Hi Ladies
OK I am going crazy here. Its been about 2 weeks and my child refuses to nap or sleep when she is home. What has been working is myself or daddy will stay in her room until she goes to sleep and then we leave. Our problem is that the issue is progressing to her waking in the middle of the night and us having to repeat..Then it went to us having to sleep on her floor...ALL NIGHT LONG...Now its one of us sleeping on her floor all night long and then she wakes up about every hour crying for us or just making sure we are still in the room.
We are not sure what to do. mommy and daddy have lost sleep, we are tired and stressed out and seem to have our own opinions on what to do. So I am asking you.
Here is what we have done. we put a child lock on the inside of her door..she figured that out and then roams the halls. Her newest thing is she want to sleep 'in mommy and daddys bed' which is not an option.
My biggest thing is her just even roaming her room. there is nothing bad in her room to get introuble with but there is a bookshelf and the fan is running for 'white noise'. Today daddy is at work so I am trying a naptime intervention experiment. she wanted to go for nap with me in the room. I told her no (because she will wake in another 15 mins once she realizes I am gone......and the cycle will continue)
What are your experiences/advise. Being first time parents, and no family support (they all live 300+ miles away) we are at a loss
THanks mamma
I let the kids get in bed with us or one of us lays down with them in their bed. Good grief, my rest is more important than that. It won't last forever. Most of the time it only lasts a few weeks or a month.
However you give in to her wishes such as sleeping on her floor with her, you're not going to win the battle.
I'd reiterate that she is to sleep in her bed in her room all night, and put the lock on the outside of her door, you want to keep her in, right? Then put the fan up high, remove the bookshelf from her room for now, place a tall baby gate as a barrier across her door, and lock your bedroom door in case she conquers it. If she does she may fall asleep outside your door after crying, but if getting her to sleep in her bed in her room all night is your goal then let her, she'll get the message and get tired of it. Stress how comfy her bed is if she complains about the floor.
Be consistent and don't give in to what she "wants"♥
She may be waking up in the night because she is not really tired because of the nap. My daughter stopped napping about 4 months ago (she is 2 1/2) and now she sleeps from 7pm to 7am without waking... I think they grow out of the naps at this age.
Honestly, my daughter is 2 1/2 and she doesn't really nap anymore. Every now and then she will nap but not usually. She isn't grumpy or anything and she falls asleep at night at 830ish. I used to lay down with her til she slept and she stayed asleep so maybe she is a light sleeper? You can try different methods, night light at night, light music during nap/night time, and the controversial tv lol. I have to have a movie on (low low volume) when I go to sleep b/c I can't sleep well when it is too quiet. I eventually do, but more out of being ridiculously tired and nodding off without knowing it, strange quirk but I'm like that all the same lol. They also have a no cry sleeping solution that a lot of people swear by so maybe trying that out and no one will be stressed out or feeling guilty. I would be scared if someone locked me in a room (wouldn't you?), put a gate at her door and then she will be in her room but be able to see out and feel safe. Most kids roam in their room, I think that is something you may have to deal with. The only thing that I've found to work is laying my daughter down, turning a boring kid friendly movie on, and saying she can stay awake and watch as long as she stays laying down in bed and it works, she stays in bed and nods off 10-20 mins depending on the night.
I agree that you should just let her get in bed with you if your not getting any sleep. I don't know many older kids that like to sleep with their parents lol.
