He Woke Up at 1 am (or how to get my toddler to sleep)

[Murmer]

My 2.5 year isn't sleeping. He has occasionally slept completely through the night but it is off and on and has never been consistent. Last night he woke up at 1 am and did not go back to sleep, regardless of what we did.

 

We have a very consistent bedtime routine that starts at 7, lights are out by 8....most nights around 9 we hear a little voice out in the hall playing. Then he wakes up anytime between 1 and 7 am and WILL NOT go back to bed. We have laid with him, we have let him scream, nothing worked.

He does take naps anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours 5 days a week. The days he misses naps are awful he is cranky, whiny and his sleep seems to be worse at night.

 

What can we do to help ds get a good nights sleep consistently?

 

And before family bed is recommended the problem is that once the child is awake he will not go back to sleep. This will still be a problem with a family bed except instead of 2 people losing out on sleep the whole family would.

[Chris in VA]

I think your only option is to cut back on naps, and that may mean an earlier bedtime. You don't want him so tired at bedtime that he is wired, and you don't want him splitting his sleep like he is now.

Could you put him down for 1 hour, max, and then maybe a 6:30 or 7 bedtime?

 

You may just need to endure the crankies for a while.

[Annie]

Oh, how I wish I had an answer. My 22 month old does the same thing. He dropped his nap completely at 18 months, so there's no nap to give up for us. He wakes up anytime between midnight and 3am, and it takes him an average of about two hours to fall back asleep. This used to happen once a week or so, but it's been four or five days in a row now, and I'm almost a zombie. We bedshare, so I just stay laying down, don't talk to him, and keep laying him back down when he starts trying to get up. He used to fight me to get up, but he's gotten better about knowing that he's going to have to stay in bed at night. Every half hour or so, I'll whisper to him to remind him that it's night time and that we need to sleep now so we can play in the morning. You have my sincere sympathy.

 

My guy has been a terrible sleeper since he was born. He's quite intense, and sleep just isn't on his agenda.

[Pamela H in Texas]

2 hour nap, not four. Make sure it is early enough in the day. If he went to daycare, he'd go down for nap between 11:30 and noon, at least in every Texas center I've worked in. Make sure he is getting enough physical and sensory activity during the day. Have an evening routine. Get a tot-clock. No additional attention/activity during sleep hours.

 

It is probably a growth spurt or something, but you don't want it to turn into a habit.

[ErinD]

No suggestions, just a hug and some commiseration.:grouphug:

 

As a parent of two non-sleepers and one sleeper, I can tell you that all the suggestions I received worked for the sleeper and none of them worked for the non-sleepers. :)

 

They are now 4, 11 and 19 and only the 19 year old sleeps more than a few hours a night, still. The others are just better about entertaining themselves in their beds now.

[canadianmomtofour]

Oh boy, I feel your pain. My second ds did this to me as a toddler. I had a five year old and was pregnant with my third ds at the time. In fact all my boys were terrible sleepers. I tried all the methods and nothing worked, and I was able to be successful with dd so it wasn't a matter of not implementing the methods correctly, or not following through. He did eventually grow out of it; I think it was around age three. So I realize this isn't very helpful, (I know how long and lonely those nights are), but hang in there. The rule in my house for a long time was that mommy gets to sleep-in every weekend no matter what!

[KrissiK]

Our 17 month old was not sleeping, either. We manipulated her nap schedule, going from 2to 1 and, shhh, let her CIO. I know that's taboo around here, but it worked for us. Of course I am not suggesting you do the same. Except the nap thing.

[Random]

My 2.5 year isn't sleeping. He has occasionally slept completely through the night but it is off and on and has never been consistent. Last night he woke up at 1 am and did not go back to sleep, regardless of what we did.

 

We have a very consistent bedtime routine that starts at 7, lights are out by 8....most nights around 9 we hear a little voice out in the hall playing. Then he wakes up anytime between 1 and 7 am and WILL NOT go back to bed. We have laid with him, we have let him scream, nothing worked.

He does take naps anywhere from 2 hours to 4 hours 5 days a week. The days he misses naps are awful he is cranky, whiny and his sleep seems to be worse at night.

 

What can we do to help ds get a good nights sleep consistently?

 

And before family bed is recommended the problem is that once the child is awake he will not go back to sleep. This will still be a problem with a family bed except instead of 2 people losing out on sleep the whole family would.

 

Hmmm.... you can try to enforce a consistent earlier wake-up time in the morning and/or cut the naps back to 2 hrs or so. You can end his sleep time by playing loud happy music, vacuuming, using the blender, baking cookies, etc. My kids seem happier if I wake them in a passive-aggressive way. ;)

 

Sorry you're going through this. It's rough! It will pass. :grouphug: