Sleep! Please

[mlgbug]

dd4 and ds2 HAVE NEVER SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT> no seriously. its crzy. they go to sleep together at 7:30. ds wakes by 9, i put him back to sleep dd is up by 9:30. by 11 its usualy ds again, and 11:30 dd. this goes on ALL **** NIGHT! seriously, ive heard of babies doing this, but mine HAVE NEVER GIVEN ME A NIGHT OF REST!

 

yes one day they will but give me a break. and with dd its cause she wakes up when she pees, yet ds is night trained since 19 months! go figure

[Joanne]

Dairy allergy.

[mlgbug]

allergy testing was done on ds for him excema and he had nothing but dog allergy.lol

[IsabelC]

Have you read No Cry Sleep Solution? You might find something useful in there.

[mlgbug]

read it twice.lol, watched super nanny, haaa

 

i have the sleep solution for babies and for preschoolers. as dd got older i had to move up in books.lol

[TheCoffeeChick]

My Ds was probably 5 before he consistantly slept through the night. Even now at 6 1/2 he wakes up every once in a while. Dd started sleeping through the night before he did and he is 2 1/2 years older than her! LOL

 

I don't blame him too much -- I was the same way. I just never slept well as a child and only needed 6 or 7 hours a night. I'm sure I drove my parents crazy! :tongue_smilie:

 

:grouphug: Hang in there - there will be a night that neither one wakes up and you will be freaked out in the morning and have to go check to make sure they are still breathing! I know - it has happened to me! :lol: I still have to peek in sometimes when they sleep-in in the mornings - they just don't do that normally.

[Wyndie]

Dairy allergy.

 

I second this. Allergy testing is for IgE only. That's immediate reaction. If the allergy causes delayed reactions (as in night wettings) it's IgG mediated. This is not tested for in most doc offices. Intolerances and delayed allergies don't show up on tests. Might be worth doing a trial run.

 

Are you opposed to using melatonin?

[mlgbug]

nope. they both chew a 3mg tab with their vitamin at night....they fall asleep GREAT, but not more than 2 hours and someone is up. for dd its when she pees, and we are huge water drinkers. even when cut off early. plus they both wake up for water, like they need it. weirdo! lol. she is using diapers cause i dont do sheets everyday! like last night, they were asleep by 7:15

dh and i have some alone time (THANK GOSH!)

by 9:30 she came out of her room, smiling, asked for water, i told her its bed time, put a clean diaper on her. by 11:20 she was awake again and wet.

[SeekingSimplicity]

I sooooo feel your pain! My 4 yo didn't sleep thru a night till here recently. He was diagnosed with asthma and we put him on breathing treatments. Made a world of difference! He still wakes up a lot, but at least I get a few consecutive hours most nights. I'm almost human again LOL

 

Hang in there mama (((HUGS)))

[Cindyg]

Mine also never slept a normal night until he was six. That's when I discovered Melatonin. You could easily try it once. You'll know immediately whether it's going to save you. It's not for everybody, but apparently some kids' bodies don't produce enough of it for them to sleep; and if you've got one (or two) of those, it's going to be a miracle.

 

We've discussed it often on this board. Just search for the word "Melatonin."

 

I give ds 1/2 mg sublingually (under the tongue) each night. It has never failed us.

[mlgbug]

wow our md said they could chew a whole 3mg tab

[KathyBC]

I'm curious as to what happens if they have a really late night? I'd be tempted to try keeping them up later (and not letting them sleep in) for awhile. It sure sounds difficult. Hugs to you.

[mlgbug]

same thing. well newyears dd did sleep from 3am-9am.lol. but even if they are up till 11, thn they still wait up at night and et up at 7:30a,....

 

dd doesnt nap

ds takes one nap, no schedule, todays was 15 mins...

[Cindyg]

wow our md said they could chew a whole 3mg tab

 

Well, did you try it? And did it work?

 

I'd start with a lower dose. Really, my kid was a HARD case, and just a crumb of Melatonin works miracles.

 

Some people report nightmares with higher doses.

[Wyndie]

As you mention the heavy night wetting and excessive thirst, I just have to say this is classic food allergy in one of my children. I have to do sheets every night even though she sleeps in a diaper and I get up midway to change her. She always soaks if she's eating something she has an intolerance too. :(

[Unicorn.]

Vitamins--Have you tried switching the vitamins to morning? I absolutely can not sleep if I take a vitamin in the afternoon or evening. Also, try no dairy after 4 pm- really. I feel your pain- two of mine never slept either until about a year ago (they are 13 and 11). :(

[mlgbug]

hmm im gonna have to cut out this dairy thing. im intrigued. i just figure they like water.and yeh they both chew it, and go to sleep within 30 mins...

i just started the night vitamin, i have them cew that with the melatonin cause i cant imagine chewing melatonin alone! YUCK@

[Shawna in Texas]

hmm im gonna have to cut out this dairy thing. im intrigued. i just figure they like water.and yeh they both chew it, and go to sleep within 30 mins...

i just started the night vitamin, i have them cew that with the melatonin cause i cant imagine chewing melatonin alone! YUCK@

 

They make sublingual melatonin. I used it briefly and it made me dream so vividly that I woke every few hours. Wide awake.

 

As for the vitamin, take it in the morning. They've always given me energy. Also, there may be a sensitivity to artificial colors. My oldest has one, never experimented on the youngest. :tongue_smilie:

 

But do try cutting out dairy.

 

Also, may be a long shot, are they overdressed or too warm?

[Mama Bear]

Melatonin as raspberry vanilla flavored drops here (NSI brand, vitacost.com), but only about 0.5mg for the kids under 12, 1.5mg for those over. 3mg is often too large a dose even for adults.

 

This might sound weird, but I'd try reading The Mood Cure and Healing ADD. There's something your kidlets are needing help either getting or eliminating. They should be sleeping more and doing so more easily. I say that as a mama who has had punkins sleep 14 hr nights regularly and others who fight more than 6-7 hr nights. The latter ones still need more than they're getting, not as much as their sibs, but needed help with some sort of self-regulation in order to get there. I'm betting there's something in one of those books that would speak to the brain chemistry at the root of what's up with your two.

 

FWIW, I feel ya. I used to be better at this almost no sleep thing, but it's kicking my hiney lately (probably because, as a friend recently reminded me, I've only had a few decent nights' sleep within the last several years -- yikes).

 

:grouphug:

[nd293]

I've also been there, done that, read the books etc etc.

 

I think it's genetic, personally. I don't sleep well (I mean, even apart from the fact that someone's waking me up 5 times a night) and neither of the kids do. I thought it couldn't possibly happen to me again after dd9, but it did... Dd also started to sleep through around 5yrs. Of course, no-one "sleeps through", really, it's what you do when you wake that counts. We drew the line on getting out of bed and coming through to find us while were watching TV with dd when she was 6yrs, which was a little late. I took her back to bed one night, she jerked away from me in a rage, flung herself onto her bed, hit the headboard and cut her face above the eyebrow. It had a cautionary effect: "Go straight back to bed. Remember what happened last time???"

 

Ds is nearly 3 and no end in sight, although I am much tougher with him (I'm older, need my sleep more!) and I can see that it helps. He sleeps with me, but I just ignore him when he wakes, except to say "I'm sleeping!" when he asks for milk. He cries, but settles himself now. That happens 2 or 3 times a night, I guess.

 

Sorry if this is incoherent, but, you guessed it, I had a bad night with the kids (both were in bed with me, so they woke to fight about whose feet are where).

 

It will pass. Hang in there. Be tough. Look for a middle road between Cry-it-Out and No-Cry, is my advise. I'm trying to...

 

Oh, and nap during the day!

 

Nikki

[mlgbug]

i think im also being selfish. The kids are in our bed to fall asleep, i refuse to lay down with them. i put away laundry and all. when they are asleep i put them into their beds. Me and dh try to get some quality time together, and yes, this means sex, sorry to be blunt but its what keeps a realationship healthy. Withni 2 hours they are in our bed. its like we have a live or die moment, then if he works late, forget it....

 

i need my husband time!

[Guest Barb B]

Waking at night is normal its what one does when awake that counts. I have mine come in my room. With some at this age - I had a mat on the floor with a blanket and that is where he could go. That might work if you do this with 2! They feel secure enough that once they come in your room they fall asleep (usually on their own- thats part of the deal - don't wake us, just come in and lay down and sleep). And if they wake again once in my room - they feel secure enough that they go back to sleep on their own - so they start to experience that falling asleep without bothering mom. This isn't for everyone, but for me it has been a life saver!

 

Barb

[mlgbug]

see then do both come to my room climb into bed and fall back asleep....alone. thats okay. i think its the waking betwwen the 7:30 and 12:00...which is me and dhs time together.....at least 4 times there is someone up in that span. and they share a room, which is okay, except when i force one to go back into their own bed, they scream. so they go to my bed and fall asleep fairly quickly.....i sit next to them....

[homeschoolally]

:grouphug: Mine have been horrible sleepers as well. We too, have tried eliminating every possible variable with no difference. I did notice that when we were at Disney World and everyone was SO tired from all the walking, they slept well. I don't know how on earth you'd replicate that kind of physical workout on a regular basis at home, but it did work.

 

At one point I literally thought I was going to crack from lack of sleep--but I've finally just gotten used to feeling crummy! Hang in there, I always try to remind myself they will grow up so fast and I will miss sitting in the rocking chair at 2 am...and 3 am, 4am and 5am. =) Easier said than done, I know!

[Guest Barb B]

see then do both come to my room climb into bed and fall back asleep....alone. thats okay. i think its the waking betwwen the 7:30 and 12:00...which is me and dhs time together.....at least 4 times there is someone up in that span. and they share a room, which is okay, except when i force one to go back into their own bed, they scream. so they go to my bed and fall asleep fairly quickly.....i sit next to them....

Oh, I see! Well, thats tough! If they go into your bed do they stay asleep there? My oldest when he was little would fall asleep in our bed and then stay there without waking - not to get to personal (don't think this is weird) but then dh could have some time together in ds bed (lock ds door first). It is musical beds I know and some just couldn't "you know" in their kids bed but daughter # 2 wouldn't be here if we hadn't!

 

Sometimes I honestly wonder how on earth they did it in one room cabins!

 

Barb

[mom31257]

My kids would never sleep through the night if they went to bed that early. I have a 12 and 6 yo, but even when they were preschool age, they didn't go to bed until 9 PM. Now we try to have devotion a little before 9:30, then ds goes to bed. DD can read in her room until 10 or 10:15.

 

My ds didn't sleep through the night until about 4, and that first 4 years was hard. Are you willing to try putting them in bed later?

[Caitilin]

If you're talking about the 4 yo, why do you have to do anything with them when they wake up? If mine woke and got up, I would smile and say, "it's xyz o'clock, and it's time for sleep. Love you--see you in the morning!" and then not engage any further. I don't see why you should need to sit with a 4 yo to woo them back to sleep. :confused:

The 2 yo is a slightly different story, but I can't imagine having to expend all this energy on bedtime throughout the night. I agree with the pallet on the floor, as the pp suggested--"you can come in, but you may NOT bother mom and dad. Just bring your pillow and snuggle up on this blanket here on the floor."

 

Also, why can't dh take turns with you? My dh gets up at 5 daily, and is a night person, so is rarely in bed before midnight, but still takes turns getting up with a difficult child. I think raising preschoolers is, by and large, a harder job than most husbands realize--maybe you and he need to have a conversation?

[KathyBC]

My dd was born a night-owl, too. She sleeps through, but doesn't go to bed til 10. I'd rather it was 9.

[SonshineLearner]

Time for a long weekend away! It'll help you make it through the next few years. And... my 6.5 year old still sleeps next to me... on the "emergency spot" I made for him. We have a Queen sized bed, so when we moved the crib that was rammed up to our bed... and made a bed for him in the other room... I put my hope chest... up to my bed's edge, and told my little one that he could use it to come snuggle with us after he woke up in the mornings... He looked around one night when I said something about his room (in the other room!!) and he looked around our room and said, "This is my room, too, Mama!!" Way to go.... Think he'll wanna move out before College?? (out of our room??)