Please tell me he'll grow out of this soon
RJ's always needed alot of sleep.
.but lately, he'll only sleep 6.5 hours at night and then jump in his crib and happily shout "dada, goooo".
he switched from his pack n play to a crib 2 months ago. no problem.
he transitioned himself to one nap a day a month ago. no problem.
he still sleeps in our room because his room doesn't have a window air conditioner yet. but he's slept in their all his life.
I've tried letting him nap only 2 hours, 1.5 hours, and two naps each 1.5 hours. Nothing. It continually gets shorter (the night sleep).
He's been doing this about 9 days now. At first, he went from 12 hours to 10 hours to 8, and now it's been 6.5 hours the last two nights. I let him nap 4 hours yesterday thinking he was catching up...but still the same thing. He rubs his eyes constantly all day and is an unholy terror some of the day because of it. (all his sleep combined, right now, is only at 10 hours...he still wakes up at night...2-3x to drink or eat or what be it :( )
Has any one else's toddlers done this? I'm about to die of exhaustion
Sorry so long...and hope it makes sense...TIA!!.
Its a phase.
Sleep is never static in a baby or child.
They hit spurts of growth and developmental changes & milestones, and get more hungry etc.
It passes.
He sounds over-tired.
Hence being an unholy-terror the next day.
I agree with Jaime A. I would not give my son anything to eat or drink in the middle of the night. I would whisper to him the first time he woke that it's still night time and Mommy & Daddy are sleeping... ask him to go back to sleep. I would then let him fuss/cry himself back to sleep (or let him entertain himself until he fell back asleep). Since your situation requires you to be in one room together hanging a curtain in between your bed and his might be a good idea. At the very least I would simply ignore him. If he sees that Mommy and Daddy are still sleeping and are not waking to his noises he too should realize there's nothing going on and go back to sleep. Our son is almost 4 now and we've not had many sleep issues however the few times he called out for me in the night I went in his room one time and whispered for him to go back to sleep and expained it was the middle of night and Mommy/Daddy were asleep. He would then fuss or play with his stuffed animal for a few minutes and fall back to sleep.
I'm a person that requires a lot of sleep so I can only imagine how exhausting this must be. If you continue to let him eat or drink in the night he will continue to wake you as you are creating a routine for him. Hang in there..this phase should pass soon!
Just had to tell you; I woke this morning with my 4yo and 7yo in bed with my husband and me. They always wake my husband because I could sleep through a train wreck. I have a neighbor who has a 15yo, brawny, smart, handsome, football playing son who still gets in bed with them. Not only are these children still waking up at night, but they take up most of room in the bed - a king sized bed! Hang in there, and good luck.
I'm not trying to sound harsh because I have been in your shoes but that is also why I am telling you this. I didn't sleep for 8 hours straight for 13 months and it was so hard and I was wreck and not able to fully appreciate my child because I was always so tired and out of it.
He does not need to eat or drink at night and you need to let him cry himself back to sleep. He needs at least 11 hours at night (not including naps) and if he is not getting that you will have an unhappy baby all day. Since he is in your room this will be really hard. First evaluate if there is anywhere away from yall that you can put his crib? In the bathroom? In the well ventilated closet with the door ajar? Can you hang a curtain from the ceiling so that he can't see you? When he wakes up let him cry himself back to sleep. Don't get up, don't talk to him. By doing this you are telling him it's time to sleep. Yall will have a rough 3 nights but then your world will be so much better! You and your child will be more rested and happier! Start a bedtime routine and a set bedtime based on when he starts to get sleepy and stick with it. Don't let him nap more than 2 hours when you are adjusting to this new plan.
I know this sounds hard and you may not be ready to do it but this is how you can get your life back. Good Luck! Sleep is awesome
