Sleeping Problems!

Daniella;
I hate to say this but maybe you should cut back on the naps and that might help him sleep better at night. Now if you don't want to cut back on the naps try doing things before bedtime that make his sleepy, like exercizing and maybe a gook right at bedtime would help too.
Good Luck;
J.

With our 4-year-old we found that having a glass of milk right before bed allowed him to sleep through the night. He apparently needed that extra nourishment before bed. When he didn't get his glass of milk, he woke up several times in the night.

my son seemed scared of sleepen but in ure case ure son sleeps at day time.slow down on day time naps,give more stimulate activityes too wear him down and if doing that dont help.take stuff off walls above bed if hanginging, chairs in room.my daughter proved at young age mean things aint mean at day time but going too get her so she stared at her problem then sleep then wake up frequatly.ure kid is 20 months so cant tell ya.if he understands ya take him in room ask too show scarry things too ya if he points then remove it.

Don't rush into him if he wakes. He needs to learn to get himself back to sleep. You say Naps, meaning plural? He may be ready to give up one of those naps. Most almost 2 year olds don't need two naps a day. That could be causing the issues with him at night. Make sure he only sleeps two hours during the day, keep the naps down to one in the middle afternoon and make sure he is getting a lot of physical activity during the day after the nap. Have a bedtime routine and make sure his room is dark (this time of year is hard on little ones). Have a noise maker, fan, music box or something that may help. I know white noise was a miracle worker with my kids.

I highly recommend the book "How to Solve your Child's Sleep Problems" by Ferber. It explains all of the reasons behind why children who are capable of sleeping through the night don't. My sister gave me this book when I had my first baby. At the time, she told me that it saved her & her 2nd child's life. I can attest that I have some of the best sleepers in the world & I really believe it has a lot to do with understanding kids' sleep needs & following his methods for sleep training. He advocates letting children over 5-6 months of age cry for short periods of time with comfort in between. I hated hearing my kids cry but it was very short lived - within a week of doing his sleep training techniques all of my kids were going to sleep without crying and sleeping through the night. It is worth a try. Good luck!

My son did this too. How do you act when he wakes up? I finally started acting very put out. I wasn't mean, but I certainly wasn't nice. I would hold him, disgruntled, for minute and put him back in bed. I would make comments like, "you really need to be in bed" and "this isn't funny" and sound rather annoyed. After a few nights of this my son quit waking up. I guess the fun was gone.

I know how hard it can be for them to start waking after a reprieve for you of sleeping through the night for a while -- my son did the same thing (he's almost 3 now)! Good advice from the previous posters about making sure he's got enough to eat to keep him full through the night and giving water instead of milk when he wakes up. If he is still taking 2 naps a day, try cutting back to just one nap. Is he able to put himself to sleep at naptime and bedtime or does he require some kind of aid from you (being in the room, rubbing backs, songs, etc.). I recommend reading the "No Cry Sleep Solution" following the advice from there my son now goes to sleep by himself and sleeps through the night (unless there are nightmares). Good luck to you!

probably not what you want to hear, but let him cry. my pediatrician suggested 5 minutes the first time, 10 the second, 15 the third. we never got beyond 10. And, yes, it was incredibly hard not to go comfort him. I'd look at the clock when I first woke up and then willed myself to stay put - no noise, light, etc that he could see or hear through the hallway. If there was still crying, then, go and say "its night, night," rub his back a little and go back to bed. its rough to do, but he will learn to put himself back to sleep at night and its one of the best life lessons you can ever give him. Also, make sure his tummy is totally full at bedtime (we did bedtime oatmeal at that age).

maybe the naps are too long. at 20 months he should only be taking one nap at about 12 till2 and then i bet he will sleep better and so will you

sweet dreams

If I were you I would try to assess WHY he is waking up? Is it just because he is so used to waking up at that time every night or is it another reason? If it's just because it has now become routine to wake up at night, you just need to let him cry it out. My son was very stubborn and would wake up at the same time every night. We established a routine (including a bath before bed...it helped him relax) and then we would put him to bed and not get him until 5 or 6 in the morning. (I had to turn a fan on in my room so I couldn't hear him cry...I think it was harder on me). After 2 or 3 nights, he stopped waking up in the middle of the night, and now he sleeps in until 7 every morning.

Also, add up how many hours of sleep he is getting total for one day. It might help to wear him out during the day so that he will sleep longer at night. I like to take my son swimming after his afternoon nap or let him run around at a park.

Good luck!

I am so with you. I have a 15 month old who has yet to sleep through the night. As weird as it sounds (and contrary to others) we found that by not giving him a bottle at bedtime he slept better. Our schedule is this: He wakes up and eats at 8:00am, sleeps from 10:00-12:00 eats at 12:00. Sleeps from about 2-4, then eats, though with kids home sometimes he won't nap until after his 4:00 feeding. Then eats one more time at 8 pm and is in bed by about 9pm. We give him a bath at night, this helps. For us sleeping means that he sleeps until 3-5 am. He slept once until 7 am...scared me to death. But our little guy has had 15 surgeries and I can't let him "cry it out". Now we are suffering from poopy diapers(and a bad case of diaper rash) in the middle of the night.
If there is nothing wrong, then yes let him fuss for a few minutes before you go get him. Or try giving him water instead of milk. I found that if he wakes up before 3am(I determined the time as 6 hours from when he goes to bed since he looks like a 6 mo old babe) he gets water, no milk. This helps him to sleep better the next night.
Good luck!