speech therapy (for about five months now) and is a bit slow to communicate, but we’re working on that. Per our therapist’s request, we had his hearing tested and discovered a lot of (clear) fluid in his ears, but he’s only had one ear infection, so it doesn’t seem to cause a lot of problems (but a bit of a balance challenge sometimes). She’s suggested calling our pediatrician and maybe setting up an appointment with a ENT. She wonders if the combination of his sleeping issues, his ear fluids, and delayed speech could all be related. I’m a first-time mom and I’m wondering if I’m just worrying about this too much. Sure, it could be a phase, but it worries me.
Big thanks in advance for any suggestions,
J.
First let me say that you are blessed that this little guy will wake up at night, amuse himself and go back to sleep. That being said my first thought would be the season. it's light out now at 8 when he goes to sleep and he's at that age when so many things are so much more fun than bedtime. Try some black out shades for his room so it's dark, even at nap time. the darkness might help his body get back on track.
The tiredness is to be expected when kids start making changes in nap schedules. No, t doesn't sound like he's ready to get rid of his nap and he'll probably get back to that. I would keep the same bedtime 8p. 7p is really early and I don't imagine many kids would go to bed that early. However, I wouldn't be putting him down for his nap until after lunch even if it is a struggle. While your having lunch try to pay more attention to him to keep him awake and then put him down after. The fact that you've been moving things around could be bothering him as well. Pick a schedule and stick to it for at least 2 weeks before switching it up. They have to have time to adjust to the new schedule, it takes time. Changing things around too often and too much can cause problems. Also, the waking at night is perfectly normal, most kids will wake anywhere from 6-8 times a night and they have to learn to put themselves back to sleep. Don't think there is anything wrong with him just because he is doing this. Goodluck
I would definitely set up at an appointment with an ENT. They can look more into the ear fluid issue and check things like the tonsils. Is it possible that he snores? My daughter was 2 and had her tonsils and adenoids removed due to sleep apnea. My son was 3 and had his removed as well. My son was so sleep deprived he would wake up from a nap and still be a total bear. I had no idea they were waking up so often and getting such bad sleep. I actually taped my daughter sleeping but you could listen in on a baby monitor as well. I will agree that children do change their sleep schedules especially when they go from two naps to one but this does not sound like the case. Good luck!
L. Etta, mom to a 7 year old girl and an 8 year old boy
Hi J.,
I would check his mouth..two year molars do strange things at this age. If they are coming in they may be making him uncomfortable and unable to sleep as well. Two year olds are mysterious good luck!
It would never hurt to have all of the medical issues checked out first. Sometimes children go through changes and then settle themselves into a new routine. If there are, in fact,medical concerns you would always want to take care of that first.The fact that he gets cranky and miserable is a sign that something is going on. My suggestion is to start with the medical concerns and then move on with next steps before changing too many other partss of his schedule.
Wow! I am having the same problem! My 29 month old twins have gone from good sleepers to horrible sleepers and horrible nappers- it has been going on for about 3 or 4 months now. They go to bed at 8 and get up at 6 and this is still happening, but they are up all through the night, they don't yell for me either but either bounce and make noises and wake up everyone else or sing or anything, but not sleep. I am not sure what the issue is and was thinking about posting something myself on here for help. I am not getting any sleep and I am the grouchy one in the morning! I have 16 month old son that sleeps all night and doesn't wake up- but is he going to do the same thing in a few months???????????????? The twins are in the same room. I was laying them down for a nap at 11 and switched it to 12 because they would lay in there and talk and scream to each other for an hour- but they are still only taking about 1 hour naps and my son sleeps for 2-3 hours. At night I have tried laying them down at 9 and they still get up at 6 and still don't sleep good. I don't go in their room unless they keep on and on and I am afraid they are going to wake my son up. Let me know what you find out- at least I know there is someone else out there going thru the same thing.
My son is 19 months old and is the same way. He plays around in his crib for at least an hour before going to sleep for his nap and at bed time. It is aggravating because he is cranky and irritable sometimes during the day and rubbing his eyes and ears and all of that.
So although I really don't have any advice for you. Just to let you know you aren't alone!!
Although, like you mentioned you could have him checked out just for piece of mind.
We always had to adjust our daughters bedtime depending on the length of her nap. She is now three and a half. If she ends up taking a nap during the day, she'll won't go to bed until close to 9:00. However, if she decides to skip her nap, it's lights out at 6:30. Yes, 6:30. I know it's early, but she's completely exhausted without her nap. It's always hard when the kids adjust their sleeping schedules. Right when you think you have a handle on it, they go and change it up. Good luck!
Use your mommy instincts and take him to the doctor if you feel there is reason. First time mom or not, only you know what is best for your son. I would never discourage against going to the doctor to be on the safe side. However, there are a couple reasons he could be having trouble sleeping. He could be trying to reach a new milestone that may not seem like much to you, but is a lot to him and maybe stressing him out a little bit. Are you seeing improvement with the speech therapy perhaps. Often when a child is working on something, it can cause sleep problems for a while and once the work through it they tend to settle into a sleep routine again. OR, he could be ready to start needing less sleep, but it still takes an adjustment period. My kids always went through a cranky time when they would drop a nap. Which confuses their entire sleep cycle. What I would suggest is stick with pushing naptime until after lunch, and keep with a specific bedtime. If it has always been 8 o'clock stick with it. Or you could try two short naps if it is really causing him issues, maybe a half hour in the morning and a half hour later in the day. You will just have to wake him. My thoughts were always that night time had to stay consisitent, naptimes were always where I made my adjustments. There are even times I adjust naptime to that particular day. If he woke earlier than normal, maybe push lunch up to 11 and naptime can be a little sooner, if he slept later push nap a little later, but I always wake him by 4 so that the night routine wasn't thrown off. However you decide, try to take comfort in it probably is just a phase and there is probably no reason to worry, but certainly have him checked out for reassurance.
It happens sometimes.
Make sure you have a bedtime routine that you stick to like glue. That will help him tell his "internal clock" it's time for "night night".
It might also help to get some sort of fan or something to create "white noise".
We also have a humidifier in our daughters room that has a blue night-lite in it - the girls like that it's bright enough to see in the room, but not so bright to keep you from sleeping.
Also - make sure that his wake up time in the morning is consistant.
We've been having similar issues with our 2 year old girl...and we just keep to the routine even stronger, and it does seem to help.
For what it's worth....and good luck!
Make SURE he's adequately HYDRATED. If he's outside, playing in the warmer weather, etc getting more activity, he needs more fluids; then possibly lack of hydration could be partly the cause. DEHYDRATION CAN cause lack of sleep.
Hereditary factors are VERY few & far between when it comes to sleep issues. They are largely related to diet, dehydration, lack of exercise and/or improper alignment.
He is definitely not ready to give up his nap. I would take him to the doctor to be checked out. I also wouldn't put him down for a nap too early, go for around 12pm. It could be a phase, maybe a growth phase. Maybe his body is changing and it is just out of sync. A visit to the doctor may go a long way. I would also encourage the earlier bedtime, maybe 7:30. Keep at it for at least 5-7 days.
