My boy is waking up almost every night (usually just once). All I have to do is go in the room, let him know I'm there, maybe pray for him, and that's it. I think he had dreams/nightmares last month that caused him to be a little afraid of sleep (actually, it was one nightmare one night that really started this whole thing at an intense level). He's better as long as we leave the door open to his room, but he still seems to need the reassurance of having me come into his room if he wakes up at night for any reason. Anyway, this has been going on for about a month in a half. Some weeks it's every night, and a couple weeks have been only 1-3 times a week. The doctor said it was his sleep rhythm, but we tried the suggestion and it didn't work. Plus, it's a different time every night that he wakes up. Just for some background, between 9 months and about 21 months, we had zero, literally zero wake-ups at night. Then, towards the end of last year, it would be once or twice a week. Then, it became much more frequent after the fear thing started. He had sleeping issues when he was 8 months old, and literally, God just took care of it completely when we were at the end of our rope. So, as Christians, we keep praying about it and trust there will be an end. I guess I am just wondering 2 things: 1. Is this typical toddler behavior? 2.Any suggestion?
Thanks.
My 2 yr. old has done the same thing. I just started telling her right before I go out of her room at night that she needs to sleep all night & stay in her bed..... after a while it worked & she doesn't normally get up at all now. :) So try just telling him what he needs to do at night. Blessings!
Do you have a night light in his room? Just this past week one of my 16 month old boys kept waking up in the night crying and sometimes almost screaming. We ended up coming to the conclusion that maybe he's afraid of the dark. So we went out a couple days ago and bought a night light. So far so good. It sounds like you and I are going through two seperate issues...but if he doesn't already have a night light it may not hurt to try. I wish I had more to suggest than this. Hope it gets better soon! Good luck.
I hate to say this because it is a lot of work but, maybe it is time for potty training. He may be uncomfortable (wet diaper or full bladder) as a trigger to the dream. Gives him and you something to do when he wakes up at night. What have you got to lose. My first was night trained (2 and half) before day trained (3).
Hi R.,
You have gotten some *great* advice so far.
Something to keep in mind: all babies and children (and adults, for that matter), wake up or almost wake in the middle of the night as part of normal sleep cycles. The trick is, we learn not to come all the way awake, and just fall back asleep: most of us don't even remember waking up.
Your sweetie has proven he can do it, he just fell into the *habit* of waking all the way up recently, and you are in the position of getting him back where he was.
Yes, he's calling for your comfort at night, because he's learned this from you. You've started giving comfort where before, none was needed and he could self-comfort. The trick is just getting him back into the habit of self-comforting again.
This has depended on personality for us: our first (who's now 3) needed a little more of a tough-love approach (he'd fall into the habit very easily: after any cold or bad dream, teething, etc). We'd literally have to give him a cry-it-out night, or he'd keep doing it (thankfully, it just took one night, usually). Now that he's potty-trained, since 2-1/2) no problems.
Our second (who's now 1-1/2), only wakes 2 nights in a row if we make too much of a big deal out of it.
In all, sounds like you won't have much trouble, because he's already accomplished sleeping through the night.
Good job, mama!
T
