I have posted this before and got lots of good advice, but the problem is nothing works! My dr has said that she has tried everything she knows to try to help him sleep and none of that is working either. She suggests that we take him to a sleep specialist! As anyone ever had to take their child to something like this? I hate the thought of doing that but he needs sleep just as much as momma and daddy does. Just a little info, he goes to sleep by himself, him and his older brother share a bed. But within an hour he is up. We will let him have a little milk and we'll sit in the recliner with him and then put him back in his bed. We wind up doing this at least 4 or 5 times and after that, we just put him in the bed with us so that we can get some sleep. We both work. However, even in the bed with us, he still doesn't sleep. I thought that maybe he was just spoiled and liked sleeping with us, but I have somewhat ruled that out seeing he doesn't even sleep good in the bed with us. Anyone with suggestions, I am open!!!
Thanks
I have gotten some good responses from everyone! Thanks. The other part that I didn't mention in my earlier post is that he has had his own room and own bed. He has always had his own bed and room until about 3 wks ago, we thought if he slept with his brother that would help the sleeping problems. But it hasn't changed anything. So we are back to putting him in his own bed and still no luck!
Try a noise machine. Maybe that will drown out the sounds he hears coming from outside the room. Try it first with him in his bed and room and if that doesn't work, try it in the brother's room. Good luck.
It may be his routine. Which child is this? A five year old should probably be beyond it, a 2 year old can probably be taught. If you need a sleep specialist, Dennis Butler at UAB is top notch!
Hi A., Have you checked out what youa re feeding him? I would make sure he is getting enough vitamins and nutrients from foods that do not contain sugars (especially High Fructose Corn Syrup. YOur body does not process it the same as natural sugars. I have been cooking with Rachel Ray's Express Lane cookbook and the food is excellent and easy to cook. My kids eat it and they feel better than when they eat fast food or even waffles or snack bars. Another thing I would try is no tv before bed. It gets their minds racing and maybe change the time he goes to bed. He has not seen you all day and wants to stay up with you. Keeping a set routine works also. When they know what to expect.
Also, I work at home so I can control them during the day. You sound very stressed out and I would love to help you in any way possible. Give me a call at ###-###-####.
I hope this helps. My almost 4 year old gets up at 6am every morning. But my 2 year old sleeps 12 hours every night. Go figure.
have you tried letting him sleep in his own room in his own bed. maybe he's just a light sleeper and his brothers or your movements wake him up. my little girl doesn't like sleeping with us, or any where other than her baby bed or playpen.
I have not experienced that problem before with any of my children (and I have 4,including a set of 6 yr old twin girls). I would take the advice that the doctor has given you, there seems to be a problem somewhere and it will be for the best of all of you to have it checked. Let me know how it goes.
Try putting Colton in the bed with you and letting Pierce sleep by himself. It could be snoring or movement that is keeping him up. If that works, I don't know if you have the room in your house, but he might need his own space - so maybe you can convert some other area of the house.
This is just a shot in the dark, but have you all ever let him sleep by himself? You mentioned he shared a bed with his brother and him sleeping with you all in your bed. Is there a place where he could sleep by himself to see if that works? I would really suggest trying not to put him through going to see a sleep specialist because with young children that can be a VERY scary thing. They wouldn't want to do anyhting that would be scary for you and I but for children, all of the machines and wires and stuff that are used for things like sleep studies are very intimidating. Good luck and I hope you find a solution. Was your other son this way as well?
My first suggestion would be to put him in a bed by himself. If a regular bed is not possible, try putting his crib mattress on the floor in a corner and make it up like a bed. He may be such a light sleeper that his sleep may be interupted by a bedmate's movement or touch. I would put him to bed by himself and when he wakes up, just lay him back down, pat his back a minute and walk away without saying a word. I wouldn't give him anything to drink or move him from his bed. Those things would seem to further delay his getting right back to sleep. At his age it may take an exhausting week or two, but his sleep pattern should improve.
A.,
I am a mother of four children 15, 13, 9, 5. I am 35years old and have been married for 16 years. My 5 year old was born in December 2001 and he was two weeks old when we found out that he had an ear infection.Well he started crying all the time and not sleeping at all. Well we got the ear infection under control but not the sleeping. They blamed it on all kinds of things from,colic to spoiled,hyperactive. Well we had taken him to 9 different pediatricians, neurologists, and we did everything you could imagine. This went on for 2 years,he would sleep 15 minutes and then up 10-12 hours.He did not sleep at all,I was working and my husband was working. I recorded the longest time without him sleeping was 72 hours straight! I finally had to quit my job because it became to much for me to do both! Well I stumbled upon a visit to the chiropractor and he made a comment that he would like to see my son. Well my husband and I thought what could it hurt we had taken him everywhere. So the chiropractor adjusted his neck 5 days in a row. Well after the 5th visit he said it will take 3 to 4 weeks to notice a difference. Well after 2 years and 5 months of going sleepless, He started sleeping,taking naps for a couple hours a day and he would go to bed at 10pm and get up at 5:30 am. Which was great with me as long as I was getting a few hours of straight sleep. I just thought I would share that with you because it worked for us.
Good Luck!
Any doctor I've talked to or read their comments says never to let your child sleep with you. We do it anyway, one night on the weekend, but we shouldn't.
My suggestion is to give him his own bed and his own room, if you can. You might not be able to give him his own room. His own bed is a big deal. It might not be his brother's movements keeping him up. It might just be that that there's someone there. Sort of like a sleep-over ..... you take a long time to fall asleep because you're goofing off and talking. Your body never calms down for sleep to come.
Once you give him his own bed, have a bedtime routine if you don't already have one. Bath, wind down time, reading in the bed. You can switch the routine up, personalize it. Always end with the last part of the routine in the bed.
