Please Help Me Get Some Sleep!

They make something called Herbs For Kids Valerian Super Calm...I've used it before and it works really well, and its suppose to be natural and safe. I've also heard of a CD to play in their room called The Sleep Fairy, my friend swears by it. With my first 2 girls (3 yrs old and almost 8 yrs old) i didn't believe in any kind of letting them cry... My 8 yr old wasn't too bad, but omg my 3 yr old would keep me up all night rocking her...I was a sleep deprived zombie! (she's the one i gave the Valerian to, which worked for a while)... So when my 3rd girl came (now 16 months old ), i said there was no way i was going through what i did with my 2nd child again! lol So, I started putting her to bed on her own...I'd spend a little time in there hugging her, kissing her, saying i love you and repeating that it was night night time to her.. I would put on a heartbeat sound machine and a crib toy that projects on the ceiling and leave ... but with her, unlike my other 2 I have a Video Monitor made by Uniden (its not even really for kids, like for surveillance i guess) and it works great!! And more importantly i can see what she is doing.. She would cry a little (well a lot at first) but i would never let it go over 5 or 10 minutes..I would go in and repeat that its night night time...this was at 8 or 9 months, now she knows its night night time and goes to sleep on her own (bliss!!!)...she may cry sometimes when i lay her down but its only for a few seconds..... and now at night "IF" she wakes up, i can look in the monitor and see what she's doing...If she is just laying there whining/crying then i know that she will go back to sleep...If she stands up, i give her a few minutes and she sometimes lays right back down and goes back to sleep ...if she doesn't within 5 minutes or so, then i do go get her.
As for the bed, I'd say if you can put him back in the crib where he was sleeping better and just buy a crib tent to go over it so he can't climb out. My friend had to do with with all 4 of her kids ...luckily, none of mine have climbed out of the crib ....well, i should say not yet for the 16 month old... :)
Good Luck :)

I"m in the same boat with our 2 yr old-I don't have much advice-sorry. Just commiserating.

First, I would give him a little snack and a sippy cup of milk before bed. He may be waking up because he's hungry. I would also try putting him to bed a little earlier. I know that sounds ridiculous for this problem, that's what I thought when someone suggested it to me to make my son sleep longer, but it really works. When we put him to bed about a half hour earlier than we were, he sleeps better and longer.

Another possibility - does he have acid reflux? Try making sure he doesn't have anything acidy for dinner (like tomatoes, or acidic fruit like oranges, etc) and see if that helps.

I would definitely steer clear of giving him any type of meds to help him sleep. Once you start on those, he'll never be able to sleep without them. I know several of my 11-year-old daughter's friends have been taking melatonin to sleep since they were little and they cannot sleep without it at all.

ooh no!! I'm sorry!!

I would NOT start my child on melatonin at this early age. I've heard people do it.

My kids didn't start twin beds (never had toddler beds - went from crib to twin) until after 2. Greg wanted it. He had rails for about a month and said "I'm a big boy - I don't need those!" so we took them off. Nicky? Needed them for about a year!! ahhh the differences in kids!!!

When he wakes up - does he nurse or hurt? Is it possible that he's teething and his 2 year molars are coming in?

Does he have rails on his bed?

Don't worry about the binkies. I would wonder if his molars are coming in and causing pain or he's having bad dreams....I hope you are able to get to the bottom of it and get some sleep!!

Medicine?!?!

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Type in 'child sleep issues' and hit enter.

He is too young for a toddler bed, I think switch to the crib, get a crib tent. Try soothing bedtime music or something. Make sure he eats enough during the day. Do a calming bed time routine.

I would make sure he is getting enough food. He sounds hungry. Kids need to eat every 3-4 hours, a meal. They are growing like a lightening bolt in the sky. It goes in their mouth and is almost instantly used up for energy to divide cells, heal illnesses, build up immunity, lengthen bones, form brain cells, etc...they need tons of food but have tiny, tiny stomachs. They need almost a constant source of food.

Feed him more often, if needed small meals all day. Let him have some food during the night too. At 29 months his little body is about to double in size, his weight, height, bone density, etc...is all about to grow in a large spurt. One day he'll wake up and suddenly his pants will be capri's, his shirts will be belly shirts, shoes will not go on, etc...he is at the age where most toddlers start to chunk up and the suddenly shoot up and be skinny again.