cseitter Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 My 2.5 year old will NOT sleep all night. I don't know what to do. She is killing me. She hasn't slept all night since birth other than an occasional night here and there. She wakes up about 2 am EVERY night and starts screaming for me if she is in another room. I ended up letting her sleep with us for a while and that is the only way she sleeps all night but it is crowded in our bed with her there. So I have put a crib mattress on the floor next to our bed. She is back to waking up every night around 2. She either gets up and shuts our door and goes back to sleep (which is a good night) but most nights she wants me to rock her or lay in her bed with her and it is almost an hour most nights for her to get back to sleep. She eats plenty at night, she doesn't take a nap during the day and gets up about 8 am every morning. The other problem is that I am a VERY light sleeper so I wake up when she gets up to shut the door or anything. Any suggestions on getting her to sleep? Should I call her Doctor? I was up with her for 1.5 hours last night and ended up just putting her in our bed because I was miserable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giraffe Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: DD is like this - and at 2.5 was doing exactly what you describe. I ended up making a bed for myself in her room and sleeping in there with her for almost a year. She didn't want to be in my room with DH and me - she wanted me in her room. I was too sleep deprived to argue with her. She's now almost 4 and seems (fingers crossed!) to be growing out of it. I still have a bed in her room and still sleep there a couple times a week, but she has started sleeping through the night at least a little more reliably. Our routine is thus: I put her to sleep in her room in her bed. Once she's asleep (I stay in there in a chair), I leave and go to sleep in my own room. When she wakes up (if she wakes up), I just move to my bed in her room. Honestly, I just went with it because she seemed so frightened if I wasn't there. She would wake up, see me there, and go straight back to sleep. Was it fun? No. It still isn't. But at least we're all getting better sleep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I co-sleep with my kids. I find this is something small and easy that I can do during their childhoods in order to ensure that we all get enough sleep. We have a full sized bed pushed right up against our queen sized bed. Both kids sleep in there and I have NEVER had a sleepless night due to a child (unless they were sick or something like that). It may not be ideal for some people, but it's been great for our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwickimom Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 :grouphug: My 2.5 YO is the same way. I do not allow kids to sleep with me though. I have tried these all natural pills made by Hylands called Calm Forte and they seem to help on some nights. Maybe 1 or 2 out of 7 nights he sleeps (although he gets up between 4 am to 6 am) Other than that...I just keep putting him in his bed. over and over and over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I would imagine at this point it is more habit than anything else. She knows that if she puts up enough of a fight she will get what she wants and she is determined to do so. 2 1/2 is not the best age to try to change things but if you are committed to it and willing to be miserable for a while (maybe a couple of weeks) it will work out. I would start by figuring out exactly what you want to change. Do you want her to sleep in her own room or would you be okay with her sleeping on the mattress in your room? If you are okay with her in your room then you just have to get her used to the idea that she can't get up in the middle of the night and make noise/climb in your bed. Start slowly, at first sit next to her mattress with your hand on her back but don't lay with her. Once she adjusts sit next to her but not touching, then sit a short distance away, then stay in your bed. It will probably take hours at first but once she realizes that the rules have changed she will adjust (buy everyone earplugs for the interim because even though you are next to her she will probably be mad). We had to do this with our oldest when she was 4. It was hard for all of us but the best possible thing we could have done. Her mood (and mine) changed considerably once she was getting the sleep she needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaMcC Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I totally relate!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My youngest is almost 10yrs old and he finally been sleeping through the night for about a year now. He would wake up every.single.night 2-3 times a night starting at midnight. Nearly every night he would come into my bed the first time he woke up. He would go back to sleep most of the time no problem. But he is a restless sleeper so he disturbs my sleep. About 1-2 times a week he would play musical beds... start in his, get in mine, get in his sister's, get in his brother's, go on couch with his dad, etc. Usually this happened when I was too exhausted and I actually slept through and didn't make him stay put. But he is also one of those kids who took naps until he was 6yrs old and there was n.o.t.h.i.n.g anyone could do to keep him awake. When he was/is tired... he goes to sleep. One thing that his ped said I could do when it was real bad was give Ds a dose of Benadryl before bed. That did seem to help a bit... Ds would sleep until about 4am before waking up and crawling into bed with me-LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cseitter Posted March 8, 2011 Author Share Posted March 8, 2011 Honestly I would completely give her Benedryl or something like it if my Dh would let me. He an anti-medicine-of-any-kind guy seriously it is a fight to give the kids tylenol or motrin if they have a fever. I have let her sleep with us for about 6 months but that is just as bad. She is a VERY restless sleeper and is constantly moving. I have tried getting her to sleep with one of her siblings but she refuses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Honestly I would completely give her Benedryl or something like it if my Dh would let me. He an anti-medicine-of-any-kind guy seriously it is a fight to give the kids tylenol or motrin if they have a fever. I have let her sleep with us for about 6 months but that is just as bad. She is a VERY restless sleeper and is constantly moving. I have tried getting her to sleep with one of her siblings but she refuses. The reason we moved our 4 year old out of bed was because she was a restless sleeper. If you aren't worried about what she will get into or do while you are sleeping maybe you should just change your focus to teaching her not to wake you up rather than trying to get her to sleep. Put a rechargeable flashlight and a basket of books next to her mattress in your room and teach her to read if she wakes up rather than to wake you up. Each of our girls has one of these in case they need something at night: http://www.amazon.com/Bulbrite-LED-LADYBUG-PalPODzzz-Childrens/dp/B001OWEVV2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1299609660&sr=8-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sun Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Does she fall asleep on her own for naps and at bedtime? If not, then I would work on that first. She needs the skill of falling asleep on her own, and I think it's usually easier for them to learn it at a time when you're normally awake because you have more patience then. At 2 am, you're tired, she's tired, and it's just a lot harder. At 2.5, she should be old enough to understand that she needs to go back to sleep. I would either go hard-core and do the supernanny version of just returning her to her bed (though I'd probably just calmly repeat the exact same phrase, "It's bedtime. You need to stay in your bed and sleep") or I'd do a more gradual version where I start out sitting close to her and gradually move out of the room, sitting farther away each night. How much sleep does she get in each 24-hour period? I know that a lot of kids sleep much more restlessly if they're overtired. If that's likely part of the problem, you might try putting her to bed earlier each night, so she can get 11 or 12 hours of sleep at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaMcC Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Honestly I would completely give her Benedryl or something like it if my Dh would let me. He an anti-medicine-of-any-kind guy seriously it is a fight to give the kids tylenol or motrin if they have a fever. When my Dh gets very stubborn about things and I have tried everything his way to no avail, I get desperate and tell him that he has to deal with the "problem" himself. He usually changes his tune after he gets the full force of whatever and finds that it isn't working the way he wants- :D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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