Child Wont Sleep? - Seattle,WA

Give him his own sippy cup that doesn't leak in bed with him. My daughter has 4 little kids and they each have their cup and they all sleep well.

If you are giving him something other than water I would stop doing that and only give water at night. I give my 3 year old a sippy or water bottle that she takes to bed at night. That eliminates the whole waking up and coming to me for the drink, its more often than not an excuse just to get up.

I found a Contigo bottle that is like a sippy cup, it doesn't leak because they have to press the button to let the fluid through. I let my daughter sleep with it so she can have her water & I don't have anything to clean up. They sell them online, Costco, & R.E.I.

I would be concerned enough about this above-and-beyond thirst that I would take him back to the pedi, or to another, if you think they are brushing off your worries. Could be diabetes, could be something simpler, like an electrolyte imbalance. It could just be his genetic predisposition, since you wake thirsty, too. But until I got some testing done, I would not ignore it.

But if it turns out to be simple, uncomplicated thirst, how about a leak-proof sippy cup in his crib? Works well for my grandson.

Good luck on getting to the bottom of this.

I just read your So What Happened and urge you to get blood work done. This amount of thirst is not normal.

I don't understand why his pediatrician didn't do this already. If you trust him except for this, I'd call him and ask about this. Otherwise go to a different pediatrician.

You live in Seattle. I've heard lots of good stuff about the Children's Hospital. Perhaps call them and get a referral to a Pediatrician who treats metabolic conditions.

Thirst could be just an excuse. I would do three things that I found very helpful for my DD who wouldn't sleep but will now. I would get a marpac 980a it is the worlds best white noise machine and when its on it helps keep them asleep. I would get a twilight turtle...it projects stars onto ceiling when you press a button and they give the illusion of lighting room but don't cast any scary shadows like a nightlight does and turns itself off after a while. Last I would get a tot clock or something similar the face of the clock is blue at night And s yellow when its tine to get up.

Also if kid is reapply so thirsty just to be safe get kid checked for diabetes

Why don't you just send a sippy cup or two to bed with your son every night. Show him where it is and explain that he can now get his own drink when he is thirsty. I don't blame you on being exhausted...2 is way too old to be getting up 3-4 times every night!

Have you tried keeping a sippy cup of water near the bed? That's what I do with my two year old. She drinks. She goes back to sleep. It works.

Did he get his 2 year molars yet? He could be teething. My daughter didn't sleep through until 3.5 years old about. She woke up because she was hungry, cold or sometime she was scared or lonely because I wasn't there.

Hi J.,

Sometimes little ones can't sleep because they are agitated. When they are that young they can't articulate it. If you've ever been keyed up and couldn't sleep you understand. The reason I mention this is because laundry detergents and other household items contain neurotoxins and simply overstimulate and agitate. My littlest one was a bad sleeper and when I detoxed my house she became a good sleeper.....She still is.

Detoxing is simple and can be inexpensive. If you're interested, I'd be glad to walk you through what I did.

M.

I give my almost 3 year old daughter a sippy cup with water in it and give it to her to keep in bed. She only takes a few sips at a time and we don't have an issue. I hope this helps.

Have you tried sending your son to bed with a sippy cup of water? We do it with both of our kids. Our oldest barely uses it but she likes it there.
When you do wake up with him keep it simple and short.

Hi J.-

I find many of the children I work with who do not sleep through the night have trouble soothing themselves back to sleep OR realizing it's still time to sleep.

I suggest the following:

1) Give your child a sippy cup before bed so they can get sips without you
2) Play calming music at every bed/naptime during the entire sleep. This helps provide a cue that it's still sleeping time.
3) If your child wakes just go & rub his back only. Do not talk to him or give him anything. This will comfort him, but not provide interaction.

Eventually he will learn to calm himself to sleep.

Good Luck-

R. Magby

My now 8 yr old did this as well , Took forever for her to go to sleep and then she'd get up , she did until she was 3 when it just stopped.
If all he wants is a drink leave him a sippy cup of water on his dresser so he can get up and get it himself.
Not saying this is the case with your child but my daughter was found to be ADHD last year. And I've seen a trend of kids that don't sleep all night as toddlers tend to end up being dx ADD/ADHD later.

encourage him to drink more water during the day AND give him a sippy cup of water in his room. I know most people don't agree, but I was in your shoes not too long ago. You can't stop a little one from waking up at night, you can only try your best to give them all the tools to put them selves back to bed. If he is thirsty at night, let him have a sippy. have a conversation with him about what the cup is for and how to use it (quietly get out of bed and take a sip, then get back in bed). If he still gets up and cries for you, then you know it must be something else...work through it until you find what he needs. We went rounds with our daughter. She is now 5 1/2 and still comes and wakes me up to tell me she has to go to the bathroom.

have you tried to put a sippy cup of water in the crib/bed with him? We do that for our daughter and our 4 year old has a cup near his bed as well - they both drink during the night and don't wake us up!

Try a calcium/magnesium supplement at dinnertime. It helps us sleep better. Also monitor, if possible, how much water he drinks during the day and night. If it seems like a lot, talk to your pediatrician, it can be a sign of diabetes. If it's not, perhaps encouraging more water during the day will help the night thirst. Good luck!

Put him to bed with a sippy cup of water. That's what we did when my son was 2. Worked for us and my son's a terrible sleeper. He's three and a half and still goes through periods when he gets up in the night! Now it's because he needs his blankets fixed, there are monsters chasing him or his water cup is empty. Ahhhhhh!! I feel your pain!

Our middle child did this until he was 3.5. Not sure why? We had all sorts of theories ranging from he couldn't find the strings on the bumper so suck on (we took that off to try to break him of sucking on them) to nightmares to hungry/thirsty to cold and even that he just wet his diaper. We tried everything and I was also pregnant and had a baby during all of this time and was extremely exhausted. It wasn't until we got him a bunk bed with his brother and got him fully potty trained through the night that he finally stopped screaming at night. Looking back, I actually think he would wake up crying when he had to go potty. I say this because he will often wake up screaming around 10 or 11 if we haven't gotten him up to go to the bathroom before that and it's the same uncomfortable scream he did as an infant. I honestly don't know and probably never will know what it was that made him wake up screaming up to 5 times a night for so long...but he is now 4 and sleeps through the night, so it WILL end eventually, if that is any encouragement. I do sympathize with you!

In my family this still happened at least once a night longer than age 2. I finally gave my 3 year old a sippy cup of water by his bed and he seems ok with that sometimes, but sometimes still wakes me up for a milk in the middle of the night. Occasionally my 4 year old will still wake up and want one too. Try giving him some cheese and crackers right before bed and maybe those extra calories will help him stay asleep a little longer.